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    Telling the Bees
    Telling the Bees
    Telling the Bees
    Audiobook9 hours

    Telling the Bees

    Written by Peggy Hesketh

    Narrated by Norman Dietz

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Albert Honig's most constant companions have always been his bees. A never-married octogenarian, he makes a modest living as a beekeeper, as his father and his father's father did before him. Deeply acquainted with the workings of the hives, Albert is less versed in the ways of people, especially his friend Claire, whose presence and absence in his life have never been reconciled.

    When Claire is killed in a seemingly senseless accident during a burglary gone wrong, Albert is haunted by the loss and by the secrets and silence that hovered between them for
    so long. As he pieces together the memories of their shared history, he will come to learn the painful truths about Claire's life and the redemptive power of laying the past to rest.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateApr 29, 2013
    ISBN9781452683133
    Telling the Bees
    Author

    Peggy Hesketh

    Peggy Hesketh is a journalist and author, and currently teaches writing and rhetoric at the University of California. Her short story 'A Madness of Two' was selected by Elizabeth George for inclusion in her anthology Two of the Deadliest.

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    Reviews for Telling the Bees

    4/5

    107 ratings34 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Albert find his neighbours Claire and Hilda murdered. What follows is a tale that flits backwards and forwards between their younger life and the murder investigation - interwoven with lots of information about the life of a beehive.An interesting story without being gripping
    • 4/5
      "The bees travel along the high tension wires, just as surely as one true sentence follows the next."The story opens with the discovery of a double murder. We then track back and forth betwen the distant past, explaining the lives of the dead women; the more recent past, exploring the reason fo their murders, and the present where an elderly beekeeeper cosiders his life. A surprise at the end leaves both the narrator and the reader somewhat stunned.Each chapter has an epigraph about bee culture, much as "The Secret Life of Bees" and "The Beekeeper's Apprentice". There's some beautifully understated writing here, especially the engaging p.o.v. of an old man looking over his life and seeing just where things went wrong through misunderstandings. I enjoyed this book, partly because I find bee culture fascinating , but mostly becasue of the excellent writing. The only possible drawback is that the experienced mystery reader will know the murderer's identity very quickly. But I didn't think of this as a mystery, but rather a really good novel that happens to include a murder.
    • 4/5
      "Telling The Bees is a beautifully imagined novel about the far reaching consequences of words left unspoken, the persistence of regret and the power of truth both towound and heal"This is the book jacket statement....I'm still evaluating what I think and feel......3.5 ★
    • 3/5
      I believe the author was trying to draw a metaphoric relationship between the history of two neighbors over a lifetime to the art of beekeeping. The story was a nice one, but the metaphor was difficult for me to grasp clearly. I think, overall, that the message of this novel is that clear, honest communication is vital. You shouldn't try to keep secrets from bees or lived ones.
    • 4/5
      This is a gentle novel about a beekeeper and life.This was pleasant to read but it didn’t sweep me off my feet. 3½ stars
    • 5/5
      The layers are peeled away a little bit at a time, with the main character, an aging recluse revealing fragments and stories of his life growing up on a property where he learns the art of beekeeping from his father. His inability to make human connections means that the bees are his only companions as he grows older. A well written story. Some may find the lead character difficult to relate to.
    • 4/5
      The information about bees was interesting. I wasn't as taken with the story, which felt contrived. A beekeeper finds his neighbors, two sisters who lived next door to him his whole life, murdered. He is uncomfortable with people, so he frequently veers into talking about bees when he talks to the detective or even thinks about the sisters. He was very close to one of them in their younger years, but had a falling out later. We don't learn why they argued until late in the book.
    • 5/5
      Quiet talk of a quiet man who re-lives his life after the violent murder of two sisters whom he has known his whole life. One lives in his skin as he becomes the only remnant of a way of life being crushed by modernity. Very touching and sad.
    • 4/5
      This debut novel tells the story of a lifetime relationship between neighbors, culminating in the discovery by the elderly narrator of the murder of two elderly sisters next door. As the details unfold about the friendship and then alienation of these three characters and their families over the span of their lives, the reader becomes immersed in the flat affect of the narrator, who describes himself as an empiricist, contrasted with the more emotional and flamboyant Claire. The mystery behind the murders unfolds slowly (this is not a page-turner) telling more about the neighbors than the crime. The beekeeping metaphor becomes somewhat tedious for a non-bee person unfortunately.
