An Education

I was quite sure my post was going to come across sounding close-minded. Perhaps I can clarify some of my thoughts. We may have to agree to disagree! :-)


The issue of women-empowerment is not new. I didn't think it was fabulously done here. And I'm not big into female strength books - they don't do anything for me. So that was strike number one and really has nothing to do with evaluating the book on it's merits.

There are other books about the south that deal with civil rights, coming of age, and family relationships, and belonging that I like better ("To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Bridge to Terabithia").

There are books about redemption that I like better ("Les Miserables").

So here's what the Catholic Church believes about the Virgin Mary: Prayers and devotions to the Virgin Mary and the saints are a common part of Catholic life but are distinct from the worship of God.^[129] The Church holds Mary, the mother of Jesus, in special regard. She is honored with many loving titles such as "Blessed Mother" and "Mother of God". She is considered by the Church to be a spiritual mother to each believer of Christ. Because of her influential role in the life of Jesus, prayers and devotions asking for her intercession, such as the Rosary, the Hail Mary and the Memorare are common Catholic practices. (Roman Catholic Church; Wikipedia)

So according to the Catholic Church, Mary does not supplant God - she helps them worship God and communicate with Jesus. I don't personally agree with all this, but I can see where they are coming from. Sue Monk Kidd's characters have totally removed God from the equation. I believe it's because he's a MAN that the author chose to remove him from the book. And that's mainly why I have a problem with it. It's not different religions that bother me - it's that this has taken female empowerment too far for my tastes.

I don't think Monk Kidd needed to create this fake religion in order to get the point of her story across. August easily filled the mother-figure without needing Black Mary to accomplish that. May's rock wall was a sort of confessional - a way to release guilt. Those aspects of the story worked for me. Monk Kidd was a genius in the way she wove together all the symbolism - that is what I think worked.

My idea of religion in the south (which may or may not be accurate) has always been that whites often a harsher view of God than blacks. From what I've read, "black" religion was much warmer, kinder, and user-friendly. All that "Praise Jesus, Hallelujah" and gospel music shows happy people celebrating God and Jesus - not being scared of them! Would moderately educated black women in the south have created their own pseudo-religion? It seems far-fetched to me. AND I think Lily could have found the redemption she searched for from the classic Gospel of the Black South.

One thing I've realized lately is that for a novel to work for me - I have to be able to believe that it would really happen. I can believe in books like "Les Mis", "Pride & Prejudice", "Tom Sawyer", etc., because although they aren't about real people, they are about lives that real people led and they are relatable to OUR lives. I had a hard time with "Life of Pi" (I believe I'm the only one who didn't like that book) and other books like that because it took unbelievable circumstances and tried to apply the lessons learned to a real world. I can't get over the "but this could never happen" part. In "The Secret Life of Bees" there were just too many unbelievable circumstances: worshipping Black Mary, Rosaleen spitting on shoes, Lily being instantly welcomed by August with no explanation, T. Ray letting Lily go on living there (hello, isn't this the 60s?) and other things just did not seem believable to me.

So put it all together, and I just did not love this book.

I feel like I am not able to make a very sound argument against the book but there you have my attempt.