Sue Monk Kidd's novel, The Secret Life of Bees, tells the
story of a young girl named Lily searching for answers to her violent past. With her
nanny, Rosaleen, Lily follows a clue from her deceased mother to Tiburon, South
Carolina, where she is taken in by the Boatwright sisters, a group of African American
women who were friends with her mother.
In addition to
keeping bees and jarring honey, the Boatwright sisters lead a prayer group of women.
Their religious symbol is the Black Madonna, a wooden sculpture from a boat of a
beautiful woman.
The story is set in the deep south during
the Civil Rights Movement. This was a dangerous time to be an African American, as can
be seen when Rosaleen, on her way to vote for the first time, is attacked by a group of
white men. The Black Madonna is a symbol of the power and love this group of women
brought to each other during such a hard time. When they are together, helping and
supporting each other and celebrating each other's uniqueness, they are not second-class
citizens. Rather, they are capable, intelligent, and above all,
free.
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