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

"[A] gripping Cinderella/Arthurian tale with lush Keatsian adjectives." - Margaret Atwood, via Twitter
"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
"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
"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
"Laline Paull's transfixing first novel, The Bees, isn't explicitly about the real-world problems that threaten their survival, but the story's inspired imagining of hive life compels one to wonder about the extraordinary complexity and sophistication of these insects - and to care about their fate....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
"Richly imagined." - Los Angeles Times
"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
"Richly imagined" - Los Angeles Times
"Riveting... evocative and beautiful." - NPR
"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
"Told with rapturously attentive imagination...Few novels create such a singular reading experience." - New York Times Book Review
"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...Inside the striking cover art - a gilded swarm buzzing above enormous, bold black font - lives a sure-to-be classic book somewhere between Watership Down and A Handmaid's Tale...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. I'll bet that upon finishing this book--one of my new favorites--you'll think twice about spraying your yard, and maybe even take the time to stop and smell a nectar-laden flower." - Austin Chronicle
"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
"Paull's accomplishments here are truly myriad and impressive...Such a blending of human and non-human attributes might appear parodic or silly in lesser hands, but Paull brings it off brilliantly. Her prose is a marvel of precision and grace and poetry as well, and above all, sensual...What Laline Paull has accomplished here is multivalent: a rumination on nature; a portrait of the struggle between individual and the stifling matrix of society; and a depiction of how humanity might organize itself along different lines. I'd call it, in the end, science fiction at its best." - Locus
"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. Paull's novel--a strange, poetic tale about a homely sanitation bee and her place in the Hive--is both unique and triumphant. The Bees is an utterly memorable wonder of a novel....Do yourself a favor and read this book." - Kirkus Reviews
"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