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A review by gingerellaj
The History of Bees by Maja Lunde
4.0
I received this book as an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.
The History of Bees is the story of three generations of beekeepers: William in 1852 England; George in 2007 Ohio; and Tao in 2098 Sichuan. The story and experience of each character is quite different, yet with similarities, and fundamentally intertwined as the fate of bees change over the centuries. In the UK, the bee is certainly beloved so I was fascinated by having this as a thread running through each story. I found all of the characters interesting and what each of them endures was rather touching. The book does jump from each different character and era, so I found myself wanting to continue on the path of that particular character before quickly becoming absorbed in the current focus; this shows well-written characters, and effective implementation of this technique (which doesn't always pay off but it did here!). I did guess some plot-turns but it didn't detract from them. I definitely enjoyed it and would recommend it to others who don't mind the story jumping between time periods (I appreciate not everyone does).
The History of Bees is the story of three generations of beekeepers: William in 1852 England; George in 2007 Ohio; and Tao in 2098 Sichuan. The story and experience of each character is quite different, yet with similarities, and fundamentally intertwined as the fate of bees change over the centuries. In the UK, the bee is certainly beloved so I was fascinated by having this as a thread running through each story. I found all of the characters interesting and what each of them endures was rather touching. The book does jump from each different character and era, so I found myself wanting to continue on the path of that particular character before quickly becoming absorbed in the current focus; this shows well-written characters, and effective implementation of this technique (which doesn't always pay off but it did here!). I did guess some plot-turns but it didn't detract from them. I definitely enjoyed it and would recommend it to others who don't mind the story jumping between time periods (I appreciate not everyone does).