The History of Bees

September 18, 2017
In her first adult novel, Norwegian children’s author Lunde posits an apocalyptic future, weaving together stories on three continents in three different time periods that revolve around honeybees. In 2098, Tao, a human pollinator for fruit trees in a world devoid of bees, struggles along with her husband to make ends meet. She’s is devoted to her three-year-old son, Wei-Wen, who suddenly has a mysterious and catastrophic accident. In 1851, William Savage, a father of eight in Hertfordshire, England, believes he has finally come up with an ingenious design for the perfect beehive, which will not only save the family from financial decline but will also bond him with his only son, Edmund. George, a beekeeper in 2007 Ohio, is desperate to have his son, Tom, take over the family business, even though Tom is pursuing an academic career. George prides himself on his work and the hand-built hives that have been in his family for generations, but everything changes when disaster strikes apiaries across the U.S. As the author adroitly switches back and forth among the intense stories, she explores the link between parents and children, and the delicate balance of expressing parental expectations versus allowing grown children to follow their own passions. There is also the strong theme about the potentially bleak outcome for a world that ignores the warning signs of environmental catastrophe and allows honeybees to disappear. Lunde’s novel provides both a multifaceted story and a convincing and timely wake-up call.

Three parallel timelines, each with a connection to bees, alternate in this audiobook from Norwegian author Maja Lunde. In near-future China, Tao works as a laborer, hand-pollinating crops following the extinction of bees; in Ohio, 2007, a bee farmer clashes with his son over the son's chosen career path; and in rural England in the 1850s, a depressed scientist designs a new beehive. The narrators, each reading a different subplot, transition the listener easily between them. This thoroughly researched novel relies heavily on exposition and internal narration, however, and plodding pacing from Joy Osmanski and Steve West, in particular, may have listeners struggling to remain engaged. E.C. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine