secret life of bees

Chapter 1: Lying on her bed, Lily waits for the return of the bees that have begun to live in the walls of her bedroom. The year is 1964; Lily is about to turn fourteen. She lives alone with her father, Terrance Ray, and their black housekeeper and nanny, Rosaleen. Lily can’t bring herself to call her cruel, confused father “Daddy,” so she calls him T. Ray instead. Rosaleen warns her to watch out, because “bees swarm before death.” Lily insists on telling T. Ray about the bees, so she wakes him up, even though she suspects it will only anger him. It does. Lily reminisces about her mother, who died when she was four years old. Lily intimates that she had a significant, albeit accidental, role in her mother’s death. Then Lily recounts the last memory she has of her mother: December 3, 1954—the last day her mother was alive.

Chapter 2&3: Mr. Avery Gatson, the policeman, drives Lily and Rosaleen to jail while the three white men follow in their pickup truck. Lily is impressed by how resolute and strong Rosaleen seems. When they arrive at the jail, the three men are waiting. They demand that Rosaleen apologize. When she refuses, one hits her on the head with a flashlight. Mr. Gatson then takes the two women into jail. T. Ray soon comes to take Lily out, but they leave Rosaleen behind. While driving home, T. Ray tells Lily that one of Rosaleen’s three attackers—Franklin Posey—is the town’s worst racist and that he will kill Rosaleen even if she does apologize. At home, T. Ray scolds Lily harshly, but she stands up to him. She tells him that her mother will not let him harm her, but he laughs at the idea that her dead mother functions as her guardian angel. He tells Lily that Deborah had already abandoned Lily when she returned home and was killed. This comment hurts Lily deeply, but she does not believe T. Ray. She notices that the bee jar next to her bed is empty, and she realizes that she too needs to escape her own jar. She needs to run away.

Chapter 4&5: Lily and Rosaleen arrive at the Boatwright house, which is painted bright pink. August stands out front, wearing a beekeeper’s helmet and working with the beehives. June Boatwright answers the door, with May Boatwright behind her. Lily finds May to be not “altogether normal” and finds June to be a bit harsh, but August, who soon comes in, is very warm. Lily notices a three-foot-tall statue of a black Mary known as “Our Lady of Chains” in the corner of the living room. She senses its spiritual power. Lily tells August that she and Rosaleen have run away, because her father has died in a tractor accident. She claims that they are headed to Virginia to be with her aunt Bernie. Lily thinks that August has seen right through her lies and feels a twinge of guilt. However, she wants to be accepted into the house too badly to risk being honest.

Chapter 6&7: When Lily wakes, she discovers a very tall black man named Neil hanging around at the Boatwright house. He is June’s sweetheart. June refuses to marry him, although he continues to ask for her hand. Lily wonders why none of the three sisters is married. Later that day, the Daughters of Mary—August’s spiritual community—arrive for services. The Daughters are a group of six women (and one man) who wear elaborate hats. The service, which focuses on the black Mary statue, involves much singing and dancing and praying aloud. In the middle, August begins to tell the story of the black Mary statue, referring to it as “Our Lady of Chains.” The story describes how the statute was found in a river, then brought into a community of black slaves. The slaves began to worship it, until their owner took it. The owner, intending to keep it away from the slaves, chained the statue up, but it miraculously, and continually, escaped. The statue offered the slave group spiritual unity and power and began to be passed down through generations. After the story has been told, the Daughters of Mary take turns touching the statue’s painted heart while singing and dancing together. When Lily’s turn comes, however, she feels overwhelmed and blacks out. Everybody blames the fainting spell on the heat. Later that night, while watching television, they see a report on an impending lunar rocket landing.

