A family is created in many ways and takes many forms.
Marnie, age 15, and her younger sister Nelly, 12, have been neglected and abused their whole lives. Their circumstances seem inescapable, and seemingly nothing can save them.
But then something happens to change their lives, beginning with the death of their father, followed soon after by their mother’s death. And even when the girls bury them in the backyard, how they died is only revealed in bits and pieces throughout the story; the secret is one the girls plan to keep forever, even as the obstacles arise and the threat of exposure hovers nearby. Exposure would mean the descent of the social workers who could separate the sisters and defeat their efforts to create their own family.
Will their neighbor Lenny’s support keep the girls on an even keel indefinitely? What does the sudden appearance of a never-before known maternal grandfather mean for their fledgling little family? What will ultimately bring the secrets to light and turn the forming connections inside out?
Every struggle tests the bonds between the sisters, but in the end, their connections trump the efforts of the outsiders who threaten them. A beautiful testament to the idea of family, no matter what form it takes, The Death of Bees: A Novel is unforgettable. Four stars.
I’m always drawn to stories about children and their resiliency! This sounds worth of checking out at my library for sure!
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Yes, I’m a sucker for those kinds of books, too, Staci….this one was quirky, but really enjoyable.
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Thanks for the review…nice job as always.
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
http://silversolara.blogspot.com
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Thanks, Elizabeth, glad you enjoyed it!
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Laurel-Rain, as a social worker did you look at this book differently? From the way the book was written, social workers were the Bad Guys. I also felt that they should stay away from the kids. But in real life I’d probably have reported them to Social Services at the first opportunity. π
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That’s a good question, Judith, and even though I was a social worker, I always tried to keep families together whenever possible. I could understand and relate to what the kids were experiencing…even as I knew that they needed someone. It would have been a dilemma for me, as the best care seemed to be coming from the neighbor…who would not have met licensing requirements. And he wasn’t a relative. What a quandary!
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It is a big dilemma, isn’t it? The unsuitable neighbor was in fact providing a stable home for them, better than they had when their parents were alive. π
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Exactly! It was always difficult to follow the rules when they didn’t seem to be in the best interests of the kids….
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I am drawn to these type of stories too! I requested it when I first saw it on your blog. Glad it was a good read.
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Nise, I have the book (an ARC) in my reading room over at Curl up and Read…for the shelf clearing. Check it out.
Thanks for stopping by…and I, too, seem magnetically drawn to these books.
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