The Murmur of Bees

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Note: as with all of my guides this guide may contain spoilers. I recommend reading the book before the guide. Resources Anselmo Espiricueta: a migrant heading north with his family, reluctantly becomes a laborer on La Amistad He would have liked to discuss his bees and ask everyone why they didn’t hear them, given that they spoke to the others, too, as they did to him. Had he been able, he would have talked about the song the bees sang into his willing ear about flowers on the mountain, far away encounters, and friends that had not made it on the long journey home; about the sun that would beat down hard one day but be covered in storm clouds the next.” From a beguiling voice in Mexican fiction comes an astonishing novel--her first to be translated into English--about a mysterious child with the power to change a family's history in a country on the verge of revolution. One morning an elderly, mute woman named Nana Reja hears cries that no one else can hear and discovers a baby with a cleft palate abandoned under a bridge protectively covered from head to toe in bees. Having lost her own baby boy long ago, she takes this unusual child to the home of wealthy Mexican landowner Francisco Morales, whose father Guillermo she was a nursemaid for. Francisco and his wife Beatriz adopt this boy, Simonopio, as their godchild, and over time discover that, though he can’t speak intelligibly, he has visions, can understand messages from the bees, and has an intuitive knowledge of the future. Set primarily in Linares, Mexico, this is part historical fiction, dealing with the Mexican Revolution and the impact of questionable agrarian law reform on landowners like Francisco. This sets the stage for a major conflict with one of Francisco’s increasingly bitter and ambitious sharecroppers, Espiricueta, who feels he deserves more and despises Simonopio as cursed by the devil. It’s also part magical realism, as Simonopio’s gifts come into play throughout the events of the story to protect not only Francisco and Beatriz, but their two older daughters and a charming young son, Francisco, Jr. - whose complicated journey to adulthood develops over the second half of the story, and to whom Simonopio is particularly close.

The story creates an atmosphere that seduces the senses with rich descriptions of the land, nature, as well as tragedy. The story, told by the grandson of the original Morales patriarch, is, of course, sympathetic to the plight of landowners who lost much of their wealth during the revolution. At the same time it is imbued with the humanity of those who struggle to survive, and who are darker-skinned than the landowning aristocracy. Enjoy an interview with Sofía Segovia. In this particular interview you can hear Segovia expressing the importance of fiction sharing reality and in particular sharing the story of remembrance. Think about how historical fiction and non-fiction share history in different ways.Beatriz is one of the most powerful women characters ever written in my mind. I learned about Beatriz and how she grew up, her motivations in life, and throughout the story, I saw her confront grief, evolve as a leader and make hard decisions for her family. She loves Simonopio, and though sometimes her decisions make him unhappy, he is quite understanding of her. Beatriz is an amazing woman and there is so much strength in her, even in grief. She regrets certain things but that does not stop her from doing what she can. On Learning Another Language Sofía Segovia shares that the novel explores both the love of family and the love of land. From Nana Rega losing her child and becoming a wet nurse to the brotherhood between Simonopia and Francisco, Jr., the family bonds are tight and loving. Simonopia: baby found covered in bees and with a cleft palate that disfigures his face and limits his ability to vocalize. He grows up as an adopted child of Beatriz and Francisco

This book tells the story of the Morales family living through the influenza, Mexican Revolution, and the Great Depression. On the surface, the Morales family is portrayed as kind, benevolent, hardworking, deeply devout Catholics who are trying to survive many hardships and hold onto their land. In reality, The Morales were a wealthy, light-skinned privileged family with many means and resources to avoid the tragedies that were striking many poor and indigenous communities. I will give specifics from the book to demonstrate this, but I think it’s important to understand a little bit about the history of Mexico first.

Reading Vox's 11 questions you’re too embarrassed to ask about magical realism may provide you with some new perspectives on the depth and breadth of magical realism. This lyrical novel offers many paths to follow as you may learn about a different corner of the world and make connections to your own experiences. What follows are a selection of topics to explore. I often like to start with how a story is told and this novel in particular puts storytelling front and center. The magic is the novel’s great charm. The image of Simonopio, always with a bee or two alighting on him, is striking. We’re told these look like moles on his cheek or throat, except they move around. Another strong image is of Simonopio asleep in the shed he has turned into a bedroom, snoozing underneath the rafters to which his warm, murmuring hive clings through the night. The novel tells the story of a family, and it also covers parts from the Mexican revolution and the Spanish flu. This landowning family, young and old, live together and earn money from their lands. Their land is so vast that the farmers who process them are almost part of their family. And one day, another unexpected person is added to this family; Simonopio. Abandoned under a bridge, this baby becomes an indispensable part of the Morales family, and he completely changes their destiny. I’m in love with Simonopio