The Bees

by Laline Paull
Scott County Library audiobook 9CDs
read by Orlagh Cassidy
genre: fiction, bees, unusual

Other than a prologue and epilogue that bookend the story, the entire book is told from the bees' point of view. Specifically, a worker bee named Flora 717. I don't think I can do justice to a description of the book . . . so I'll grab one off Amazon.

"The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Hunger Games in this brilliantly imagined debut set in an ancient culture where only the queen may breed and deformity means death.Flora 717 is a sanitation worker, a member of the lowest caste in her orchard hive where work and sacrifice are the highest virtues and worship of the beloved Queen the only religion. But Flora is not like other bees. With circumstances threatening the hive’s survival, her curiosity is regarded as a dangerous flaw but her courage and strength are an asset. She is allowed to feed the newborns in the royal nursery and then to become a forager, flying alone and free to collect pollen. She also finds her way into the Queen’s inner sanctum, where she discovers mysteries about the hive that are both profound and ominous. But when Flora breaks the most sacred law of all—daring to challenge the Queen’s fertility—enemies abound, from the fearsome fertility police who enforce the strict social hierarchy to the high priestesses jealously wedded to power. Her deepest instincts to serve and sacrifice are now overshadowed by an even deeper desire, a fierce maternal love that will bring her into conflict with her conscience, her heart, her society—and lead her to unthinkable deeds. Thrilling, suspenseful and spectacularly imaginative, The Bees gives us a dazzling young heroine and will change forever the way you look at the world outside your window."

I didn't think I'd like it, but I ended up wanting to know what would happen to Flora and wanting her to succeed. I was very curious what a bee keeper would think of this book. (Yes, I could look up other people's reviews . . . but I'm tired and want to go to bed.)

I was surprised by passages in the book that had strong religious themes and language and others that were extremely sexual in nature. It was a very strange book, but interesting, too. I liked Flora's trip to the greenhouse, her fight with the wasp, and her courage in "reading" the queen's library and becoming a forager. I also liked Sir Linden, the drone. Odd but fun book! The vocal work was excellent.