flo.rankin@gaflnews.com



TIFTON – A book written by a Sylvester native is on the New York Times list of bestsellers and has been widely acclaimed by critics.

Sue Monk Kidd’s “The Secret Life of Bees” is the story of Lily, a motherless girl growing up in the 1960s in South Carolina. The black woman who cares for Lily while her abusive father works in his peach orchard is attacked by whites while trying to register to vote.

Kidd’s father, Ridley Monk of Sylvester, said his daughter worked for the devotional magazine Guideposts for several years and has written five Christian books. “The Secret Life of Bees” is her first novel.

“She’s the prettiest, nicest girl you ever saw,” Monk said. “Her mother and I are very proud parents.”

Monk said Kidd originally wrote “The Secret LIfe of Bees” as a short story and entered it into a contest sponsored by the South Carolina Writers Guild. As the first-place winner, she went to a National Writers Guild meeting in New York, where she met an agent who later sold the book idea to Viking Press.

Monk proudly read some of the book’s reviews. It was described by the Atlanta Constitution as “a radiant first novel.”

“On Feb. 4, People magazine had my daughter’s picture in it, and the review says, ‘This is a funny, sweet foray into fiction,’ ” Monk said. “The London Times said it was ‘charming, funny and moving.’

The book was the No. 1 best seller for the month of February among independent bookstores and is going to be translated into Dutch and Hebrew. Kidd has also signed an option for a movie.

Monk said Kidd calls him her “South Georgia marketing department.” He recently set up a display at the Tifton-Tift County Public Library and hopes to arrange for book signings in Tifton and Sylvester.

A copy of “The Secret Life of Bees” was recently presented to the Tiftarea Academy library, where Monk’s grandchildren go to school.

“It looks like she’s really going to be blessed with this book,” Monk said. “Everybody here, her mother and I, are extremely excited, as you might expect.”

The book is available in Sylvester at Main Street Gifts, or at major bookstores anywhere.



To contact city editor Florence Rankin, call 382-4321, ext. 209.