Michele Young-Stone

I admit I knew very little of the plight of the county of Luthuanians and their treatment at both the hands of Germany and Hitler, and Russia and Stalin. This was a very sad, and fascinating book. I read in quickly, and I highly recommend it. A bit of Alice Hoffman type of magic realism which was an interesting part of the story, but not as interesting as how families survived and continued to live after watching their parents and loved ones gassed in Hitler's crematories. Yet, the will to survive was strong.

This is a fascinating book!… (mais)

What an interesting story.
I picked this book up because it was said to have a magical realism element and was the fictional story of a girl born with wings.

I love magical realism, so that will usually get my attention.
This story was about Prudence, the character born with wings in the 1970's. The doctor removes them when Prudence is only 6 months old. She's never seen them, but because they were removed, she felt that they were like a birth defect.

Then Prudence's story gets a lot more interesting. She moves to another town and meets a little boy her age named Wheaton, he is able to see her wings.
When she turns 16, her grandparents that she has never met decide to come to meet her.

There's another side to this story, a large part of this story is about how Lithuanians were treated during the 1940's. Prudence's grandparents (and their families) went through horrible things. In a way, this has kept her grandparents and her dad from getting close. How can a hippie musician relate to his refugee parents? People that went through hardships he will never understand.

It is because of this that Prudence never knew that wings were not uncommon in her family. Generations of women on her father's side were born with wings.

I don't want to spoil any details of the story. I just wanted to mention the side of the story that focused on the war years because I wasn't really expecting that myself and think it's good to have a heads up.
This book dealt with some very sad issues but it also showed characters filled with strength and optimism.

… (mais)

I went into reading this book not knowing too much - I read all genres so I like to be surprised by stories. The cover and the title both spoke to me - I grew up on a farm and we had beehives and "raised" bees for our own honey and wax. I adore everything about bees and have always thought they were magical creatures.
Lost in the Beehive just made me love them even more. It's a wonderful thought to think that bees understand you, and are by your side during traumatic events, trying to steer you in the right direction. Gloria Ricci definitely needed some direction growing up, from anyone - or anything.
It is Vietnam era 1960's when we first find Gloria being sent to a mental asylum, to be "cured" of an "illness". We follow her through this experience, and quite a few other major life events throughout, and there always seem to be some bees hovering nearby, as if guiding her, protecting her.
Michele Young-Stones writing is exquisite. The witty banter between Gloria and her dearest friend Sheff had me laughing out loud, and the story flows so smoothly it's easy to find yourself lost in it all. The characters are so colorful, and you can feel the bees magical energy so much throughout the story, that it's just enough to make a sad story about finding yourself, feel like a mystical fairytale.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review Lost in the Beehive.… (mais)