The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The day Lily Owens turns fourteen her life takes a dramatic turn. It's July 4th, 1964, and Lily is alone in the world except for her abusive father and the negro peach worker he employed to raise his daughter. Lily's mother died ten years earlier, apparently the victim of an accidental shooting. Four year old Lily was the one holding the gun. When Rosaleen and Lily have a run in with small town thugs and Rosaleen is arrested, Lily is precipitated into a quest to find her mother's story. With only a picture of a black Madonna with a town name written on the back, Lily and Rosaleen set off.

The story is one of maternal love. Lily has spent most of her life feeling unloved, and when the fugitive pair end up in the home of three sisters, they each learn much. The recurring theme of bees and honey is unsurprising, given the name of the novel. I was particularly taken with the metaphor of a hive losing its queen being doomed. Each of the three sisters, August, June and May, have something to offer Lily, who desperately needs to be loved by them, and struggles with her concealment of her mission to find her mother.

As well as the theme of mother love, the novel tackles the difficult issue of race in the period when coloured people first were given the right to vote in the US. Lily is a white girl living in a household of negro women, and her presence raises eyebrows in the community. The themes are brought together in the Black Madonna the sisters keep in their house, the focal point of their own mythology.

I enjoyed every page of this book, even the ones that made me cry. Lily is an easy character to empathise with, a teenager full of her own wisdom and the bravdo of her youth, but still childlike enough to need a motherly shoulder to cry on.

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The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A fascinating insight into the culture of 17th century Iran, this novel tells the story of a young woman whose dreams of marriage and children are crushed when her father dies. In a male dominated society, the girl and her mother are forced to rely on an uncle for support. With a talent for rug making and an impetuous nature, the protaganist struggles to find her place in the world. A coming of age story, this novel pays tribute to the anonymous artisans whose marvellous creations endure today.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book as an insight into a world I could never imagine occupying. The love of rug making and discussion of colours and techniques appealed to my creative side, and I felt a strong connection to the unnamed heroine and her mother.

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How to Write History That People Want to Read by Ann Curthoys


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have a penchant for writing books. This one appealed to me for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it was written by a pair of authors who are Australian. I was interested to get an Australian perspective to the ressearch and writing process. I also picked up this book because it deals specifically with history writing, which seems to differ to contemporary novel writing, especially for those of us who are pedantic about facts in historical novels.

This book seems primarily directed at nonfiction writers, students of history and textbook writers. There is, however, plenty of useful information and advice for fiction writers, especially in the chapters about research and character development. The book uses an easy to read, conversational tone, and covers the entire writing process, from idea to publication. Interspersed with anecdotes from the authors' own experiences as well as those of other writers, it is an engaging read. I'd recommend this book to all writers of history, from students writing a thesis right through to novelists.

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