Secret Life of Bees

The Secret Life of Bees – Finished this book with Michael recently. It’s a mediocre book at best. While the story, characters and setting are all decently crafted. Nothing really excels here. The characters are the best part. They are drawn well and painted in good color. The author is good at tear-jerker scenes, and this would most definitely be classified as a “chick-book”. Unfortunately, there are no chances taken with the story. Thru most of the book I was dreading an inevitable confrontation with the “bad guys” of the story, and when it came it was terribly disappointing. Also, for a racially charged story set in the American South in 1964, the way the author dealt with the issues were fairly safe. Some people get beat up a little, but they recover. It’s safe to read this story. So, if that’s what you like, go for it. For me, it wasn’t a page turner. We would put it down for a week or more at a time. We finally finished it so that we could get on to something better.