Telling the Bees, by Peggy Hesketh is a beautifully written novel, full of fascinating facts about bees. I wanted to like this novel more than I did, but in the end I found it mostly depressing.
The protagonist, Albert Honig, now in his 80's, looks back on his long and quiet life as a beekeeper, living in the same house he grew up in. Next door is his best friend Claire who he has fallen out of touch with in the last decade of her life. The book opens with Albert finding the the murdered bodies of Claire and her sister and traces back through the past to unravel their story.
A beautiful, yet sad and lonely book full of regret and missed opportunities. It ends with a poignant lesson in letting go. Not until Albert tells the bees of Claire's death, decades after the fact, is he truly able to let her go.
No comments:
Post a Comment