Lily Owens is a young girl who lives on the peach farm that her abusive father owns. Rosaleen is a black woman hired by Lily's father to be a stand-in mother for Lily. When Rosaleen and Lily walk into town they are approached by some white men. Rosaleen insults these racists by standing up for her rights. The angry men give her a beating and she ends up in the hospital. Lily's father rescues Lily but not Rosaleen so Lily talks Rosaleen into running away. They end up in a town that Lily believes her mother once lived in. They go to live with the three Boatwright sisters on their honey farm, and there Lily finds solace in the mesmerizing world of beekeeping.