The Secret Life of Bees
by Sue Monk Kidd
The Let’s Talk Ƶ It, Oklahoma book discussion series at OCU University will continue with “The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd at 7 p.m. Oct. 27 in Walker Center room 151.
The discussion series is titled “Hope Amidst Hardship.” It is made possible through a grant from the Oklahoma Humanities Council.
Beautifully written and set in a South Carolina town in 1964, this story is about Lily, a fourteen-year-old who has always known that she was the cause of her mother’s death. Raised by an uncaring father, the only love she finds is from the family’s African-American maid Rosaleen. When racial tensions result in Rosaleen’s imprisonment, Lily finds a way to rescue her and they set out together to escape their shared hardships.
At each session in the five-part series, a humanities scholar makes a presentation on the book in the context of the theme. Small group discussions follow with experienced discussion leaders. At the end, all participants come together for a brief wrap-up.
Those who are interested in participating are encouraged to preregister and borrow the reading selections and theme brochure by calling Harbour Winn at (405) 208-5472, e-mailing him at [email protected] or dropping by the Dulaney-Browne Library room 211 or 207.
Winn, director of the Center for Interpersonal Study through Film & Literature at Ƶ, hopes the series will help participants find a “commonality of hope and perseverance.”
“Recognizing ourselves in others, even as we read of hardship, is a major reason we find reading enjoyable,” Winn said. “Hardship comes in many varieties, and the books in this series offer varied examples but present a common theme: there is hope along the way. Sometimes this hope comes from deep within ourselves. Sometimes it comes from others in unexpected ways.”
Remaining dates and books in the series include:
Nov. 10 — “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom