Lily reflects on the significant events of the summer of 1964, which she describes as the time when the bees arrived and her life took a transformative turn. At that time, Lily was only four years old, and she vividly recalls a distressing incident involving her parents. During an intense argument between them, Lily stumbled upon a gun that had fallen to the floor. Accidentally, she picked it up, causing it to discharge and tragically kill her mother. This traumatic event shaped Lily's life profoundly.
Lily's father, T. Ray, is depicted as emotionally distant, cold, and often cruel towards her. She perceives him as an inadequate father, to the extent that she addresses him as T. Ray rather than using a more affectionate term. Before these events, a woman named Rosaleen worked at T. Ray's orchard. However, after Lily's mother's death, T. Ray withdraws Rosaleen from the orchard and brings her into their home. Rosaleen assumes the role of a surrogate mother to Lily, providing care and support. Lily refers to her as her "stand-in mother." This chapter establishes the context of Lily's life leading up to the summer of 1964, emphasizing the absence of a maternal figure and the impact it has had on her identity.
Incident where Lily accompanies Rosaleen as they head to register her to vote. This takes place during the summer when President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. On their way to the registration site, Rosaleen becomes the target of harassment by a group of white men. The situation escalates, and both Lily and Rosaleen are subsequently arrested after Rosaleen pours the contents of her snuff bottle on the men's shoes.
Lily and Rosaleen in the back of a police car after their arrest. Lily realizes that the police, represented by an officer named Avery Gaston, will not protect Rosaleen, but they might extend some form of protection to her. Eventually, T. Ray arrives to pick up Lily, leaving Rosaleen behind in jail. Upon returning home, Lily and T. Ray engage in a heated argument. During the confrontation, T. Ray reveals a painful truth to Lily - on the day her mother died, her mother had left both Lily and T. Ray, intending to retrieve her belongings.Lily perceives T. Ray's revelation as an attempt to punish her, convincing her that her mother never loved or protected her.
After the intense altercation, Lily resolves to run away, but not before freeing Rosaleen from jail. Sneaking into the hospital where Rosaleen is being treated for the injuries sustained during the confrontation, Lily manages to successfully rescue her. The two women then hitch a ride to Columbia. Upon being dropped off three miles outside of Tiburon, Rosaleen questions Lily's choice of destination. Lily reveals a significant photograph that belonged to her mother, which depicts the Black Madonna with the inscription "Tiburon, South Carolina" on the back. Lily explains that her mother had been to Tiburon before and may still have friends there, making it a possible place for them to seek refuge. Initially skeptical, Rosaleen eventually reconciles with Lily, understanding that Lily's actions were driven not only by the desire to liberate Rosaleen but also to escape from T. Ray. The chapter ends with both Rosaleen and Lily apologizing to each other and enjoying a bath in the river.
Lily and Rosaleen continue their journey towards Tiburon, but Lily realizes that she hasn't formulated a plan for what they will do once they arrive there. She shares her concern with Rosaleen, suggesting that they find a motel. However, Rosaleen dismisses the idea, stating that no hotel in South Carolina would allow a Black woman to stay. Lily, naively optimistic, mentions the significance of the Civil Rights Act in changing such discriminatory practices.
Upon reaching the town, Lily enters a general store to purchase lunch
for both of them. Inside the store, she notices a familiar Virgin Mary card that she has from her mother displayed prominently on the front of jars filled with honey, labeled as "Black Madonna Honey." The store owner informs Lily that the honey is produced by a woman named August Boatwright, who has chosen to incorporate the image of the Black Virgin Mary because she herself is Black. The owner kindly provides Lily with directions to August's house.
Lily and Rosaleen arrive at a distinctive pink house, where they are greeted by three sisters: August, June, and May Boatwright. Lily decides to share only a partial truth about their situation with August, although August immediately recognizes Lily. Lily informs August that both of her parents have passed away, and sheand Rosaleen, who used to work as her housekeeper, are en route to Richmond, Virginia, in search of Lily's aunt. Without hesitation, August offers them a place to stay. However, Lily notices a hint of displeasure from June, though she remains unaware of the reason behind it.
