Author Review - Sue Monk Kidd

by Tristi Pinkston | More from this Blogger

12 Jan 2007 11:47 AM

Sue Monk Kidd exploded onto the literary scene in 2002 with the release of her first work of fiction, "The Secret Life of Bees," which I reviewed last summer here on Families.com. Let's take a few moments to learn more about this intriguing author.

Like her characters in "Bees," Sue was born and raised in the south, in a small Georgia town called Sylvester. She says that she thought about her childhood in Sylvester while writing "Bees," and it's evident from reading the book that she is very well familiar with that area.

Her father was a creative storyteller, and as a child she loved to listen to him. This greatly influenced her later life as she inherited his flair for weaving a tale, a flair which was noticed by her English teachers in school. At the age of fifteen she read "Walden" by Thoreau - very deep reading for a teenager, as it focuses on the spiritual, but she found herself affected by this book and it outlined the course for her future writing career.

In 1970 she graduated from college with a degree in nursing and went on to work in pediatric and surgical floors at the hospital in addition to teaching nursing at the college. She married and had two children during this time. It was not until she was nearly thirty that she was able to return to her first love, writing.

Her first published work was a personal essay submitted to Guideposts Magazine and then reprinted in Readers Digest. Not a shabby start, by any means. After submitting regularly to Guideposts for a time, she became a Contributing Editor, publishing several hundred articles.

Her first full-length book chronicled her own journey into contemplative Christian spirituality and is entitled "God's Joyful Surprise," published in 1988. Her second book was even more introspective; called "When the Heart Waits," it came out in 1990. As she learned more about feminist theology, the book "The Dance of the Dissident Daughter" was released, causing some fervor in religious circles, but not having read the book I can't offer an opinion of my own.

As mentioned, Sue's first fiction novel was published in 2002 by Viking. "The Secret Life of Bees" tells the story of Lily, a fourteen-year-old girl living with an abusive father, a black housekeeper, and a deep secret. She runs away to escape her father's beatings, taking her housekeeper with her, and they end up finding a home of rest and security, on a beekeeping farm, of all places. In reading an excerpt from Sue's website, I find that it's supposed to be about "the often unacknowledged longing for the universal feminine divine." I didn't get that at all from the book; I thought more about Lily's search for a mother. It is true, however, that mothers are divine.

"Bees" has sold more than 4.5 million copies and is now part of the curriculum in many universities and high schools across the nation. It is currently being adapted into a movie, after being produced on the New York play circuit.

Sue published her second novel, "The Mermaid Chair," in 2005. It has sold more than 1.7 million copies and was made into a TV movie starring Kim Basinger this last year. Forgive me for being biased, but this story didn't appeal to me the way "Bees" did. While "Bees" had an element of innocence shattered in it, the innocence that was lost was that of social inequality between the races as Lily sees how blacks were treated in the world in that era. "The Mermaid Chair" delves into physical relationships and tells the story of a woman who leaves her husband for a time and has an affair with a monk while she's away. It has been critically acclaimed by many, but did not appeal to me.

Meanwhile, Sue continues to write about her spiritual journeys and has just released a collection of her articles for Guideposts entitled "Firstlight," offering insight into her formative years as a spiritual seeker. She lives in South Carolina where she writes in a study lined with books that has a fabulous view of the creek and the marsh birds. She has been the nominee and the winner of many awards in the literary world. I have no doubt we'll be seeing much more of her in future.

Information for this article was gathered from Sue Monk Kidd's website.

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I've been a blogger for Families.com since August of 2006.

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