Fourteen year old Lily Owens flees her cruel, angry father with her caregiver and friend, Rosaleen to a South Carolina town where she is taken in by the bee-keeping Boatwright sisters.

Set in South Carolina in 1964, [this book] tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the town's fiercest racists, Lily decides they should both escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters who introduce Lily to a mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and the Black Madonna who presides over their household. This is a remarkable story about divine female power and the transforming power of love--a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come

Lily has grown up believing she accidentally killed her mother when she was four years old. Now 14, she yearns for forgiveness and a mother's love. When her only friend, a black servant, is beaten, the two become fugitives from justice, and end up following a trail left by Lily's mother.

Fourteen-year-old Lily is on the run with her servant, Rosaleen, from her abusive father. Lily is haunted by her memories of her mother's death in a gun accident ten years earlier. They find their way to Tiburon, S.C., the headquarters of the Black Madonna honey company, headed by three middle-aged black sisters, August, May, and June. These three give shelther to Lily and Rosaleen, and let them work in their honey house. But August, the eldest sister, has penetrating questions for Lily, and Lily is determined not to yield. Despite her resistance, Lily is healed spiritually by August, and finds the mother she has been yearning for in herself.

Set in South Carolina in 1964, [this book] tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the town's fiercest racists, Lily decides they should both escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters who introduce Lily to a mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and the Black Madonna who presides over their household. This is a remarkable story about divine female power and the transforming power of love--a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.-Back cover.

Lily Owens is a young girl who lives on the peach farm that her abusive father owns. Rosaleen is a black woman hired by Lily's father to be a stand in mother for Lilly. Rosaleen insults some of the biggest racists in their town. Lily and Rosaleen run away to a town Lily believes that her mother once lived in. They go to live with the three Boatwright sisters on their honey farm. She finds solace in their mesmerizing world of beekeeping.

Now in paperback comes the intoxicating debut novel of "one motherless daughter's discovery of ... the strange and wondrous places we find love" ("The Washington Post"). Sue Monk Kidd's ravishing work is set in South Carolina in 1964.

Lily Owens is a young girl who lives on the peach farm that her abusive father owns. Rosaleen is a black woman hired by Lily's father to be a stand in mother for Lilly. Rosaleen insults some of the biggest racists in their town. Lily and Rosaleen run away to a town Lily believes that her mother once lived in. They go to live with the three Boatwright sisters on their honey farm. She finds solace in their mesmerizing world of beekeeping.