In Praise of the Bees
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
A USA Today bestseller!
'a fascinating novel that gives a real sense of life as it might have been during one of the most turbulent periods in Irish history...' Irish Examiner
Ireland 590 A.D.
A woman is found by a track, nearly dead from appalling wounds and remembers nothing. Her terror and her injuries are so great that she is given sanctuary in Mother Gobnait's unusual community of nuns, while all around her a war is being waged in which she is a pawn. The women name her Aine.
Disturbing fragments of Áine's memory begin to surface, and in desperation she asks to remain in the safety of the community, but is it really safe for her anywhere?
It is only after events take another terrible turn that Áine is forced to discover who she really is and make life-changing choices – but will they prove to be her undoing?
A literary novel inspired by real women - complex female characters who strain against the cruel chains and crippling prejudices of a society where no woman has power. Except, perhaps, one…
Kristin Gleeson has performed with admirable deftness the difficult trick of sweeping the reader back in time to the distant emotional and physical landscapes of 6th century Ireland. The result is a highly readable and continuously rewarding novel that the reader does not want to end—Tim Weed, author of Will Poole's Island
I found in this well-told story, the first strokes of paint on the huge, mostly blank, canvas that is our image and perception of our Irish or Gaelic past - the canvas of our increasingly dispossessed native culture. I found myself drawn into a realm that felt oddly familiar and full of cultural touchstones of the indigenous Irish past, faint echoes of which still linger in parts of this island today.In Praise of the Bees is a good read. Guím faoi scáth is dídean Gobnait is Abáin tú – go mairir—Peadar Ó Riada
Customer Reviews
Intriguing
A fascinating story with layers to consider. A step into an unknown world, leaving much to ponder.
Very disappointing!
The bones of a good book are here but the writing is just tedious. I kept waiting for the author to develop the heroine but instead she portrays an unsteady and vacillating woman that is off-putting rather than engaging. The larger plots are introduced but underplayed throughout the entire book, and in the end (no spoilers here) she rips open the curtain with all these reveals and drops the mic. I’m actually mad at this book! Anyway, if you are like me and seek intelligent literature with fully developed plots and characters, I’d pass.
Author is a Librarian with a Masters and is well researched,
I like that the book was well researcher and give history of which I was unaware. Also like the occasional Irish gailic included in the text. Had to look up the meanings but it gave texture to the text. Winner!