Lily and Rosaleen settle into the honey house on the property. Rosaleen is assigned the task of assisting May with the indoor chores, while Lily is assigned to work with August in taking care of the bees. During a conversation, Lily and Rosaleen discuss the reasons behind Lily's decision to withhold the complete truth from August Boatwright. Rosaleen eventually concedes that Lily has the freedom to handle her secret as she wishes.
Later that night, as Lily explores the surroundings, she stumbles upon a stone wall on the property. To her surprise, the wall is adorned with numerous small pieces of paper, each containing tragic events and sorrowful stories written on them. Intrigued, Lily follows the sound of running water and discovers a small river. She decides to wade in the water for a while before returning to the honey house.
Lily reflecting on the first week she spends with the Boatwright sisters, describing it as a period of immense relief. August reaches an agreement
with Lily and Rosaleen, allowing them to work off their room, board, and other necessities provided by August. Lily notes that nobody questions the story she has told about her parents and their situation. Rosaleen forms a close bond with May, the youngest of the Boatwright sisters, whom Lily describes as having a childlike demeanor in an adult body. May exhibits several peculiar habits that initially confuse both Rosaleen and Lily. Rosaleen notices that May often bursts into the song "Oh! Susanna" when something unfortunate is brought to her attention. Rosaleen explains to Lily that May copes well as long as things are light and happy, but when confronted with sadness or negativity, she is overwhelmed by a bout of tears. "Oh! Susanna" serves as May's way of warding off her sadness.
One night, Lily overhears a conversation between August and June, during which she learns that June's uneasiness and potential dislike towards Lily and Rosaleen stem from Lily being white. This revelation surprises Lily, as she has never encountered or heard of people rejecting others based on their race. The overheard conversation also revealsthat both August and June are aware that Lily is lying. While June strongly believes that they should confront Lily and demand the truth, August trusts her intuition, believing that they should provide Lily and Rosaleen with shelter and wait for Lily to confide in them when she is ready.
Lily assists August in tending to the bee house, while Rosaleen helps May with household chores. Every evening, they gather to watch the news together and then engage in prayers in the presence of a Black Mary statue in the parlor, referred to as Our Lady of Chains by the sisters. August imparts knowledge about beekeeping to Lily, eventually taking her to see the beehives. Among other things, August explains that a swarm consists of a queen and a group of independent-minded bees that have separated from the hive. As Lily spends more time with August, both in beekeeping tasks and during leisure moments, she starts hoping that August will never send her back to T. Ray. This development strains not only Lily's relationship with June but also with Rosaleen, who feels abandoned and unneeded by Lily.
August reveals to Lily the reason behind May's behavior and why she is the way she is. When May and her twin sister, April, were fifteen years old, April experienced a racially motivated incident, which led her into a deep depression that ultimately ended in her suicide. May was profoundly attached to April and never fully recovered from the loss.
August describes May's demeanor as that of someone who cannot detach herself from the overwhelming griefs of the world. Lily discovers the "wailing wall" that May has constructed - a wall filled with documented tragedies, similar to the one Lily had encountered during her walk. It serves as a way for May to externalize her grief and not keep it solely within herself.
Neil, a man who harbors feelings for June Boatwright. May informs Rosaleen and Lily that Neil has been proposing marriage to June for years, but June always rejects him. May reveals that June's reluctance to marry again stems from being left at the altar by the man she loved years ago. Despite her affection for Neil, June has made it clear that she will never marry again. Neil shows an interest in Lily and Rosaleen, making it challenging for Lily to maintain her fabricatedstory.
