Five-star review of The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia, translated by Simon Bruni
A slow, beautifully written story
about two boys growing up in northern Mexico between 1910 and 1920, during
civil war, a world war, changes in major crops and the Spanish flu. From the
moment Simonopio is found as an infant with a deformed mouth and bees lighting
all over him, to his incorporation in the Morales-Cortes family, to the birth
of Fernando Jr. several years later and Simonopio’s efforts to teach him all he
knew, to the tragedy on Fernando Jr.’s birthday, we see how Simonopio and his
bees helped his adoptive family. The lyricism of the translation must reflect
on the original Spanish magical realism. The story is told from multiple
viewpoints but ultimately from that of Fernando Jr.
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