Sue Monk Kidd – författare

THE New York Times BESTSELLERThe stunning bestseller about a woman who finds her voice and her destiny, from author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings'Transporting, life-affirming, gripping. It is simply brilliant' Mel Giedroyc'Fascinating . . . Clever, rebellious Ana is a memorable character' The Times'Brilliant . . . Brava!" The Daily MailAna is born in Galilee at a time when women are seen as possessions, only leaving their fathers' homes to marry. Ana longs to control her destiny. Taught to read despite her mother's misgivings, she wants to be a writer and to find her own voice. A voice that will speak for the silenced women around her.Betrothed to an elderly widower, Ana almost despairs. But an encounter with a charismatic young carpenter in Nazareth awakens new longings in her, and a different future opens up. Yet this is not a simple love story. Ana's journey will bring both joy and tragedy, but it will also be enriched by the female friendships she makes along the way. The Book of Longings is an exquisite tale of dreams and desire, and of the power of women to change the world.'One of my favourites' Alicia Keys'I kept having to close this novel and breathe deeply, again and again . . . It is a true masterpiece' Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed'Unleashes the reader's imagination with glorious evocations of extraordinary times and places, allowing our minds to roam . . . Original, challenging, beautiful' Adele Parks, Platinum'Compelling . . . Ana is a truly wonderful character, strong and inspiring, and her life story so captivating that it swept me along' Good Housekeeping'This moving novel by bestselling author Sue Monk Kidd persuasively imagines the marriage between a brilliant young woman and Jesus' Daily Mail'Incredible . . . A story which is full of humanity, love and tenderness - and one which touched me deeply.' Brown Flopsy's Book Bureau'The way that Hamnet gave a voice to Shakespeare's wife, this does the same for Ana . . . One of the greats for historical fiction' Books by Bindu'Not a day has passed since I finished reading it that I have not thought about Ana, her story and the beautiful lyrical words Sue has written' TheFallenLibrarian'I loved it. I loved the feminist theme, I loved the language and I loved the imagery of putting voice to your longings and then giving birth to them. Just fab' BetweenMyLines'Glorious. Beautiful. Life-affirming' Buried Under Books

· A QUEEN'S READING ROOM PICK 2023· OVER 125 WEEKS ON THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LIST· MADE INTO AN AWARD-WINNING MOVE STARRING QUEEN LATIFAH, DAKOTA FANNING, ALICIA KEYS, SOPHIE OKONEDO AND JENNIFER HUDSON· AN ACCLAIMED STAGE MUSICALLily has grown up believing she accidentally killed her mother when she was four years old. Now, at fourteen, she yearns for forgiveness and a mother's love. Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her harsh and unforgiving father, she has only one friend, Rosaleen, a black servant.When racial tension explodes one summer afternoon, and Rosaleen is arrested and beaten, Lily chooses to flee with her. Fugitives from justice, the pair follow a trail left by the woman who died ten years before. Finding sanctuary in the home of three beekeeping sisters, Lily starts a journey as much about her understanding of the world as about the mystery surrounding her mother. 'A wonderful book, by turns sad, full of incident and shot through with grown-up magic reminiscent of Joanne Harris' Daily Telegraph'Charming, funny, moving' The Times'Wonderfully written, powerful, poignant . . . read it' Joanna TrollopeWhat readers are saying about The Secret Life of Bees:'One of the most poignant and heart tugging books I have ever read' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Emotional and heart-breaking, yet full of hope and love. I laughed and cried equally through the book. This wonderful book will stay with me for a long time to come' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'One of the best books I've read in a while. Touching, well-written, beautiful, full of expression, insightful' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'A beautifully written masterpiece. I loved the writing, the descriptions, the humour sprinkled through the story. There was sadness and love, hope and forgiveness. I highly recommend this book' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

The multi-million bestselling novel about a young girl's journey towards healing and the transforming power of love, from the award-winning author of The Invention of Wings and The Book of Longings Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted Black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina—a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of Black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.

From the bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Book of Longings: an intimate work on the mysteries, frustrations, and triumphs of being a writer, and an instructive guide to awakening the soul.When Sue Monk Kidd was in high school, a home economics teacher wrote a list of potential occupations for women on the blackboard: teacher, nurse, librarian, secretary. “Writer” was nowhere to be found. On that day, Kidd shut the door on her writerly aspirations and would not revisit the topic until many years later when she announced to her husband and two children that she was going to become a writer. And so began her journey into the mysteries and methods of the writerly life…In Writing Creativity and Soul, Sue Monk Kidd will pull from her own life and the lives of other writers—Virginia Woolf, Maya Angelou, Harper Lee, and many others—to provide a map for anyone who has ever felt lost as a writer. At the heart of this book is the unwavering belief that writing is a spiritual act, one that draws inspiration from the soul, that wellspring of creativity between imagination and feeling. Once you tap into that part of yourself, said Maya Angelou, there are only three more things you need as a writer: something to say, the ability to say it, and, perhaps most difficult of all, the courage to say it.Equal parts memoir, guidebook, and spiritual quest, Writing Creativity and Soul is a pilgrimage and a touchstone, a journey into the transformational force of the imagination and the creative genius that lies in the unconscious.

