The Secret Life of Bees Ausgezeichnet: Book Sense Book of the Year, Ausgezeichnet: Literature to Life Award

"A moving first novel...Lily is an authentic and winning character and her story is compellingly told. The bees presage her journey toward self-acceptance, faith and freedom that is at the heart of this novel." -USA Today
"Inspiring. Sue Monk Kidd is a direct literary descendant of Carson McCullers." -The Baltimore Sun

"Fully imagined...the core of this story is Lily's search for a mother, and she finds one in a place she never expected." -The New York Times Book Review

"This is the story of a young girl's journey toward healing, and of the intrinsic sacredness of living in the world. Simply wonderful." -Anne Rivers Siddons

""The stunning metaphors and realistic characters are so poignant they will bring tears to your eyes." -Library Journal

"Kidd has written a triumphant coming-of-age novel that speaks to the universal need for love" -New Orleans Times-Picayune

"The chapters...dance on the edges of 'Magical Realism,' that blend of the fabulous and the ordinary that can invest a tale with a sense of wonderment, as is the case here." -Richmond Times-Dispatch

"I am amazed that this moving, original, and accomplished book is a first novel. It is wonderfully written, powerful, poignant, and humorous, and deliciously eccentric. Do read it." -Joanna Trollope

"A wonderful novel about mothers and daughters and the transcendent power of love." -Connie May Fowler

"A truly original Southern voice." -Anita Shreve

"It's as if Kidd loaded up a take-home plate with treats, and you said 'Oh, I couldn't,' and then scarfed it down in the car on the way home." -Entertainment Weekly

"The tale of one motherless daughter's discovery of what family really means-and of the strange and wondrous places we love." -The Washington Post