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The Secret Life of Bees is a novel written by Sue Monk Kidd. It was published in 2002 and takes place in Sylvan and Tiburon, South Carolina. The story is about a girl, Lily, who runs off and ends up discovering who she is.

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Author Biographical Information
Sue Monk Kidd was born in Georgia. She grew up in Sylvester, Georgia. This town has it's influence in this novel. She had went to a "graduate writing course at Emory University." This was the result of her return to writing. She has a husband named Sandy. She also has a daughter who has co-authored her most recent book.

Setting: Historical Information
Sylvan, South Carolina is where the novel is set. Also, in Tiburon. These are fictional places made up by the author of the novel. Although, her hometown of Sylvester, Georgia did have its influence. Both places in the novel are very small communities, farming communities at that. So, they are places where everyone knows everyone.

Genre
The novel's genre is Bildungsroman. This genre usually focuses on the main character's growth. Something as to have happened to the character to stunt this growth.

Plot Summary
Lily is a fourteen year old girl. Her mother died and supposively, she is the one that killed her. She is thought to have killed her mother with just picking up the gun. Lily lives with an African-American who takes care of her, Rosaleen and then her father, T-Ray. T-Ray is abusive to Lily. One day after Rosaleen had stood up to some prejudice people and ended up arrested, Lily went and got her out of the hospital and they ran away together. They went off and ended up in Tiburon, South Carolina. They end up staying with a beekeeper and her sisters. Lily met a boy named Zach, in whom she developed a crush. The reason Rosaleen and Lily were led to this town was because of something written on something of her mothers. She had hope that her mother had spent time in the Boatright house and she was correct. T-Ray came one day and was angry but ended up allowing Lily to stay under the care of August.

Characters

 * Person One - information about your character
 * Person Two

Author's Style
The author has not written this novel necessarily in chronological placement. There are many times when the main character has a flashback of her past, her mother, etc. Also, before each chapeter, the author provides a relevant quote about bees. It is also written in a child's way of writing, almost like a journal. An example would be, "The queen, for her part, is the unifying force of the community; if she is removed from the hive, the workers very quickly sense her absence. After a few hours, or even less, they show unmistakable signs of queenlessness." -Man and Insects, quote before chapter 1

Themes

 * Theme One - explain your theme in detail
 * Theme Two

Memorable Quotes

 * 1) "The way those bees flew, not even looking for a flower, just flying for the feel of the wind, split my deart down its seam."
 * This quote foreshadowed that like a bee, Lily would fly away in hopes for a better answers and a new outlook on life.
 * 1) "People who think dying is the worst thing don't know a thing about life."
 * Here, Lily confronts the fact that her mother is dead and that people shouldn't dwell on the thoughts of death."
 * 1) "I had asked repeatedly for God to do something about T-Ray."
 * This shows that Lily has faith. Also, T-Ray was abusive and made her believe un-true facts.
 * 1) "I might as well have worn a sign on my back: I am not popular and never will be."
 * Lily's dad didn't care what she wore and didn't drive her to town for anything "extra." She was basically and outsider.