SECRET LIFE OF BEES

The multi-million copy bestselling novel about a young girl's journey towards healing and the transforming power of love from the award-winning author of 'The Invention of Wings' (code 93102). Lily has grown up believing she accidentally killed her mother when she was four years old. Now aged 14 she yearns for forgiveness and a mother's love. Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her harsh and unforgiving father, she has only one friend, Rosaleen, a black servant. When racial tension explodes one summer afternoon and Rosaleen is arrested and beaten, Lily chooses to flee with her. Fugitives from justice, the pair follow a trail left by the woman who died ten years before. Finding sanctuary in the home of three beekeeping sisters, Lily starts a poignant and uplifting journey as much about her understanding of the world as the mystery surrounding her mother. By turns sad, full of incident and shot through with a grown-up magic reminiscent of the novels of Joanne Harris, and full of love, hope and forgiveness, the writing is humorous and deliciously eccentric. 374pp, fairly large print, paperback.