    • 5/5
      Telling the Bees by Peggy Hesketh was recommended to me (of course) by Susan. In 1992, Albert has a feeling something is wrong at his next door neighbors', neighbors he's had for 60 years. Upon entering the house, he finds Claire and Hilda, gagged, bound and deceased. As Susan said, it is during Albert's assistance in the murder investigation that we find out (and he finds out) about him, his relationship to Claire and Hilda and his life in general. Hesketh blends the lives of bees with the lives of people with philosophy and humanity. It is an absorbing, poignant story, as we learn about Albert, what he has, what he could have had and what he lost through stubbornness or foolishness or ignorance. No one is what they seem at the outset of the book, nor will you be by the end, if you take the time to look inside, as Albert didn't until the very end of his life.Unlike Susan, I found the discussion about the lives of bees fascinating. So fascinating, that now I'm reading The Honey Thief by Elizabeth Graver.
    • 4/5
      Loved this book! Heart-felt and beautifully written. If you are looking for a exciting, high action story, this probably isn't for you but if you are content with a hot cup of tea and gentle story, give Ms Hesketh a try. I can't wait to see what she has in store for the future.
    • 5/5
      Albert Honig has been a bee-keeper his entire life. The art and life of beekeeping was passed down to him through generations. He has been able to make a modest living from this way of life.Now an octogenarian, Albert reflects on his life and the things both in it and absent from it. In particular, he considers a never reconciled relationship with a woman, Claire. Haunted by her death during a long ago burglary, Albert tries to piece together what happened. The only way for Albert to make peace with his loss and his past is to come to terms with the secrets within these memories. I think it is human nature to want to make sense of things in our past, whether or not we could have controlled them. Closure sometimes allows us to move on, even if it doesn't offer peace. Sometimes answers are all we have left even if they do not give us what we seek. This is a very moving novel in its power of love and redemption.
    • 5/5
      This book was received as an Early Reviewer edition.Every once in a while I read a book that comes together with such force, I just need to sit and ponder.. I am still trying to absorb the intricate details of the storyline. The characters are all extreme. Albert lives by a very strict moral code, which makes him appear cold and unfeeling. He has no desire to exist beyond his own small space of home and family. Everything he loves most is always within reach, and he takes solace in the simple things his life offers. Claire is his complete opposite. She lives a turbulent life where home offers anything but comfort and security. She wants nothing but to exist beyond her home and family. They are mirror images who both attract and repel each other in equal parts. Although they are both too self absorbed to bend from their own views of what life should be, they share a bond that spans their entire lives. The bees narrate what goes unspoken with the human characters. Without effort, the bees know their place, they establish roles of responsibility, and are able to fly as far or stay as close as necessary to accomplish their required tasks to fulfill their purpose. Each hive represents the harmony or disorder that exist within each family.This was really a wonderful book that will stick with me a very long time.
    • 3/5
      Beekeeper Albert Honig has lived next to the Straussman family for most of his long life. He and his family formed a close relationship to their daughter Claire, especially since they both had a great interest in bees. But Claire has a secret, one that tears the relationship with Albert apart and Claire will no longer speak to him. Years pass until the day comes where Albert discovers Claire and her sister dead in their home. It appears to be a robbery gone wrong but things are not as they seem. And Albert is left to sift through the past and present to find answers to questions that don't want to be asked. This should have been a book that was made for me but it was an unfortunate miss.I very much enjoy books told from a more mature perspective but I just couldn't seem make it happen with Albert. While I believe he was meant to be a contrast against the Straussman family, he came across as so 'normal' that it was hard to warm to his character. Also his dialogue could be so rambling that it was easy to lose the train of thought (somewhat normal for an 80 yr old but taken a little far). Also I had a difficult time with the 'secret' the plot was based on - the Straussman family didn't appear to care much for the thoughts and opinions of others; that they took such pains to hide what had happened to Claire didn't seem to fit.This is not to say that this book is a loss - the information about bees was excellent and the hive metaphor used throughout the book was beautifully done. The writing itself was also first rate. I tend to think that any issue I had was more due to me than to great lack on the part of the book.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book! I found the bee details at the beginning of each chapter interesting. I liked the dual story of the beekeeping along with the unfolding mystery. The book spans a lifetime of the main character, Albert & his neighbors. Secrets from the past continue to haunt the characters. The story starts with a murder & bounces back & forth fro past to present trying to put the pieces together.
