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A review by heartofoak1
The Honey Thief by Elizabeth Graver
3.0
started off promisingly, a widow decides to move out of New York City in order to make a better life for her young daughter. the neighborhood they're living in is changing (crime, drugs) and so is 11 year old Eva who has begun shoplifting and acting out. Miriam, the mom, thinks a move to upstate NY is the way to change the course of their lives. life, as we know, isn't as simple as that.
it's summer so school is out, Miriam doesn't have the money to send Eva to camp, there are no other children nearby so Eva is isolated with only an elderly sitter for company. one day while riding her bike Eva discovers a simple roadside "stand" offering honey for sale. there's no one around, the honor system cash box is there, the jarred honey looks so pretty...
we meet Burl the beekeeper who befriends lonely Eva. Burl teaches Eva about the bees, and how he's trying to save his colony from the diseases that are killing it...
ok, so i liked the story up until this point when it took on a darker turn.
everyone in the story was "damaged" or hurt or needed help in some way and honestly i found the theme depressing. poor Eva was obsessed with the possibility that she'd lose her mother, Miriam obsesses over the death of her husband who was a suicide brought on by his bi-polar disease and also if Eva would be genetically at risk of bi-polar disease, Burl was hung up on his "lost love" and having been inadequate in his father's eyes for not becoming an attorney and opting for a quite life on the farm...
then.... there's an accident which brings the three of them together. meh.
i did find the bee keeping information interesting. the hard look at mental health issues was unsettling, to put it mildly, but well rendered, i thought.
it's summer so school is out, Miriam doesn't have the money to send Eva to camp, there are no other children nearby so Eva is isolated with only an elderly sitter for company. one day while riding her bike Eva discovers a simple roadside "stand" offering honey for sale. there's no one around, the honor system cash box is there, the jarred honey looks so pretty...
we meet Burl the beekeeper who befriends lonely Eva. Burl teaches Eva about the bees, and how he's trying to save his colony from the diseases that are killing it...
ok, so i liked the story up until this point when it took on a darker turn.
everyone in the story was "damaged" or hurt or needed help in some way and honestly i found the theme depressing. poor Eva was obsessed with the possibility that she'd lose her mother, Miriam obsesses over the death of her husband who was a suicide brought on by his bi-polar disease and also if Eva would be genetically at risk of bi-polar disease, Burl was hung up on his "lost love" and having been inadequate in his father's eyes for not becoming an attorney and opting for a quite life on the farm...
then.... there's an accident which brings the three of them together. meh.
i did find the bee keeping information interesting. the hard look at mental health issues was unsettling, to put it mildly, but well rendered, i thought.