"The Secret Life of Bees" is a novel written in 2001 by Sue Monk Kidd. The novel was an immediate success, quickly attaining the New York Times bestseller list and staying there for two years. It won the 2004 Book Sense of the Year award and was made into a film starring Dakota Fanning and […]
Sue Monk Kidd
Sue Monk Kidd was born in Sylvester, Georgia in 1948. She graduated with a B.S. In nursing from Texas Christian University in 1970. After this, she worked as a registered nurse and nursing instructor for many years at the Medical College of Georgia.
In her 30's, she was influenced to take a writing course at a university in South Carolina and began attending writers conferences. A personal essay that she wrote in the class was eventually published in Reader's Digest and a Christian magazine called Guideposts. Kidd went on to become a Contributing Editor at the magazine.
Kidd's first three books are spiritual in nature. They are memoirs about her own experiences with Christianity and her journey from evangelical Christianity to feminism. Her first fictional novel, 'The Secret Life of Bees' (2001) received much critical acclaim and was an instant success and a New York Times bestseller. Kidd's second novel, 'The Mermaid Chair' (2005) received less praise but was still well received. Kidd's newest novel, published in 2014 is called 'The Invention of Wings' and is based on the life of an antebellum abolitionist and women rights advocate Sarah Grimke. It debuted at Number one on the New York Times bestseller list and was chosen for Oprah's book club.
Kidd married a man named Sanford Kidd and the two have two grown children. She currently lives in Florida.