    • 4/5
      A tender story of a man wrapped up in his own little bee keeping world left behind by those he loved. Albert is a man of a different time. A loner content to live in the house that he grew up in he continues the keeping of the bees that his father began. We learn about bee keeping as he learns that he has, perhaps, been remiss in his relationships. Albert is now over 80 and has watched his neighborhood change, small houses and farms bulldozed to put up apartments and high tension wires. During the tale told beautifully by Hesketh Albert is haunted by the murders of his neighbors and while assisting the lead detective during the manhunt and ensuing trial Albert learns about these women he called friends (the only true friends he's ever known), about his neighborhood, but also about himself. I truly didn't know what to expect and did struggle a bit with the details regarding bees and their keeping, but am so glad I stayed with the book. It's a wonderful surprise, a gentle story and Albert truly has a different voice and perspective.
    • 5/5
      Very evocative storytelling of lives lived and lost; of friendships built and abandoned... all intertwined into the story of a beekeeper and how to keep bees, value bees. And to add some additional drama and movement in the story, there is a murder and ensuing investigation and trial. If you enjoy novels that are reflective and smart -- or if you have any interest in bees -- then this is quite a fine novel to read!
    • 4/5
      "The bees travel along the high tension wires, just as surely as one true sentence follows the next."The story opens with the discovery of a double murder. We then track back and forth betwen the distant past, explaining the lives of the dead women; the more recent past, exploring the reason fo their murders, and the present where an elderly beekeeeper cosiders his life. A surprise at the end leaves both the narrator and the reader somewhat stunned.Each chapter has an epigraph about bee culture, much as "The Secret Life of Bees" and "The Beekeeper's Apprentice". There's some beautifully understated writing here, especially the engaging p.o.v. of an old man looking over his life and seeing just where things went wrong through misunderstandings. I enjoyed this book, partly because I find bee culture fascinating , but mostly becasue of the excellent writing. The only possible drawback is that the experienced mystery reader will know the murderer's identity very quickly. But I didn't think of this as a mystery, but rather a really good novel that happens to include a murder.
    • 4/5
      Albert, an elderly beekeeper, has led an incredibly sheltered life. He grew up in a loving family, nothing like that of his neighbor Claire’s. Their wildly divergent lives and personalities somehow find a parallel path in life and they spend decades living next door to one another, raising bees and selling honey. When Claire and her sister Hilda are unexpectedly murdered Albert is forced to dredge up the past and reevaluate their personal history, which is intertwined with their shared love of bees. Despite the murder this is most definitely not a murder mystery. It is a quiet reflection on the choices we make and the lives we choose. It’s a look at regret and heartache that can last a lifetime. It’s about the irrevocable misunderstandings that can drive a wedge between people. Each chapter is headed by a fact about bee colonies and hives. These tidbits were woven into the context of the story as well. For example…“The Langstroth Hive: Patented in 1851 by Reverend Lorenzo Langstroth, it has become the standard in modern hive design. Incorporating the concept of bee space, this boxlike, stackable structure contains removable frames to which bees attach their wax honeycombs.” For me the information about bee hives was fascinating. I adored learning more about bees and the delicate balance of their society. The book balances an encyclopedic knowledge of bees with a powerful story, never letting one overwhelm the other. I’ve always been enthralled by bees and even had the chance to interview an octogenarian beekeeper for a feature story when I was a reporter. I put on the full bee suit and got to help him take apart a hive and see the queen bee. I couldn’t help but picture him as Albert while reading this book. Bees are incredible creatures and one day I hope I can start my own hive. There are elements of the storytelling that are frustrating to the reader in the same way they must've been frustrating to the detective trying to solve the murders. Every time he meets Albert and tries to get a straight answer out of him he instead gets random facts about bees and a meandering story from the past. Albert gets distracted in his old age and often doesn't fully explain who someone is or how they are connected. It all comes full circle by the end though, with a conclusion that is satisfying without tying things up too neatly. BOTTOM LINE: It’s a bittersweet novel with a quiet wisdom. I was surprised by how quickly it hooked me and how much I enjoyed it. “Quick answers are not always the same as the right ones. I find that the truth I seek is most apparent to me when I take the time to listen.” “The pain we inflict upon others continues to do damage long after we have taken our leave. It matters not whether the hurt s intended or not, the pain is just as sharp, or perhaps even sharper, for all its grave indifference.”
