December 2021 Book, The Murmer of Bees

Talk About Books meets every third Thursday of the month at the Guilford Free Library at 6:30.

In The Murmur of Bees, Mexican author Sofia Segovia combines a subtly magical atmosphere and unique, yet believable characters with kinetic narration to craft a story with broad appeal.

From his birth in 1910, it is clear there is something unusual about Simonopio Morales. It isn’t just the birth defect which disfigures the infant’s face and robs him of speech – when old Nana Reja finds the little boy abandoned under a bridge in Linares, Mexico, Simonopio is blanketed by bees. Though some mutter that the child was disfigured by the devil’s kiss (or the devil himself) the Morales Cortéz family, a prosperous farming clan, adopts Simonopio to raise as their own.

Over the ensuing years, the family witnesses marvelous events. Some, like the Spanish Flu of 1917, the 1910 Revolution’s land seizures, or a tenant’s jealousy, prove more tangible threats than demonic possession. Through it all, Simonopio repays the Morales’ kindness many times over: tending the ancient woman who rescued him or retrieving young Francisco Morales when he strays. It’s clear that there is far more to Simonopio than the swarm of bees which follows him everywhere – the Morales have a protector with near-supernatural abilities.


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