Lily Owens has finally escaped the terrible wrath of her father with Rosaleen, a black woman who Lily thinks of as her mother after her real mom died in an accident that she caused. The pair go off to a bee farm and Lily learns the tale of her mother and steps across the black-and-white boundaries that are set on the United States at the time.

“Someone who thinks death is the scariest thing doesn’t know a thing about life.”

I really like the historical significance in this book. It shows the human factor at its worst and finest. Lily’s father, T. Ray, terrifies me. I believe that his character and others were hard to develop because T. Ray is a man that abuses people and uses his power as a father to get what he wants. It justifies the reasons why Lily is leaving home and makes him the main human protagonist.

“Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can’t remember who we are or why we’re here.”

I also love how the aspect of religion in this book can just be skimmed over. It’s a huge theme in the story but it doesn’t actually matter if you believe in the stories of the Bible or not. The books more about the separation between African Americans and white people in the United States after slavery was evicted from the living systems of the caucasian citizens and how Lily and Rosaleen rearrange their lives to a new understanding of things.

“The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters.”

 

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Disclaimer: If any of the following could trigger, do not read–racial slurs, suicide, murder, depression, abuse, and religious views.