Paull, Laline The Bees ISBN 13: 9780007557721

The Bees - Hardcover

9780007557721: The Bees
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Shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction 2015

Longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize for New Fiction 2015

Enter a whole new world, in this thrilling debut novel set entirely within a beehive.

Born into the lowest class of her society, Flora 717 is a sanitation bee, only fit to clean her orchard hive. Living to accept, obey and serve, she is prepared to sacrifice everything for her beloved holy mother, the Queen.

Yet Flora has talents that are not typical of her kin. And while mutant bees are usually instantly destroyed, Flora is reassigned to feed the newborns, before becoming a forager, collecting pollen on the wing. Then she finds her way into the Queen’s inner sanctum, where she discovers secrets both sublime and ominous.

Enemies roam everywhere, from the fearsome fertility police to the high priestesses who jealously guard the Hive Mind. But Flora cannot help but break the most sacred law of all, and her instinct to serve is overshadowed by a desire, as overwhelming as it is forbidden...

Laline Paull’s chilling yet ultimately triumphant novel creates a luminous world both alien and uncannily familiar. Thrilling and imaginative, ‘The Bees’ is the story of a heroine who changes her destiny and her world.

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Review:

‘[A] gripping Cinderella/Arthurian tale with lush Keatsian adjectives’ Margaret Atwood, via Twitter

‘Beautifully written and unusual ... Captivating ... A brave and original story that highlights our modern environmental crimes, and offers a fascinating glimpse into the intricacies of bee world ... Any book that changes the way we see our world surely deserves to be a success’ Lucy Atkins, Sunday Times

‘Ambitious and bold ... told with such rapturously attentive imagination ... The tale zooms along with such propulsive and addictive prose ... Few novels create such a singular reading experience. The buzz you will hear surrounding this book and its astonishing author is utterly deserved’ New York Times

‘One wild ride. A sensual, visceral mini-epic about timeless rituals and modern environmental disaster. Paull's heartpounding novel wrenches us into a new world’ Emma Donoghue

‘This unusual and cunningly imagined thriller hurtles us through the very bizarre life and adventures of Flora 717 ... Strangely thought-provoking’ Angus Clarke, The Times

‘A rich, strange book, utterly convincing in its portrayal of the mindset of a bee and a hive. I finished it feeling I knew exactly how bees think and live. This is what sets us humans apart from other animals, that our imagination can allow us to create a complete, believable world so different from our own’ Tracy Chevalier

‘It is the best novel of its kind since “Watership Down”. All the tension of a palace intrigue and the heart of a small, undaunted hero. An astonishing achievement’ Martin Cruz Smith

‘What Laline Paull has accomplished here is multivalent: a rumination on nature; a portrait of the struggle between individual and the stifling matrix of society; and a depiction of how humanity might organize itself along different lines. I’d call it, in the end, science fiction at its best.’ Paul Di Filippo, Locus

From the Back Cover:

Flora 717 is a sanitation worker, a member of the lowest caste in her orchard hive, where work and sacrifice are the highest virtues and worship of the beloved Queen the only religion. But Flora is not like other bees. With circumstances threatening the hive's survival, her curiosity is regarded as a dangerous flaw, but her courage and strength are assets. She is allowed to feed the newborns in the royal nursery and then to become a forager, flying alone and free to collect nectar and pollen. A feat of bravery grants her access to the Queen's inner sanctum, where she discovers mysteries about the hive that are both profound and ominous.

But when Flora breaks the most sacred law of all-daring to challenge the Queen's preeminence-enemies abound, from the fearsome fertility police who enforce the hive's strict social hierarchy to the high priestesses jealously wedded to power. Her deepest instincts to serve and sacrifice are now overshadowed by a greater power: a fierce maternal love that will bring her into conflict with her conscience, her heart, and her society-and lead her to perform unthinkable deeds.

Thrilling, suspenseful, and spectacularly imaginative, The Bees and its dazzling young heroine will forever change the way you look at the world outside your window.

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  • PublisherFourth Estate
  • Publication date2014
  • ISBN 10 0007557728
  • ISBN 13 9780007557721
  • BindingHardcover
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages352
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ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780007557745
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Paull, Laline
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