The New York Times-bestselling second novel by the author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings

From the New York Times bestselling author of THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES and THE INVENTION OF WINGS and her daughter comes a touching and perceptive memoir about mothers and daughters that will resonate with women of all ages.Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter Ann chronicle their travels together at a time when each had reached an important turning point in her life. What emerged was a quest for Ann and Sue to redefine themselves and also rediscover one other. Against the backdrop of the sacred sites of Greece, Turkey and France, Sue grapples with the problem of how to expand her vision of swarming bees into the novel that she feels compelled to write, whilst newly-graduated Ann ponders the classic question of what to do with her life.

Don't miss the extraordinary new novel from Sue Monk Kidd, The Book of Longings - published on 21st April 2020, and available to pre-order nowThe Invention of Wings: The No. 1 New York Times bestseller. A powerful and extraordinary novel about the unlikely friendship between two exceptional women during the last years of slavery in the US. From the celebrated author of the multi-million-copy-bestselling novel The Secret Life of Bees. 'Fascinating... A splendid tribute to a pair of true heroines' The Times'Wonderful - well-written, moving and engaging by turns, and always compelling' Daily Mail'A remarkable novel that heightened my sense of what it meant to be a woman - slave or free' Oprah Winfrey'A resonant, illuminating novel' ObserverSarah Grimké is the middle daughter. Her mother says she's difficult and her father says she's remarkable. On Sarah's eleventh birthday, Hetty 'Handful' Grimké is taken from the slave quarters she shares with her mother, wrapped in lavender ribbons, and presented to Sarah as a gift. Sarah knows that what she does next will unleash a world of trouble. She also knows that she cannot accept another person as a present. And so, indeed, the trouble begins ...A powerful, sweeping novel, inspired by real events, and set in the American Deep South in the nineteenth century, The Invention of Wings evokes a world of shocking contrasts, of beauty and ugliness, of otherwise respectable people living daily with cruelty they fail to recognise; and celebrates the power of friendship and sisterhood against all the odds.What readers say about The Invention of Wings:'You cannot fault Sue Monk Kidd's writing; she very adeptly speaks with both Sarah and Handful's voice. The pictures she paints are vivid, compelling and haunting; this is not a novel I will easily forget' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars'I was not expecting this book to grab my heartstrings and pull the way that it did' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars'The weaving of fact and fiction into a powerful novel covering abolition of slavery, women's ambitions in 19th century America, love, family, betrayal and hope for a better future make compelling reading' Amazon reviewer, 5 stars'Unforgettable. This book was completely and utterly dynamic. From the first word to the last I was enthralled with Sarah and Handful. So powerful' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

The No. 1 New York Times bestseller.THE INVENTION OF WINGS by Sue Monk Kidd was selected as an Oprah Book Club 2.0 pick on December 10, 2013.From the celebrated author of the international bestseller The Secret Life of Bees comes an extraordinary novel about two exceptional women.Sarah Grimké is the middle daughter. The one her mother calls difficult and her father calls remarkable. On Sarah's eleventh birthday, Hetty 'Handful' Grimké is taken from the slave quarters she shares with her mother, wrapped in lavender ribbons, and presented to Sarah as a gift. Sarah knows what she does next will unleash a world of trouble. She also knows that she cannot accept. And so, indeed, the trouble begins ... A powerful, sweeping novel, inspired by real events, and set in the American Deep South in the nineteenth century, THE INVENTION OF WINGS evokes a world of shocking contrasts, of beauty and ugliness, of righteous people living daily with cruelty they fail to recognise; and celebrates the power of friendship and sisterhood against all the odds.

Writing is more than language and story.It also involves the creation of self.Writing is about who we are and who we are becoming.After taking up writing at the age of thirty, Sue Monk Kidd has created some of the world's most treasured stories. In Writing Creativity and Soul she shares exactly how she did it - from plunging her innermost depths, to voyaging to sacred spaces, to studying the precise methods of the greats and refining her own. Laying her creative journey bare, Sue explores the moments in which she lost her voice and when she found it again, as well as the profound insights she gained along the way.Part memoir, part philosophical investigation, part advice to aspiring writers, this is a guide to awakening the soul. Everything that readers loved about The Secret Life of Bees is to be found in the pages of Writing Creativity and Soul - the warmth, the fierce intelligence, the wit, the spiritual hunger, the search for beauty and meaning and, perhaps above all, the rebel heart.