It is 1964, the year of the Civil
Rights Act, in America.
Fourteen-year-old Lily is on the run with a motherly servant Rosaleen.
They are running from both Lily's father, T. Ray and the police, who battered Rosaleen for defending her new
right to vote. Lily is also running from memories, particularly her confused recollection of how, as a
four-year-old, she accidentally shot and killed her mother during a fight with
T. Ray.
Among her mother's possessions, Lily
finds a picture of a black Virgin Mary with "Tiburon, S.C." on the
back - so she and
Rosaleen head there. It
turns out that the town is where "Black Madonna Honey", produced by three middle-aged
black sisters, August, June and May Boatwright is made. The three sisters take
in the fugitives, putting Lily to work in the honey house, where for the first
time in years she is happy. But August, clearly the queen bee of the
Boatwrights, keeps asking Lily questions. However, Lily is a budding writer and she is fiercely protective
of her secret interior life.
Susan Kidd's success at
capturing the adolescent girl's voice makes her ambivalence both comprehensible and
charming.
This book
explores the topics of racism, love, standing up for what is right, and finding
oneself. I would recommend this book to
readers of all ages who are interested in something a bit different, enjoyable,
and relatively easy to read
By Eleanor Ward (Year 8)