Title: The Murmur of Bees

Author: Sofia Segovia

Publisher: Amazon Crossing 2015

Genre: Historical Fiction; Magical Realism

Pages: 471

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Yellow Spine; COYER

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.

Our book club pick for March. Somehow I did not realize that I had this sitting on my Kindle app already. And this book did not work for me at all. It started out interesting with the story of this maybe magical boy who is taken in by a family. From there, I thought we would get to read about a magical story of found family and identity. But that’s not where the story went. Instead, we get bogged down in terrible people doing terrible things to those around them. We get an attempt at an examination of the corruption of the Mexican political regimes under Diaz. Unfortunately, none of it really landed for me. And then there were so many sections that I questioned whether or not the writing and story was racist. Ultimately the book became a slog and I dreaded picking it up every day.

Next up on the TBR pile: