The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia: book review

The Murmur of Bees (2015, English translation 2019) is set in rural Nuevo Leon, near Monterrey in Mexico, from 1910 to the 1930s against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution and the flu pandemic that killed thousands.

Under a bridge, old Nana Reja finds an abandoned baby, disfigured, ‘as horrible as he may be’ and covered with bees. Beatriz and Francisco Morales adopt him, and name him Simonopio, but everyone calls him Bee Boy, because bees follow him and protect him.

Kissed by the devil, the local say, Simonopio arrives into a family with two older, beautiful, sisters, kissed by the angels, called Carmen and Consuelo.

In October 1918, for three months, when Simonopio is ten years old, the flu kills many people, and the villagers blame Bee Boy. Simonopio too gets the fever, but ‘one minute he was motionless, burning up; the next it was as if the last fews days of unconsciousness and convulsions had never happened.’

Simonopio masters the art of silence, and grows to have great talents: he can see the future. What is he going to do with this talent? Is he going to break his silence? And when does he help others and when does he not?

The story is partly narrated in his old age by Francisco Junior, born in 1923, the youngest son of Beatriz and Francisco, and partly written in the third person.

This is the tale of mysterious powers that have the ability to change families, and people’s lives – and that of the nation.

The novel is lengthy, moving like bees, sometimes slowly and sometimes with direct purpose and focus, and sometimes with a sting in its tail.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass...

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog