The Murmur of Bees

A family saga tinged with magical realism set around the beginning of the 20ths century in rural Mexico. Rich in characters and folklore, the story features a lot of historical details of that time: the Mexican Revolution, the Spanish flu epidemic and the agrarian land reforms.

Simonopio, his bees, his wild ways and his wisdom-from-nature were naturally a charming center of the story. And I really enjoyed all the little character arcs, like Nana Reja's or that of Lazarus (the one who came back!). Yet the second part of novel spent too much time focusing on the fight of lion and coyote. It seems to expand more and more, until I realized it takes over the whole rest of the book. And after, it left me wondering what purpose all that sacrifice had. Helping rich land owners hold on to every parcel of their land? What did that son do, that was so important saving him?

Nevertheless, this was a fun read (if you don't think too hard about the messages).