Chapter 8: When a new shipment of Black Madonna labels for the honey jars arrives, August asks Lily to help her apply them. During their work, they begin to talk about the things they love. August explains the symbolism behind the black Mary and talks about how the statue entered her possession. In addition, they talk more generally about female strength, and August explains to Lily why she decided to never get married: she did not want to give up her autonomy. Afterward, they go to the hives and listen to the secret sounds bees make while inside their homes. Lily learns that the queen bee is the mother of thousands and that the bees fly out and cover her body. Lily stays calm while the bees dance on her skin. August tells Lily that they need to have a talk. Lily knows why, and she gets nervous. At home, May makes a special lunch because she has avoided the wailing wall for five straight days. At lunch, Zach reports on a rumor: a white movie star is coming to town and intends to see a movie with his black girlfriend. No one is sure whether to believe this rumor, but everyone agrees the rumor itself could cause some serious unrest in town.

Chapter 9: August wakes Lily up. It is extremely hot, and they need to water the bees to keep them cool. Lily gets stung while replacing a lid on a hive box. August tells her she could not be a true beekeeper without getting stung. Lily feels proud of the fact that, in August’s eyes, she has become a true beekeeper. “A writer, an English teacher, and a beekeeper,” she thinks. When they get back to the house, they find Rosaleen and May having a water fight with the sprinkler outside. They are laughing and giggling like children. May taunts August and Lily, and eventually they join in the games. Later, June comes down angrily and tries to pry the sprinkler from Lily. But their tussle of frustration becomes one of love, and they begin to laugh together. Afterward, Lily goes to take a nap to escape the heat but is haunted by thoughts of her mother. Going into the pink house, she finds May on the ground with marshmallows and graham crackers, a technique her mother also used for getting rid of roaches.

Chapter 10&11: While Lily sits with August, Rosaleen, and June in the kitchen, May goes out by herself and does not return. Eventually, the other women go out to find her. She is not by the wailing wall. They call the police, but, before the police arrive, they find May’s body drowned in the river. She has committed suicide. When the police come, they interrogate Lily and tell her that living with black women is beneath her dignity. Everyone prepares to hold a vigil, and the Daughters of Mary arrive with a large amount of food. The next day, Zach is freed from jail and comes to pay his respects to May’s body. Lily feels very close to the whole community—sensing that there is no difference between her and the others, even though she is white. August and Lily drape the hives in black cloth so that the bees can mourn symbolically. On the second day of the vigil, August finds May’s suicide note and reads it with June. It urges them both to live their lives fully. August interprets this to mean that May wants June to marry Neil. They hold the vigil for four days straight. It is the end of Lily’s first month in Tiburon.
Chapter 12&13: After her talk with Zach, Lily goes directly to August’s room and waits for her. She decides the time has come for them to talk about her mother. In her room, she feels comfortable and takes note of the décor, which is all blue and features a picture of the angel Gabriel offering a white lily to Mary. When August arrives, they begin to talk at once. Lily learns that August has known her identity for the entire time that Lily has lived in the house and that August once knew Deborah. August explains that she worked as a housekeeper in Deborah’s childhood home and helped raise Deborah from age 4 to age 19. August talks about Deborah as a child, and Lily eagerly listens to every detail. Lily tells August that her father is not really dead, but that he treated her very badly. After Lily explains to August what T. Ray had said—that her mother had left Lily behind when she ran away—Lily begins to cry uncontrollably. August urges her to cry as much as she needs, to let it all out, and Lily does. After she is done crying, Lily explains to August why she ran away with Rosaleen. Finally, she tells August about her role in the death of her mother. Hearing it all, August tells her that she loves her, and they move into the kitchen.
Chapter 14: After her conversation with August, Lily spends some time alone. She struggles to forgive her mother but finds it incredibly difficult. August realizes that Lily needs time to grieve for her mother, just as everybody recently needed time to grieve for May. Rosaleen and the Boatwright sisters, conscious of Lily’s need to grieve, stay out of Lily’s way. Meanwhile, June prepares for her wedding, which is set for October 10. When Lily finally gains enough strength to reenter the social world, she comes upon Rosaleen in a new dress. Rosaleen tells Lily that she is wearing the dress because she is going to register to vote. Lily is shocked and worried, because of what happened the last time Rosaleen tried to register, but August assuages her. Lily realizes she is proud of Rosaleen. Later, Lily runs into Zach, who tells her he is headed to the white high school the upcoming year. Lily commiserates, telling him she most likely will have to go back to Sylvan.