Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “The Murmur of Bees” by Sofia Segovia, Amazon Crossing, April 2019

Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “The Murmur of Bees” by Sofia Segovia, Amazon Crossing, April 2019 (Translated by Simon Bruni)

Sofia Segovia has written a captivating, intense, intriguing, and thought-provoking novel. The Genres for this novel are Fiction, and Historical Fiction as researched and interpreted by the author.  There are several layers in this story. There are also elements of Superstition and Tall Tales that are written as well. The story takes places in Mexico, and goes through the time periods of the Spanish Influenza, and the Political Unrest in Mexico and how it affected the farmers and landowners. The author describes are dramatic and colorful cast of characters as complex and complicated.

In this amazingly well written story there are several contrasts: good vs. evil, nature vs. nurture, and right vs. wrong.   There is also a theme of the balance of  man and nature.

A very old woman hears the sounds of a crying baby under a bridge,  and goes to bring him back to the home. He is covered in swarming bees, but the bees are not hurting him. The Morales family takes the baby in, and raise him, and name him Simonopio. Some people feel that Simonopio is evil . They are superstitious and feel he is responsible for the problems in Mexico. He is disfigured and can’t communicate by understandable speech. Somehow he is able to  look out for the Morales family and the land.

I appreciate that the author has researched the historical events of the time and vividly describes them. I would highly recommend this unique novel for those readers who enjoy Historical Fiction, and a thought-provoking story. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.