This book review has been a long time coming!
I originally picked this up over the Easter break and made a good start on it BUT, endless bits of reading for my degree took over and it ended up being tucked away back on my book shelf for a few weeks. So I've finally been back on the road to picking up my own reading and I've been gripped back into it since. With the help of the glorious bank holiday sunshine, I've been out in the sun finishing it off.
A little bit of context : Lauline Paull originally published this in 2014 and won the Baileys women's prize for fiction in 2015. I was recommended to read this by Waterstones after I had read the Handmaids tale. It's a similar idea of being set in a totalitarian state, yet this one is interesting in that it is from the perspective of bee hive. I read an interview from on her inspirations to write the novel and it was purely down to having a friend who was a beekeeper and she ended up being fascinated by the bees and thus read into them and one thing lead to another and she produced this amazing book.
Paull writes this complex brilliantly as her well researched presentation of bees helps bring the realism into a utterly fictional text.
A (spoiler free) synopsis: Flora 717 is a bee who works in the sanitation department of the hive. She is at the lowest of the low in the social ranking of the hive. The whole colony of bees are in 'harmony' with the hive and are programmed to "accept, obey, and serve" meaning to everything for the sake of the mother aka, the queen bee. There are strict laws such as only the queen can produce eggs and a hierarchy is very much apparent. But Flora's life changes when she is granted other work opportunities, she works her way up the social ladder and comes across situations where she is essential in protecting and saving the hive. The moral undertones of the novel are about courage, individuality, and loyalty but they are explored in a way only Lauline Paull could imagine.
My thoughts: I really enjoyed reading The Bee's and I would totally recommend this book to anyone who likes dystopian type fiction. Was a well written and entertaining text that was very thought provoking - what more do can you ask from a book?
I hope you're having a lovely bank holiday weekend and you enjoyed this short book review. I never know whether to explore the book more but risk giving away spoilers - let me know whether you want to know more in future book reviews or if you would rather they were spoiler free.
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