The Secret Life of Bees is a heartwarming coming-of-age story set in the early 1960s against a backdrop of racial violence. This book is a must-read for those looking for a touching story about family, love, and perseverance. The unique feature of this book is the author's inspired depiction of characters that will stay with you long after finishing the book.

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• Orange Prize Nominee for Fiction Longlist (2002)
• Book Sense Book of the Year Award for Paperback (2004)
• Lincoln Award Nominee (2005)
• Gateway Readers Award Nominee (2005)
• LovelyBooks Leserpreis Nominee for Allgemeine Literatur (2009)

Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.

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