The Bees A Novel
The Bees A Novel by Laline Paull, published by HarperCollins on May 12, 2015, is a reprint edition comprising 352 pages. This novel presents a vividly imagined narrative set in an ancient culture where the queen bee holds exclusive breeding rights, and deformity is met with fatal consequences. The story follows Flora 717, a sanitation worker in her hive, who navigates a world where curiosity is seen as a flaw and sacrifice is revered. As she rises through the ranks, her journey leads her to uncover profound mysteries within the hive.
Readers will find Flora’s character development central to the narrative, as her courage and strength challenge the hive’s strict social hierarchy. The plot explores themes of duty, maternal love, and the consequences of defying societal norms. As Flora confronts the fertility police and high priestesses, her internal conflict intensifies, revealing the complexities of loyalty and sacrifice. This edition invites readers to engage with a unique blend of fiction, literary elements, and speculative themes, offering a fresh perspective on the natural world.
Official synopsis Publisher
The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Hunger Games in this brilliantly imagined debut set in an ancient culture where only the queen may breed and deformity means death.
Flora 717 is a sanitation worker, a member of the lowest caste in her orchard hive where work and sacrifice are the highest virtues and worship of the beloved Queen the only religion. But Flora is not like other bees. With circumstances threatening the hive’s survival, her curiosity is regarded as a dangerous flaw but her courage and strength are an asset. She is allowed to feed the newborns in the royal nursery and then to become a forager, flying alone and free to collect pollen. She also finds her way into the Queen’s inner sanctum, where she discovers mysteries about the hive that are both profound and ominous.
But when Flora breaks the most sacred law of all—daring to challenge the Queen’s fertility—enemies abound, from the fearsome fertility police who enforce the strict social hierarchy to the high priestesses jealously wedded to power. Her deepest instincts to serve and sacrifice are now overshadowed by an even deeper desire, a fierce maternal love that will bring her into conflict with her conscience, her heart, her society—and lead her to unthinkable deeds.
Thrilling, suspenseful and spectacularly imaginative, The Bees gives us a dazzling young heroine and will change forever the way you look at the world outside your window.
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