On the first Sunday that Lily and Rosaleen are present, the sisters organize achurch service in the pink house specifically for the Daughters(and one son) of Mary. During the service, August decides to share the story behind the Black Mary statue in the parlor, referred to as Our Lady of Chains. August explains that during the time of slavery, a slave named Obadiah discovered a wooden figure of a Black woman floating in the river. Believing it to be a divine sign, he brought the statue to the praise house. By the following Sunday, everyone had started worshiping the statue, and the eldest slave among them declared it to be Mary, the mother of Jesus. Threatened by the power of the statue, the slave master took it away and chained it up multiple times, but the statue miraculously freed itself each time. They named her the Old Lady of Chains, not because she had been chained, but because she had broken free from them.
Towards the end of the service, all the attendees are invited to touch the heart of Our Lady of Chains. Lily hesitates but eventually feels compelled to participate. As everyone takes their turn, Lily approaches the statue. At that moment, June stops playing the piano, and a hush falls over the room. Overwhelmed, Lily faints, June retreats to her room, May goes to the wailing wall, and when Rosaleen tries to offer support to Lily, she pulls away. Lily interprets being able to touch Mary's heart as a sign that she can finally summon the courage to confess the truth to
August.
It has been eight days since Lily and Rosaleen arrived at the Boatwright sisters' house. Lily's anxiety about being discovered and tracked down intensifies. Complicating matters further, she develops romantic feelings for Zach, August's godson who has returned to work on the bee farm. Lily realizes that their feelings are mutual but understands that acting on them is impossible due to the racial divide and the potential consequences their relationship would face. Lily accepts Zach's friendship, acknowledging the limitations of their connection. Meanwhile, the distance between Lily and Rosaleen grows as Rosaleen moves into May's bedroom to provide comfort and support during May's troubled nights. Lily and Zach share their dreams - Zach's aspiration to become a lawyer and Lily's past desire to be a writer. Zach gifts Lily anotebook, encouraging her to pursue her writing aspirations.
August offers Lily another opportunity to confide in her, but Lily continues to withhold the truth. The entire household overhears a heated argument between June and Neil, resulting in Neil storming away after calling June a "selfish bitch" for refusing to marry him. This argument feels different from the previous ones, and tensions at the bee farm escalate for everyone involved.
Lily and August spend more time alone working with the bees. August persists in giving Lily opportunities to share her truth, but Lily still hesitates. Lily takes the opportunity to inquire about August's life, the significance of the Black Madonna, and why August remains unmarried. August openly answers all of Lily's questions. She explains that she placed the Black Madonna on the honey jars to allow the Daughters of Mary to see themselves in the divine. August reveals that Our Lady of Chains, a statue passed down in her family since the post-Civil War era, is actually a ship masthead, but people saw what they needed to see in it. Regarding her single status, August confesses that she values her freedom more than any romantic relationship she has encountered.
When August attempts to learn more about Lily, Lily deflects and shifts the focus. Instead, August asks Lily about her likes and loves. Lily mentions her affection for Rosaleen, Coke with peanuts, and the color blue. Surprisingly, August shares that her favorite color is also blue. Lily questions why, if blue is her favorite color, the house is painted pink. August explains that May chose the color for the house, and although August didn't particularly love it, she believed that granting May this small happiness was more valuable than adhering to her own preference. While Lily and August are on bee patrol, August imparts knowledge to Lily about the hive's functioning, emphasizing the importance of each member's role for the survival of the entire colony.
Before Lily accompanies Zach to collect money and deliver honey to Mr. Clayton's law office, Zach shares during lunch that a famous movie star will be visiting town and bringing a Black woman with him to the theater, where she will sit in the white section downstairs. At the law office, Lily makes a collect call to her father, who expresses clear anger and frustration. Lily refuses to reveal her location to T. Ray butbefore hanging up, she asks him what her favorite color is, receiving no response. Upon returning to the house, Lily writes a letter to T. Ray, pouring out her true feelings of disappointment, resentment, and disbelief that her mother abandoned her. Ultimately, she tears up the letter. Late at night, after everyone has gone to bed, Lily approaches Our Lady of Chains, seeking her assistance, and finally touches the statue's heart.
