Music of Bees, The
Garvin, EileenApart from thousands of honeybees for company, Alice Holtzman is mired in loneliness having been unexpectedly widowed and not yet ready to move on. However, Alice's commitment to and expansion of her beekeeping enterprise proves to be transformative, including for the young men who are to help her on her property: teenager Jake and the slightly older Harry, both of whom are also struggling with the hands that fate has dealt them.
Set in rural Oregon, this is a heart-warming and uplifting story of friendship, new beginnings and finding oneself, bound together by the fascinating and absorbing backdrop of beekeeping.
Pages
320
320
Year
2021
2021
Reviews
06-03-2024
Enjoyed by all. A nice start to the year - especially for the beekeepers in our group.
13-02-2024
Mixed views from not gritty enough to pleasant reading. Those of us who liked it described the book as a gentle read. Those who did not like the book were looking for some action.
11-01-2024
We all enjoyed this novel. Three main characters each with differing challenges, interspersed with the 'lifestyle' of honeybees. We had an interesting discussion.
13-10-2023
A pleasant book that everyone enjoyed! Great characters. We discussed how Book Club is less fun when we all agree!!
02-10-2023
We all enjoyed this book - explains how crucial bees are to human survival and raises many related issues for discussion.
02-10-2023
We all loved the book. Soft, gentle story of overcoming grief. Just felt the ending was a bit "unfinished".
08-08-2023
Enjoyed by all. We thought 'family' can be made up of anyone.
03-08-2023
A lovely uplifting story that we all enjoyed.
19-06-2023
Popular read with our book. Plot a little 'too good to be true' but well-written. An easy, feel-good read.
15-06-2023
Light read, pleasant and predictable. Enjoyed by those who read it. A comfort read.
07-06-2023
A moving, heartwarming read, although the ending seemed to be ineffectual. Generally it was surprisingly enjoyed. We loved the 'quotes' at the beginning of each chapter, plus the life cycle of the bees. Great information.
11-05-2023
We all loved this book - it was good to see how everyone tied in together and the bee facts were great. We all learnt a lot about bees! The only complaint would be that it all ended up happily ever after and life it not generally like that, but that aside, we all enjoyed the story. Easy read and great discussion as always.
03-05-2023
We loved this book.
17-04-2023
Lovely light feel good read. Loved the interesting bee facts throughout the book.
28-03-2023
Our group unanimously enjoyed this book from beginning to end. A moving story with loveable characters, importance of community, the environment and in depth knowledge of bee keeping.
28-03-2023
Most of the group loved this book. One member thought it was one of her best reads. We had a big discussion focused on the community in the story. Coming from a small rural area we all related to that.
23-03-2023
Most of the group loved this book. One member thought it was now one of her best reads. We had a big discussion mainly focused on the community support in the story. Coming from a small rural area we all related to that.
09-03-2023
Members enjoyed the book overall - learned about bees, and the characters were believable. Felt it all tied up too perfectly at the end - too much said. Easy summer read.
02-03-2023
The characters were well depicted in the story. An easy read - we still have a lot to learn about bees!
13-02-2023
Loved it! Best book of the year!
19-12-2022
The book was enjoyed - there are lessons to be learned from bees. One member found the text pale and difficult to read at night.
17-11-2022
'Music of Bees' shows great insight into the needs of all age groups to be accepted and have a sense of belonging in order to stay emotionally well. Everyone enjoyed this book and learnt a lot about bees, giving renewed interest and concern about their environment.
14-11-2022
We all enjoyed this book. It was interesting on the subject of bees - though some of us took no notice of those parts - and the characterisation of lonely people who find comfort and life-purpose through looking after bees made for enjoyable reading.
08-11-2022
We all enjoyed this book. Easy light reading after two 'heavy' ones. Love, compassion and community spirit - all the things we need these days. Learnt about the bees too.
12-10-2022
Nice easy read with a happy ending. Likeable characters. Loved by all.
28-09-2022
Small print bothered some members, but all enjoyed the story and claimed they learnt a lot about bees and beekeeping.
23-09-2022
Enjoyable book.
21-09-2022
Great book - easy read.