Sue Monk Kidd - a must read - Bev Russell, Library Director
(This column appeared in the March 25, 2007, Star-Herald)
Anyone who has been in a book discussion group in the past several years has undoubtedly read or heard of "The Secret Life of Bees". Sue Monk Kidd was a highly successful author of inspirational books before she tried her hand at fiction. "The Secret Life of Bees" was her first attempt at writing fiction and a phenomenal success. It sold more than 4.5 million copies and spent over two years on the New York Times bestseller list. Now published in more than 23 languages, it is widely taught in high school and college classrooms. Ms. Kidd is an author that I felt was a "must read" for me so I read her second novel, "The Mermaid Chair", to get a feel for her writing style. However, when I began writing this article, I realized "The Secret Life of Bees" needed to be included in the article. I did not have time to read it. Riding to the rescue was Jana Kehn. (Well, maybe I dragged her to the rescue.) She writes the first part of this article on "The Secret Life of Bees", and I follow up with "The Mermaid Chair" in the second part.
Sue Monk Kidd, born and raised in the tiny town of Sylvester, Georgia, tucked among the pinelands and red fields of Georgia’s Southwest, has definitely incorporated her "growing-up experiences" into her first novel, "The Secret Life of Bees". Published in 2002, "The Secret Life of Bees" has become a genuine phenomenon. It has also been produced on stage in New York by the American Place Theater and is being adapted into a movie. This is a story of loss and hope, transgression and forgiveness. The words flow like honey and the beautiful metaphors and realistic characters draw the reader in from the start.
Kidd’s remarkable debut is set in South Carolina in the sixties, just after the Civil Rights Bill has been passed. Lily, a fourteen-year-old white girl, and Rosaleen, her black caretaker, take to the road, fleeing an abusive father, the town’s racist community and the haunting memory of the violent death of Lily’s mother. They end up in Tiburon, a town Lily believes her mother had a connection to. A clue among her mother’s possessions leads them to the Boatwright sisters (August, May and June), three black women who keep bees. The sisters take in the fugitives and put Lily to work in the honey house, where for the first time in years she’s happy. The beekeeping sisters also prove to be the keepers of the truth Lily seeks. August, clearly the queen bee of the Boatwrights, teaches Lily how to love and be loved and helps to heal her wounded heart.
Although "The Mermaid Chair" is quite different in plot, it shares the themes of loss, hope, transgression forgiveness and hidden secrets as "The Secret Life of Bees". Once again, a dysfunctional family is at the heart of the novel. Jessie Sullivan’s mother deliberately chops off her finger with a meat cleaver, offering no explanation for her action. Although she was never close to her mother, Jessie rushes to Egret Island off the coast of South Carolina to be with her. Following the sudden, accidental death of Jessie’s father, when Jessie was a child, the relationship between mother and daughter became strained. Nelle is obviously disturbed, and Jessie does not look forward to spending time with her.
Fanatical in her Catholicism, Nelle cooks for a local monastery, and Jessie reacquaints herself with the monastery and with its mystical Mermaid Chair. During her visit she begins to suspect that there is more to the story of her father’s death than she knew, and that Brother Dominic, one of the monks, is somehow involved. It is the younger, handsome Brother Thomas; however, who becomes the focus of Jessie’s attention. Sexually and emotionally attracted to one another, they become entangled in a torrid affair, which alters their lives forever.
"The Mermaid Chair" is well on its way to becoming another book club favorite. The quality of the writing is exceptional. The characters are complicated and distinct. The plot is thorny. Jana and I both recommend the novels of Sue Monk Kidd to book-lovers, looking for thought provoking reads.
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