Bees. They’re so fascinating and so trendy that it was only a matter of time before someone set a book inside a hive.
The much-hyped debut novel from playwright Laline Paull follows Flora 717, a lowly sanitation bee, as she rises through the ranks of the honey bee matriarchy, battling her bee brothers and sisters as often as the murderous foes from beyond the hive – all while harbouring a mutinous secret.
Paperback by Fourth Estate, priced £8.99 (ebook £4.27)
In a multi-layered analogy, Flora’s home is under threat (as are hives in the real world), while the colony also serves as a satire for a totalitarian state – can she ever prevail in the face of the all-powerful Hive Mind?
Part old-fashioned fairytale, part bee biology lesson, The Bees is an impressively researched and realised concept that will appeal to fantasy fans and entomology enthusiasts alike. But those who struggle with anthropomorphism will find Flora’s story more than a bit sickly.
