Consider other works by Sue Monk Kidd including The Mermaid Chair (2005) The Invention of Wings (2014) and her numerous short stories and spiritual, non-fiction writings.
Students should also read books about similar topics from alternative perspectives, such as Like One of the Family: Conversations from a Domestic's Life, which centers on black domestic workers. Unlike The Secret Life of Bees and other novels about the African-American experience, it was written by a black woman in the 1950s and provides a more accurate and nuanced historical context for this period. Like One of the Family is one of many books suggested by the Association of Black Women Historians (ABWH) that provide a...
