The Music of Bees

March 1, 2021
It would not take a trained therapist (although she has one) to determine that Alice Holtzman is desperately seeking a new community. At 44, she has already lost both parents and her husband in fairly close succession, and now even her long-standing job at the county planning department is in jeopardy. So Alice seeks solace in the bees she is raising, finding permanence in their supremely structured lives that eludes her own. She'd like to expand her nascent honey business, but she'll need help. Enter Jake and Harry, two physically and emotionally damaged young men who are seeking the very same sense of belonging and stability. Jake was left paraplegic during his senior year of high school after a girl-impressing stunt went horribly wrong, while newly homeless Harry is trying to atone for the misguided, friend-impressing caper that put him jail. There are quirks to be worked out as these three fragile beings find common ground caring for Alice's bees and each other, but their journey is rich with possibility. Both buoyant and bittersweet, Garvin's impressive first novel, a luscious paean to the bonds of friendship and limitations of family, is the kind of comforting yet thought-provoking tale that will appeal to fans of Anne Tyler and Sue Miller.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.