Name: Bee Season
ISBN: 9780007394920

Myla Goldberg

Bee Season

A Novel

Stephanie Honour

This story mesmerized me. I was completely taken with the portrayal of the Naumann family. Their eccentricities, mute expectations of each other and inability to communicate lead to the inevitable, tragic breakdown of the family unit. What stuck me especially was Saul's and Miriam's ignorance toward the needs of their children; for such an educated pair, they had no notion of how to be intimate or companionable with their family unless it fed into their individual needs: for Saul, his insatiable quest for greatness, and for Miriam, her need to connect with herself. I believe Eliza is the hero of this story, in the end. She alone recognizes the plight her success with spelling bees has brought upon the individuals of her family, and she alone attempts to reverse the damage. Although her response to the family's demise may be too little too late, it demonstrates that she has the compassion and emotional intellect necessary to save her family.

Bee Season

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