The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

I once asked my husband if we could get a bundle of reeds put up in our yard for Mason Bee's. For those of you who don't spend all day thinking about gardens and the pollinators that go with it, Mason Bees are little blue bees that come together to mate in the spring, after which the female goes on a huge pollinating/nest building frenzy. She lays a considerable number of eggs, then dies and leaves the next generation to carry on the work. I'm no expert by any means, but when I asked my husband if we could have bees, somehow this translated over to, "Dear, can we have some Honey Bees?"

A simple misunderstanding, but it didn't end there. My husband had a talk in sacrament meeting the week after. The talk was on diligence, and the study material used the industriousness and productivity of honey bees as an example. This made him reconsider my request, and so he promptly informed the entire congregation of his change in heart at the beginning of his talk. I remember sitting there in those hard wooden pews feeling completely baffled. What was he talking about???

Well, we had a good laugh about it afterwards, but the members of the ward sure got behind the idea. I thought that this too was funny, so the next Sunday, I joking announced over the pulpit that "Operation Honey-Bee was a go!" I just needed my landlord to approve the idea.

Well, my landlord happened to be in the audience that day, and thought it was a great idea, as did a lot of other people...well, I was new to the ward, and when I realized how excited everyone was, I didn't have the heart to tell them that I'd only been joking. One fine sister even brought me some literature on the subject that she had happened to spot in a local garage sale and thought I might like.

Which brings me to this novel. The Secret Life of Bees. A beautiful tale about a young motherless girl who yearns desperately for love, set in the 1964 in the middle of the civil-rights movement. It involves overcoming loss, learning to accept and even love those different from yourself, and learning what it is to forgive oneself. It's language is beautiful, its message poignant. And yes, it does talk a good deal about bees.

So read it. Enjoy it.

And no, I'm not planning on starting a beehive any time soon (sorry everyone!).