The Music Of Bees
When social pariah Alice Holtzman crashes her pick-up truck packed with 120,000 restless honeybees into a troubled, paraplegic teenager, it is the start of an unlikely friendship that will help both of them through the darkest stages of grief.
Set in the gorgeous, sprawling countryside of the Pacific Northwest, Eileen Garvin’s THE MUSIC OF BEES is about finding friendship in the most unlikely of places, and the families we choose for ourselves. Heart-warming, inspirational and redemptive, it is perfect for fans of THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS and Rachel Joyce.
‘It’s the bees, with all their wonder and intricacy and intrigue, that make this story sing’ Laurie Frankel
After the sudden death of her husband, Alice Holtzman finds herself a social outsider. Reclusive, middle-aged, childless, and with only 850,000 honeybees for company.
On the other side of town, Jake Stevenson and his enormous black mohawk had a bright future in front of them studying music, all until an accident at a high school party leaves him in a wheelchair.
So when Alice nearly crashes her pick-up truck, packed with thousands of restless honeybees, into Jake, the last thing she expects from the near-miss is to find that Jake has a gift: not only is he a natural with bees, but he can hear their buzzing as a form of music. . .
And when Harry, a twenty-four-year-old with debilitating social anxiety, also arrives at the farm looking for work, unexpected friendships begin to blossom.
As these new friends begin to heal one another, all seems right with their world – until the buzzing stops. With a pesticide company threatening the local honeybee population, and everything they have worked for, this trio must unite to defend their bees.
Duffy’s Thoughts on The Music of Bees
The ‘up-lit read that takes you out of stressful suburbia and to a sprawling country town. A real treat for nature lovers and those looking for a heartwarming and gentle read with immense heart.
Every now and again, I like to take a break from heart-stopping thrillers and non-fiction reads and switch up to something a little kinder on my stress levels, creating a place I can escape to for a few hours. I found it in The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin.
Alice Holtzman has lost her way. Her parents died, and her husband and she secludes herself away at her sprawling property, taking comfort in her bees. Jake is a vibrant, intelligent 18-year old who ended up in a wheelchair after a tragic accident. Harry carries many social and anxiety struggles on his shoulders. The bees bring these three seemingly lost characters together, and Garvin weaves a wonderful story full of warmth, sunshine, hope and love.
2021 doesn’t seem to be treating us exceptionally well this year, and I found myself hiding away from the news to dive into this book every chance I got. It really is refreshing to enjoy the very best in human nature and how three lonely people can come together and create a strong, stable, incredibly loving family unit. The finer details of beekeeping and the life of Alice Holtzman’s precious bees add another, almost magical layer to the story and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about bee-keeping and the little bee-worlds inside the hives.
If you love nature, particularly bees, want to escape to the country and read the last page feeling really rather wholesome. The Music Of Bees is for you.
If you loved The Music Of Bees – Check out Duffy’s other Up-Lit reads
