The History of Bees

July 1, 2017
Three interwoven tales from 1851, 2007, and 2098 tell the story of our dependency on bees.Norwegian author Lunde puts imagination and research to work in this message-driven novel set in a gloomy past, a doomed modernity, and a dystopian future. Nineteenth-century British shopkeeper William Savage suffers from debilitating depression but finally gets out of bed when his children inspire him to try to build a better beehive. In 2007, a stubborn Ohio beekeeper named George desperately tries to interest his more academically oriented son, Tom, in the family business, even as environmental changes begin to impact its operation. In 2098, a young mother named Tao labors with her husband and everyone else in China, standing in the branches of fruit trees pollinating buds by hand. In just three years, her 5-year-old son will also be funneled into this physically debilitating and mindless work. She dreams of giving him an education and a better life, but instead, on their one Day of Rest in six months, he is catastrophically and mysteriously injured, then spirited out of town by the authorities. Tao's quest to find her son and understand what happened to him will ultimately tie the three stories together, as does the theme of the bond between parent and child, one generation to the next. Illuminating if not much fun.

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September 18, 2017
In her first adult novel, Norwegian children’s author Lunde posits an apocalyptic future, weaving together stories on three continents in three different time periods that revolve around honeybees. In 2098, Tao, a human pollinator for fruit trees in a world devoid of bees, struggles along with her husband to make ends meet. She’s is devoted to her three-year-old son, Wei-Wen, who suddenly has a mysterious and catastrophic accident. In 1851, William Savage, a father of eight in Hertfordshire, England, believes he has finally come up with an ingenious design for the perfect beehive, which will not only save the family from financial decline but will also bond him with his only son, Edmund. George, a beekeeper in 2007 Ohio, is desperate to have his son, Tom, take over the family business, even though Tom is pursuing an academic career. George prides himself on his work and the hand-built hives that have been in his family for generations, but everything changes when disaster strikes apiaries across the U.S. As the author adroitly switches back and forth among the intense stories, she explores the link between parents and children, and the delicate balance of expressing parental expectations versus allowing grown children to follow their own passions. There is also the strong theme about the potentially bleak outcome for a world that ignores the warning signs of environmental catastrophe and allows honeybees to disappear. Lunde’s novel provides both a multifaceted story and a convincing and timely wake-up call.