Women at the pink house waking up to an extremely hot day. August takes Lily along to water the bees, and it is during this task that Lily experiences her first bee sting. After lunch, August and Lily join Rosaleen and May in a sprinkler session with the hose on the front lawn. June comes outside and initially gets angry at the noise they are making, but Lily ends up spraying June with the hose. Eventually, June collapses on the lawn, soaking wet, and when they get up, June embraces Lily. Later that night, everyone in the house goes to bed early. Lily, unable to sleep, enters the pink house and finds May creating a trail of marshmallows and graham crackers to guide a cockroach safely out the door. This act reminds Lily of something T. Ray had once told her about her mother -
she had a dislike for killing anything and would instead lead cockroaches out of the house using a similar method. Intrigued by this connection, Lily decides to ask May if she knew her mother. May immediately responds affirmatively, but before Lily can ask any more questions, May starts humming "Oh! Susannah."
Lily has a dream in which her mother appears with the body of a woman and the legs of a cockroach. This unsettling dream leaves Lily on edge, and although she yearns to ask August about her mother, she remains too afraid to do so. Lily accompanies Zach on a trip to town, where they witness a group of white men pacing around the theater, seemingly awaiting the arrival of the famous movie star and his Black companion. Zach joins a group of boys across the street, and when one of the white men yells at them, a boy in the group throws a coke bottle at the men. The police arrive, and although none of the boys confess to throwing the bottle, they are all takento jail, including Zach. Mr. Clayton, Zach's lawyer friend who buys honey from August, takes on the case, but it will still be a few days before Zach is released from jail. Lily assures Zach that she will write a story about everything that has happened. The sisters' decision not to inform May about the news backfires when May discovers it anyway, causing her to enter a catatonic state that leaves everyone in shock.
After May has been at the wailing wall for about 20 minutes, the entire household becomes concerned and goes in search of her. August eventually finds May in the river with a stone from the wailing wall placed over her chest. May has taken her own life by drowning. Lily moves into May's room with Rosaleen, while August and June retreat into their own personal periods of mourning. The sisters observe a mourning period during which May's body is displayed in the house, and the Daughters of Mary visit daily to pay their respects. On the first day of May's memorial, Mr. Clayton arrives at the house accompanied by Zach, who was released from jail when an eyewitness identified the person who threw the bottle. During the memorial, the Daughters share humorous anecdotes about the viewing parlor at the white people's funeral home, and Lily is relieved that the jokes continue without discrimination towards her because she is white.
On the second morning of the vigil, June and August discover a note left by May. In the note, May explains why she felt compelled to leave, stating that she could no longer bear the weight of her grief. She expresses that it is her time to die and their time to live. August and June embrace, crying in each other's arms. In a significant moment, August openly tells June that she needs to marry Neil for the first time.
After May's burial, August and June isolate themselves in their own private spaces to mourn, making them inaccessible to Lily. Zach becomes fixated on discussing the race riots in New Jersey, and Lily senses a change in him since his release from jail. A few days later, Rosaleen prepares a special dinner for the four of them, and August once again asks June if she will marry Neil. Finally, June gives her long-awaited response and says yes. August places May's suicide note into acrevice in the Our Lady of Chains statue, symbolizing the end of the mourning process.
The next morning, Lily wakes up to prepare for Mary Day, a two-day celebration that takes place on the Feast of the Assumption. The women work together in the kitchen to prepare for the festivities. During this time, Neil enters the house and asks June to marry him, and she finally accepts his proposal. The Daughters of Mary arrive, and the celebration commences. Lily fully participates in the rituals of Mary Day, which includes the ceremony of adorning the statue with chains for the night. The statue is then wheeled out to the honey house. Lily slips away with Zach and shares their first kiss by the river. Although they cannot be together at the present moment, Zach assures Lily that he will come back for her someday.
Lily and Zach assist the Daughters in cleaning up the yard after the Mary Day celebration. While some members of the group continue cleaning in the kitchen, Lily goes upstairs to wait for August in her bedroom. There, Lily opens up to August and shares the entire story of how she ended up in Tiburon with the Boatwright sisters - starting from her fight with T. Ray to the accidental death of her mother and her
subsequent arrest with Rosaleen. To Lily's surprise, August reveals that she recognized who Lily was from the very first moment she saw her. Lily expresses her desire to know everything about her mother. As the story becomes overwhelming and disappointing at times, August allows breaks during the narrative. August attempts to help Lily understand that her mother's abandonment had nothing to do with Lily herself but was rooted in her mother's own sadness and depression. August discloses that on the day Lily's mother died, she was planning to return for Lily and bring her back to the pink house to be with August, May, and June. Lily learns that her mother had fallen out of love with T. Ray and didn't want to marry him anymore even before discovering her pregnancy with Lily. Lily feels a heavy sense of responsibility for her mother's unhappiness and regrets that her mother felt compelled to marry someone she didn't love due to the pregnancy. August comforts Lily and tucks her into bed, assuring her that nothing in life is perfect. She explains thatLily's dream of her mother could only persist as long as Lily was willing to avoid facing the truth.
Alone in the honey house, Lily finds it difficult to fall asleep. Filled with anger and sadness, she vents her frustration by smashing every bottle of honey, causing honey and glass to cover both herself and the Black Mary statue. Exhausted, Lily eventually falls asleep on the floor, where Rosaleen discovers her the following morning. Lily is covered in honey and blood from the cuts on her hand caused by broken glass. While Rosaleen helps Lily bathe, Lily opens up about her conversation with August. Rosaleen expresses sadness but admits that she is not entirely surprised that Lily's mother did indeed leave her. Upset with Rosaleen for not sharing what she knew or heard, Lily questions her, to which Rosaleen responds that she would never want to hurt Lily with such a painful truth. Together, Lily and Rosaleen clean the honey house and remove the honey from the Black Mary statue. The Daughters of Mary arrive for the second day of the Mary festivities, during which they cover the statue in honey, causing the chains to slide off. August explains to Lily that honey is a preservative and that it is beneficial for the statue. She emphasizes that honey is not only sweet but also strong.
August presents Lily with a box containing her mother's belongings,
which were left behind ten years ago. Among the items, Lily discovers her mother's hairbrush, a pin, and a book of poetry. Additionally, August gives Lily a small framed photo of herself and her mother when Lily was a baby. Seeing the happiness in the photo, Lily feels a moment of love.
Understanding Lily's need to grieve, August gives her the space and time she requires, exempting her from helping with the bees or performing chores. Lily spends this period alone by the river, contemplating how to start letting go of the immense pain she has held onto for so long. The house carries on its usual activities while allowing Lily the necessary solitude. June and August begin preparing for June's upcoming wedding, Rosaleen buys a new dress and goes into town to register to vote, and Zach enrolls in the white high school for the next academic year.
When Lily finally starts reengaging with the house, August invites her to assist withthe bees and shows her a hive that is lacking a queen. August explains the dire consequence of the entire hive dying if they don't find a replacement queen. On the same afternoon, while Lily is writing in the notebook given to her by Zach, T. Ray suddenly appears at the house, consumed by rage. He demands that Lily get into the car and return home with him. Lily refuses to comply, leading to a heated argument. Lily reveals that this is where her mother sought refuge when she ran away. T. Ray's suppressed grief and anger surface upon seeing Lily wearing the pin he had given her mother. He addresses Lily as "Deborah" and attempts to forcefully take her with him. August, June, and Rosaleen return to the house simultaneously with the arrival of the Daughters of Mary. August persuades T. Ray to allow Lily to stay with her. After some arguments, T. Ray reluctantly agrees. Rosaleen and Lily continue to reside with August, and Lily moves into June's room after June moves in with Neil. Lily befriends Mr. Clayton's daughter, Becca, and together with Zach, they spend their high school days together. Lily keeps her mother's belongings displayed in August's house, and when Becca inquires about them, Lily shares the story of her mother with her.