I N C L U D E S A F F I L I A T E L I N K S
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Title: Bienes HistorieAuthor: Maja Lunde
Published: 2015
Language: Norwegian
Pages: 457
Rating: 4/5
Summary:
In this book, we follow three different people in three different time periods; William from 1852, a man who is trying to invent a new type of beehive, George from 2007, a beekeeper fighting an uphill battle against modern farming and Tao from 2098, who works hand painting pollen onto fruit trees because all of Earth's bees have died.
Review:
This is a book I have been meaning to read ever since it first came out, and I'm so glad I finally did. I really, really enjoyed it.
I love the themes that are brought up in this book. It discusses environmental issues and explores the consequences of what we're doing to the planet could have for us humans, but then it also explores families and the relationship between parents and children in all three timelines, which I loved reading about. There's also something almost romantic about bees and beekeeping that adds something to this book that I love.
I really liked the writing in this as well, and I love how the three different characters all have very different voices, so you don't get them mixed up (I obviously can't vouch for the English translation of this, but in the Norwegian one, the voices all feel very distinct). It's a slow burning book and the storyline is quite straight forward. It says on the cover that this is "as exciting as a psychological thriller", but that's not really how I would describe it. The twists and turns it takes all feel kind of quiet.
I do think the story drags a little bit in parts and some of the characters could've been better developed, but overall I just really enjoyed this and it's a book I'll be thinking about for a long time.
You can read more about it on Goodreads
