Sofia Segovia

From a beguiling voice in Mexican fiction comes an astonishing novel--her first to be translated into English--about a mysterious child with the power to change a family's history in a country on the verge of revolution. From the day that old Nana Reja found a baby abandoned under a bridge, the life of a small Mexican town forever changed. Disfigured and covered in a blanket of bees, little Simonopio is for some locals the stuff of superstition, a child kissed by the devil. But he is welcomed by landowners Francisco and Beatriz Morales, who adopt him and care for him as if he were their own. As he grows up, Simonopio becomes a cause for wonder to the Morales family, because when the uncannily gifted child closes his eyes, he can see what no one else can--visions of all that's yet to come, both beautiful and dangerous. Followed by his protective swarm of bees and living to deliver his adoptive family from threats--both human and those of nature--Simonopio's purpose in Linares will, in time, be divined. Set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution and the devastating influenza of 1918, The Murmur of Bees captures both the fate of a country in flux and the destiny of one family that has put their love, faith, and future in the unbelievable.

The Murmur of Bees

Colleen

5 Stars

*A gorgeous, evocative, and timely novel that far exceeded my expectations*


The Murmur of Bees first came out in 2015, but it just got translated to English in 2019. I added it to my TBR as soon as I saw it, but it was several months before I got around to reading it. I'll admit that although I was interested in the synopsis, I didn’t feel any rush to read it. Perhaps that ended up being a good thing, because I read it at the right time and went into it with almost no expectations. So I was able to enjoy The Murmur of Bees fully. And boy did it blow my expectations out of the water!


  “It doesn’t matter whether time passes slowly or quickly. What you can be sure of is that, in the end, all you want is to have more.” 

The story opens with an old woman finding an abandoned baby. The baby, later to be named Simonopio, was abandoned because he had a cleft pallet. But even more unusual, he was found covered in bees but without a single bee sting. The book follows Simonopio and his adopted family throughout the Mexican Revolution and the 1918 influenza. The story is a blend of Historical Fiction and Magical Realism that is both ephemeral and yet grounded in reality.


  “She remembered the promise that she had once made to no one but herself: not even in her old age would she allow herself to become anyone’s shadow. She would never be set adrift, at the mercy of other people’s decisions. She would never allow herself to stagnate.” 

The narrative of The Murmur of Bees is told in a mixed up way. It’s non-chronological and also skips back and forth between third person and first person. There is also very heavy foreshadowing particularly in the first person narrative. These are all things that typically annoy me in writing. But Segovia is an amazingly talented writer. I was so enraptured by this story! This was also an excellent translation by Simon Bruni. Every sentence of this book flowed in a way that seemed effortless.  The writing was beautiful, engaging, and so heartfelt. The flowing narrative was offset by short, staccato chapters that nevertheless blended together beautifully. I also loved how the tradition of oral storytelling was such an integral part of the book. The voices felt so genuine that it really did feel like being told the story by real people. 


  “What a great temptation she felt to escape from the cruelty of the empty nights, the darkness, the loneliness, the cold bed, the sheets that gradually lost the aroma of the beloved body that had been wrapped in them for so many years. But time does not stop. Despite the painful absence beside her, the sun came up and set each day, though as a veteran of loss, this fact no longer surprised her so much. The empty hours of the night do not pass unnoticed, because in their unrelenting cruelty, they do not allow one to rest; they force one to think, and they demand a great deal. Because it is at night that fear is most frightening, yes, but it is also when sorrow becomes deeper and one regrets what one did or did not do more.” 

The parts of the story about the influenza outbreak were certainly relevant to today’s world. And perhaps that made the story feel even more real. But I believe this would have been a five star read for me regardless. Segovia made that time, place, and events come to life so vividly. It is simultaneously uplifting and depressing to think about how the world has been through pandemics like this before. But the overall story tipped the balance to encouraging rather than fatalistic. There were so many moving quotes that I can’t possibly include them all in my review.


  “Beatriz could not stop thinking that they were not going back to the life they knew before October, that everything had changed, that they would have to explore their new life as if it were a new world, a new frontier. And now the intangible problems they had merely worried about would become palpable: they would become real. Now she felt an urge to tell the caravan of refugees to return to their exile, if that would mean they could prolong the illusion of the existence of the life that they knew before the Spanish flu.”

The events and setting were not the only vivid things about The Murmur of Bees. The characters had my heart from the beginning. They all came alive for me. Whether they were dealing with the mass deaths of the pandemic or just going through little everyday chores, every moment was captivating and beautifully described. The whole story felt like a warm embrace enveloping me in feeling. This story is so poignant and heart-wrenching. The Murmur of Bees actually made me cry. And believe you me, that is rare thing. I got to the last page and just sat there for I don’t even know how long. I sat there with tears in my eyes and my heart throbbing because this book just got to me on so many levels. This absolutely will make my top five books of the year.

The slow, meandering story pace may not appeal to everyone. But this really is a stunning story that touched me deeply. This is a story that will continue to haunt me. And here is one last quote:


  “So, take a deep breath: let the memories of that day come out. Remember your own, but recognize and incorporate the memories of others, as well: the ones you’ll allow to enter you only today, even if they’re uncomfortable, even if they’re painful, even if it seems as if they’ll make your heart stop.” 


All that is left to say is that I sincerely hope that more of Segovia’s works get translated into English!


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 5 Stars
Writing Style: 5 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 5 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 5 Stars
Level of Captivation: 5 Stars
Originality: 5 Stars

Antonella Romani

What a delightful surprise this book turned out to be for me! I enjoyed it much more than I expected to!
The story is about a foundling covered “in a living blanket of bees” and how he transforms the lives of the family that takes him in.
Absolutely beautiful prose, deeply nuanced, and sprinkled with just the right amount of magical realism. 

**Also, I found out after reading that this book is originally written in Spanish! This makes me very curious to see what it would have been like in Spanish.

Elize van Heerden

I'm so glad I listened to this on Audible. I enjoyed the story and the narrations. 
The characters crept into my heart and I can only assume that they will be spending some time in my subconscious for a while.
The writing was beautiful and it really grabbed me from the first second. I had to force myself to go to bed, or to stop listening to do work.

Anyaconda

I loved the writing style of this book and the little magic that shines through. We're following the story of Simonopio, a deformed child, that was found in a blanket of bees and is taken in by a family and later the whole village. We follow the village through war, poverty and the revolution until that dark sense of foreboding leads us into a tragic event. I'd recommend this book if you like slower-paced literary fiction. Thank you Netgalley and Amazon crossing for providing me with an eARC.

The Murmur of Bees

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