ISU Book Summary

The ISU Book that is currently being read is called, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. The objective of this assignment is to compare and contrast this novel to The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. The Secret Life of Bees is a story that talks about a 14-year old girl named Lily Owens, who leaves home from her mean father and takes the housekeeper, Rosaleen, of the residence with her after Rosaleen was in the hospital for getting beat up by the police. The reason for escape was for Lily to find out more information and the truth about her mother from when Lily was a little girl. Lily thinks that she was brainwashed by her father, T-Ray, who said that her mother was killed when Lily accidentally fired a bullet at her. Her and Rosaleen leave to go to Tiburon, South Carolina because when Lily had a picture of her mother and the Black Virgin Mary, the location was on the back of the picture. She wants to prove to T-Ray that he lied about what happened from when she was a little child, and so she looks for clues while in Tiburon. This story relates to The Book of Negroes because they both have a common theme of Mothers.