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VIKING, 2002
(available in paperback from Penguin, 2003)
THIS DEBUT NOVEL, set in South Carolina after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, weaves the coming-of-age story of Lily Owens with themes of race relations, feminism, and divinity. Fourteen-year-old Lily, who lives with her abusive father on his rural peach farm and is cared for by Rosaleen, her sage African-American nanny, is haunted by her own role in the mysterious death of her mother ten years earlier.
When Rosaleen becomes the victim of a racist attack, she is arrested while trying to defend herself; Lily helps her escape from the law. Together they flee hatred and racism to the Black Madonna Honey sanctuary—an apiary run by three black beekeeping sisters. There they find a community of wise women who celebrate the female spirit and find healing in a nurturing, powerful sisterhood.
In the biblical story of the Exodus, manna tastes like “honey cakes.” In The Secret Life of Bees, honey cakes symbolize the body of Mary. The beekeeping sisters, May, June, and August, bake them for their Daughters of Mary annual Mary Day celebration, when their sisterhood gathers to pay tribute to their own Our Lady of Chains and give thanks for the honey crop.
Gathered in a circle, the women take turns placing the cakes on their tongues. Lily’s cynicism (she is sure the “pope would have keeled over if he’d seen this”) melts when it’s her turn to receive a cake: She feels the “sweetness of honey cake spread through” her. The Secret Life of Bees drips with honey, and it’s hard not to crave a taste of it while devouring the book.
Sue Monk Kidd savored the taste of honey while writing her book. “Long ago, honey was regarded as a magical, sacred substance” and was also thought to contain a ‘resurrection potency,’” Kidd has written. Kidd ate honey “religiously” and kept a jar of honey on her desk while writing The Secret Life of Bees.
When the novel was finally published, even Kidd’s husband got into the act. Kidd told us:
When a friend threw a party to celebrate the publication of The Secret Life of Bees, my husband, who loves to cook, made this scrumptious honey cake, using a beehive mold, and speckled it with almond-paste bees. Later, I convinced him to bake another one when my friends and I decided to throw a Mary Day party similar to the Mary Day I wrote about in the novel. People all over Charleston, South Carolina, are still talking about how good those honey cakes were!
Sue Monk Kidd shared her husband’s secret: a delicious honey cake recipe he found in the Martha Stewart catalogue. Originally written for a beehive mold, we have adapted the recipe for a tube or bundt pan.
For the cake |
|
3 1 tablespoon baking powder ¾ teaspoon baking soda ¾ teaspoon salt 2¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, plus extra for preparing pan |
1¼ cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1½ cups milk 6 egg whites ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar |
For the honey-caramel glaze 5
¼ cup light brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract |
For the sugar glaze ¼ cup water 1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar |
Place rack in center of oven. Preheat to 350° F. Butter a 10-inch tube or bundt pan. Dust with flour, tap out excess, and place the pan in the freezer until ready to fill.
To make the cake: Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves in a large bowl.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Gradually drizzle in honey, continuing to beat until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat to combine. On low speed, alternately add small amounts of the flour mixture and the milk, mixing until just blended after each addition, and ending with the flour mixture.
In another mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff, glossy peaks form. Fold whites into the batter.
Fill the tube pan with batter, distributing evenly, and bake 40 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil and bake an additional 15–20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes.
Turn the cake out of the pan, supporting the bottom with your hand. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. When cool, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Place the cake on a rack with a tray underneath to catch drips.
To make the honey-caramel glaze: Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the honey and brown sugar and bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Stir until sugar dissolves completely. Add the vanilla. Remove from heat and cool 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Spoon warm honey-caramel glaze over the cake to cover completely. While the glaze sets, prepare the sugar glaze.
To make the sugar glaze: Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and cool 1 minute. Then, spoon half the sugar glaze over cake so it drizzles down the sides. Allow to set, then spoon the remaining sugar glaze on top. Transfer the cake to a plate to serve.
Yield: 12 to 16 servings
NOVEL THOUGHTS
The Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation in Vicksburg, Mississippi, was founded to preserve and understand the diverse cultural heritage of Vicksburg, the Mississippi Delta, and the American South. The foundation’s Southern Book Club comprises native southerners and some transplants and is devoted to the works of southern writers.
The group relished the cultural authenticity of The Secret Life of Bees. “The author captured the southern feeling,” says Linda Parker, “the soft voices, the close relationships between African-Americans and whites that others never expect from the South, the love and the hospitality. It’s all in The Secret Life of Bees. The characters were very real, which is not true of every book we read.”
More Food for Thought
Members of the Northwest Passages, a Seattle-area book club, feasted on fried-chicken salad with honey-mustard dressing, oven-fried okra, sliced tomatoes, biscuits with honey, honey cake, and banana cream pie for their discussion of The Secret Life of Bees. “The menu brought the flavor of the South to the Pacific Northwest and set the mood for our discussion,” says member Lois Gelman.
The Basehor Community Library in Basehor, Kansas, provides desserts or other snacks tied to the books’ themes for their Culinary Book Club’s monthly meetings. “It’s always something we can pass around and eat as we discuss the book,” says Jenne Laytham, the club’s coordinator. When the club read The Secret Life of Bees, they enjoyed biscuits with honey and honey-kissed chocolate drop cookies. “We also drank Coke from bottles to which we added peanuts, as the characters in the book do,” adds Laytham. “I thought it tasted fine.”
cups sifted cake flour, plus extra for pan
teaspoon ground cloves
cup honey