Last night, I finished reading The Secret Life of Bees. This is a fictional coming-of-age story of a 14-year-old white girl in South Carolina who accidentally shot her mother when she was 4 years old and is struggling to find closure with her mother and a surrogate mother figure.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. In general (and as can be expected) I have a hard time understanding at more than a surface level books that delve into the psyche of girls, women, mothers, etc. It's that damn Y chromosome getting in my way again. But this one I found to be very approachable. There is fairly heavy symbolism, including and especially bees (the main mother-figure in the book is a beekeeper). There aren't a lot of two-dimensional characters in the book, and one in particular who for the sake of the plot iws kept two-dimensional for most of the book still manages to find some depth and closure at the end.
I have twin daughters, twelve years old. I've gotten them through several phases of growing up, but I know that the most challenging one of all lies just around the corner. Books like this really make me wonder how I'll do at helping them to find the depth of their personality and to bring out their nurturing side. Perhaps I don't have to do that, and so long as I don't do anything to squash it, it wil bloom on its own. But as the most dominant role model in their lives, I constantly worry if I'm doing a good enough job of helping them grow into women. I try hard to be a nurturing dad, but I will never be a mom. These kinds of imponderables are the things that give all parents insomnia.
But I digress. The book was a good read, if slightly predictable. I definitely recommend it.
Next: Tomorrow's People, by Susan Greenfield. A while back I was interviewed by Robin Williams of the Science Show on Radio National in Australia. Bright guy, asked lots of great questions. After the interview, he asked me to read this book and send him my thoughts. I'll post my comments here too.
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