Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Secret Life of Bees | 2001 | Sue Monk Kidd | Buy |
| 2 | The Mermaid Chair | 2004 | Sue Monk Kidd | Buy |
| 3 | The Invention of Wings | 2014 | Sue Monk Kidd | Buy |
| 4 | The Book of Longings | 2020 | Sue Monk Kidd | Buy |
Sue Monk Kidd’s four novels cover very different periods and places, united by her interest in women finding their voices against restrictive circumstances. The Secret Life of Bees (2001) is set in Civil Rights-era South Carolina and follows a teenage girl who discovers family and belonging in an unexpected place. The Mermaid Chair (2004) is a more personal story about a woman grappling with desire and obligation on a South Carolina island.
The Invention of Wings (2014) alternates between the perspectives of abolitionist Sarah Grimke and Handful, an enslaved woman, in antebellum Charleston. The Book of Longings (2020) imagines a young woman named Ana in first-century Galilee who marries Jesus of Nazareth and has her own ambitions as a writer. Each novel stands completely on its own.