    • 5/5
      This is a lovely novel, so beautifully written in such a romantic, old fashioned voice. I very much enjoyed the authors voice and poetic style of story telling. Albert Honig, an elderly bee keeper discovers his spinster neighbors murdered one day. The questions that begin to be asked by the investigating detective trigger memories of the past for Albert and he must come to grips with his relationship with the sisters. The story slides back and forth between the present and the past in an undulating articulate manner so one is never confused about the time frame. All questions are answered by the end of the story and believably so. There is also interesting information regarding bees and their way of life. I enjoyed the authors comparisons between human relationships and the relationships between a colony of bees. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Long forgotten memories resurface after the murder of Albert Honig’s neighbors--Hilda and Claire Straussman. The two sisters had lived quietly next door as long as Albert could remember, but does he hold hidden secrets that could be important to the investigation?As a child growing up Albert spent many hours learning the art of beekeeping from his father, so when the reclusive neighbors needed help removing bees from their parlor walls they had called on the neighbors in their time of need. This interaction would spur a chain of events, bringing the young Albert to form a sort of friendship with the young Hilda; the two would bond over their interest in bees. However that bond would not last and seventy plus years later, Albert is left to wonder who want to murder the elderly sisters. The story slowly unfolds bringing the past together with present (well 1992 at least). The investigation leads Albert to dig through the past and come to terms with events—good and bad-- he hoped to leave buried. I will admit, that at times, I was a bit bored with all the beekeeping digressions but overall I enjoyed the way the narrative progressed and was completely shocked by then ending---- not what I had in mind at all.
    • 4/5
      Telling the Bees is a wonderful read with drama and mystery. Albert Honig is an elderly man who lives alone and spends most of his time beekeeping. Albert reminisces about his early life when he was friends with his neighbor Claire, who he introduced beekeeping to. But they stopped talking decades ago due to a falling out.When Claire is killed in a senseless accident during a burglary, Albert is haunted by his memories of Claire and her strange life.It is always fun to read books that take place in the present, but then flip back to the past and tell the beginning of the story. This book does exactly that. I also enjoyed reading about beekeeping. The book does not have lots of action, it moves carefully and slowly, much like the character of Albert. However, Claire's secretive home life leaves lots of mystery and drama to the story. Like Albert, I kept wondering and thinking of what could have led to Claire and her sisters tragic death and was it really just an random incident. Very well written. I received this book as part of the Librarythings Early Reviewers.
    • 4/5
      Through the eyes of a reclusive beekeeper, who has never visited the ocean only five miles away from his home, who has lived without family or friend for most of his life and who has made the bees he cares for the centerpiece of his existence, the reader is given to observe a tragic murder. As the murder investigation unfolds, so do the memories which haunt Albert Honig. He recalls the years in which he and the two women murdered were children together, the intensity and mystery of that friendship and of the darkness that tainted the life of the family next door. Hesketh weaves her languorous story into the ongoing account of the facts and stories of beekeeping. There is a gentle resignation to loss and tragedy that haunts this novel. Early in the book, I found myself growing impatient with Albert's endless digressions into beekeeping; the found myself caught in the slow rhythm of the life being portrayed. This is a sad story. There are no happy endings here. But it is gently and truly told and has a ring of authenticity in spite of the fact that most of the characters initially strike the reader as improbable.
    • 3/5
      Albert Honig has been with bees all of his life. His grandfather was a beekeeper, and his father. The aged Albert is shocked when he finds the dead bodies of his next-door neighbors, the Bee Ladies. The book pulled me instantly in but turned slow. I found the timeline of the story to be a bit confusing.I didn't realize, when I got this book, how much information about bees there was going to be. I found it hard to deal with all the science about bees.
    • 4/5
      The atmospheric story of the murder of two elderly and their long time friend Albert who lives next door. One of the mutual interests that they hold in common is beekeeping which Albert's father taught the women in their youth. Ultimately, this is a murder mystery and the women are killed and the mystery is unraveled but not before .we find some very complex and unusual relationships between the major characters with each other and their families. There is a tad too much information about bees, bee's lives and every imaginable facet of beekeeping. On the whole, however, this is a well written and intriguing read.
