Kidd's sensational novel is set in South Carolina in the summer of 1964, the summer the Civil Rights Act was passed. She writes from 14-year-old Lily Owens' point of view.

Lily lives with her abusive, unsympathetic father in a town filled with Baptist churches and peach farms. Her black substitute mother, Rosaleen, is arrested for pouring her snuff juice on three white racists' shoes as she walks to town to register to vote. Lily springs Rosaleen from jail and decides to run away to Tiburon, South Carolina with her. Lily found this town written on the back of her late mother's photo and is convinced it holds the secret to her mother's past.

Lily and Rosaleen are taken in by three bizarre black bee-keepers, a.k.a "The Month Sisters." August runs the honey-making business and is like a mother to everyone; she is a wise old owl. Her sister June is protective of her belongings and hates white people for reasons unknown to Lily. May, the third sister, is overly sensitive. She refuses to kill cockroaches, and can't stand to watch the news since it is filled with scenes of the Ku Klux Klan and death.

The Secret Life of Bees is a wonderful novel. Lily escapes from her father, masters the art of making honey, and learns of the mystery of the Black Madonna. The reader will learn about a time of friendship and hatred in one of the greatest turning points of America.