The Bees - by Laline Paull (Paperback)

About the Book

"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 assets. She is allowed to fee the newborns in the royal nursery and then to become a forager, flying alone and free to collect nectar and pollen. A feat of bravery grants her access to 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 preeminence - enemies abound, from the fearsome fertility police who enforce the hive's strict social hierarchy to the high priestesses jealously wedded to power. Her deepest instincts to serve and sacrifice are now overshadows by a greater power: a fierce maternal love that will bring her into conflict with her conscience, her heart, and her society - and lead her to perform unthinkable deeds"--Back cover.

Book Synopsis

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.

From the Back Cover

This brilliantly imagined debut tells the story of Flora 717, a devout young worker bee who finds herself in possession of a deadly secret

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 assets. She is allowed to feed the newborns in the royal nursery and then to become a forager, flying alone and free to collect nectar and pollen. A feat of bravery grants her access to 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 preeminence--enemies abound, from the fearsome fertility police who enforce the hive's strict social hierarchy to the high priestesses jealously wedded to power. Her deepest instincts to serve and sacrifice are now overshadowed by a greater power: a fierce maternal love that will bring her into conflict with her conscience, her heart, and her society--and lead her to perform unthinkable deeds.

Thrilling, suspenseful, and spectacularly imaginative, The Bees and its dazzling young heroine will forever change the way you look at the world outside your window.

Review Quotes

"Fascinating... engrossing... Paull's clear fascination with her source material brings humanity and warmth to a depiction of the remarkable social world of bees, which is no small achievement." -- --Huffington Post

"The Bees is an extraordinary feat of imagination, conjuring the life of a beehive in gripping, passionate and brilliant detail. With every page I turned, I found myself drawn deeper into Flora's plight and her immersive, mesmerizing world." -- --Madeline Miller, bestselling author of The Song of Achilles --Madeline Miller, bestselling author of The Song of Achilles

"This is a rich, strange book...convincing in its portrayal of the mind-set of a bee and a hive. I finished it feeling I knew...how bees think and live. This is what sets us humans apart--our imagination can...create a complete, believable world so different from our own." -- --Tracy Chevalier, New York Times bestselling author of Girl With a Pearl Earring

"Told with rapturously attentive imagination...Few novels create such a singular reading experience." -- --The New York Times Book Review

"Riveting... evocative and beautiful." -- --NPR

"Richly imagined" -- --Los Angeles Times

"[A] gripping Cinderella/Arthurian tale with lush Keatsian adjectives." -- --Margaret Atwood, via Twitter

"THE BEES is one wild ride. A sensual, visceral mini-epic about timeless rituals and modern environmental disaster. Paull's heart pounding novel wrenches us into a new world." -- --Emma Donoghue, The New York Times bestselling author of Room

"It quickly became clear that in its basic facts, the novel sticks closely to real-world apian biology and behavior. That is fascinating enough, but Paull deftly wields this information to create an even more elaborately layered culture of beeness...Beautiful." -- Washington Post

"Brilliantly imagined...Paull's use of human language to describe this tiny, intricate world is classic storytelling at its finest...The Bees boasts a refreshingly feminist spin on fairy tale-style plots....A wildly creative book that resonates deeply for quite a long time. -- Austin Chronicle

"It's rare to come across a book as mind-blowingly imaginative as Laline Paull's The Bees. It's even more rare for such works to be successful, well-written, gripping stories...The Bees is an utterly memorable wonder of a novel." -- Kirkus Reviews

"A marvelous work of fiction... The parallels to "1984" and Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" are numerous but this story is also its own." -- Florida Times-Union