    • 4/5
      Telling the Bees is a lovely read. Even though it opens with the murders of two elderly women, I found it to be a comforting book. I loved the descriptions of how the hives function…the author did an excellent job of having these mirror humanity. I especially enjoyed Albert – reading about his daily routines, his relationships with his parents, his bees and Detective Grayson. My only quibble might be that the friendship between him and Claire was not fully fleshed out…at least not enough for me to understand his regret as losing it. Highly recommend!
    • 5/5
      This book is impossible to put down. From the first page to the last I found myself unable to think of anything but the story unfolding; I didn’t want to think of anything else anyway. Albert Honig’s voice is clear and true .The way he remembers his past in bits and pieces, dredging up long-ago moments of time as fresh as if they’d been yesterday but with the tinge of nostalgia that comes only from time and regret. The mystery surrounding the Bee Ladies’ lives and deaths comes to light slowly. The only suspense is the fear of what will become of Albert when he figures it all out and closes that chapter of his life story. But therein lies the magic of Peggy Hesketh’s storytelling: the mystery could be solved on page one and you would still keep reading to find out what happens to the narrator you couldn’t help loving from the first words he spoke. It is truly magical how quickly Albert becomes loveable, especially since the majority of his story is told as an analogy to the life of bees. Of course, I must say a few words about the bee aspect of this novel. Firstly, it is intelligent and creative in a way that can’t possibly make sense until you finish reading and see the true beauty of what Hesketh has achieved. Secondly, the detail and care that must have gone into accurately describing the life cycle of every bee in the hive absolutely made me want to become a beekeeper. No matter what you take from Telling the Bees, it is well worth reading
    • 4/5
      I received an uncorrected proof of Telling the Bees by Peggy Hesketh as an early reviewer for Librarything.com. The first half of the book I would give four/four and half stars; the second half of the book I would give maybe 3 stars. This is a slow moving story, but I felt this was done intentionally at first, slowly building the story and drawing in the reader's interest. This worked successfully in the beginning, but lost the reader by the end.The main character, Albert Honig, is an odd man, whose life revolved around beekeeping. He was never married. He is a solitary man, and the bees are not only his livelihood, but his companionship as well. Albert is the elderly narrator of the story who discovered his neighbors, two sisters, Claire and Hilda, murdered. This sparked Albert to look back, remember, and assess his friendship with, and subsequent estrangement from, one of the victims, Claire.It is an engaging story, but Albert became increasingly more irritating as the novel progressed. Every question asked by the detective investigating the murders was deflected with monologues about bees and erudite quotes. His memories were filled with bee facts and stories, in excess, that became boring at times. It was tolerable for awhile, but then Albert's deflections became grating and distracting to a very good story. Albert was a good man, but the reader never warmed up to this character. I wish he evolved into someone more endearing to the reader by the end of the story. With some editing, this book would receive a solid four stars. The bee information definitely added to the novel, but with so much of it to digest, along with numerous scholarly quotes, the murder mystery and the reasons behind the deterioration of a friendship reaching back to childhood was overwhelmed.
    • 4/5
      Albert Honig, an elderly beekeeper, narrates this book. In his waning years, Albert struggles to understand the lives and murders of his lifelong neighbors. He uses his knowledge of bees to make sense of his reflections on his life and the lives of his neighbors.I enjoyed this book. Although the plot is nothing special, I think that the characterization of Albert is especially well-crafted. This book would be a good book club selection, with many interesting points of discussion.
    • 4/5
      I was gifted this LTER book "Telling the Bees" Beautiful debut novel by Peggy Hesketh! Sometimes it is the music of the book that captures your attention first and this is exactly so with "Telling the Bees". When I started this book I think I might have been predisposed to dislike Albert. So pious, structured and seemingly a person that ran from the least bit of adventure. But Albert was anything but one dimensional. In his complex story of love, friendship, murder, and ultimate betrayal he shares his deep feelings that are mostly hidden through out his life. Beekeeping, friendship, murder and deceit- and the ultimate betrayal. "In those unguarded moments of distant perception, what we think we see, real or not, causes us to feel what we do. And once we've felt whatever we've felt, we can't take it back" I recommend this book highly, but read it slow... I read it in 2 days and will go back to read it again, savoring the small bits and pieces I may have missed or just want to enjoy again.