PublishedSimon & Schuster, August 2018 |
ISBN9781471167713 |
FormatHardcover, 304 pages |
Dimensions21.6cm × 13.5cm × 2.6cm |
Entering her thirties, Helen Jukes feels trapped in an urban grind of office politics and temporary addresses disconnected, stressed. Struggling to settle into her latest job and home in Oxford, she realises she needs to effect a change if shes to create a meaningful life for herself, one that can accommodate comfort and labour and love.
Then friends give her the gift of a colony of honeybees according to folklore, bees freely given bring luck and Helen embarks on her first full year of beekeeping. But what does it mean to keep wild creatures? In learning about the bees, what can she learn of herself? And can travelling inside the hive free her outside it? As Helen grapples with her role in the delicate, awe-inspiring ecosystem of the hive, the very act of keeping seems to open up new perspectives, deepen friendships old and new, and make her world come alive. A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings is at once a fascinating exploration of the honeybee and the hive, the practices of honey-gathering and the history of our observation of bees; and a beautifully wrought meditation on responsibility and care, on vulnerability and trust, on forging bonds and breaking new ground.
Marijke is the Customer Service Supervisor at Boffins and has been a Boffin for over five years, and a bird fanatic for even longer. She reads anything interesting.
This book was fascinating, touching, and informative – and the writing made it really easy and pleasurable to read! Despite the ease of the read it did give me a lot to ponder about what it means to be a human animal and the way that we interact with other beings. I loved that Helen really made her colony central to the book – all the ‘real-life’ distractions were kept to a minimum and I could almost imagine I was sitting out alongside her at the hive. I’m not extremely tempted to organise my own hive but the neighbours may not be as appreciative…
