It is the right of passage story about a young 14 year old girl called Lily, the relationships she shares with her neglectful and distant father, her nanny, the townsfolk of southern America, and the women who enveloped Lily and Rosaleen and took them in.
Lily's authentic and likeable character was discussed at length. The story was told through her eyes and in such a way that the reader couldn't help but be drawn into her world and that of the bee-keepers.
We followed and discussed our thoughts and answers to the guideline questions posted here on this website. The questions helped prompt us to a deeper level of thinking.
The book was full of issues between different characters, the country at the time (1964) in which the story was set, relationships, racial prejudice and questioned traditional family roles. The book is not predictable at all and the author's technique to build tension enticed us to turn the pages quickly to discover answers to our questions.
The author cleverly used motifs and symbolism to present ideas to the reader. The idea of a Black Madonna works well with the characters in the story. The idea of bee-keeping and the queen bee works well with the theme carried throughout the story.
We were all pleased that this book was selected for book club and would like to highly recommend it to other book clubs and anyone interested in a great tale that will touch the heart.
The next book featured for the month of March is: 'Mr Rosenblum's List' by Natasha Solomon.
Until next time...
happy reading
