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The Music of Bees

Written by: Eileen Garvin
Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer
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Publisher's Summary

A national best seller!

A Good Morning America Buzz Pick | A Good Housekeeping Book Club Pick | IndieNext Pick | LibraryReads Pick | Recommended by People The Washington Post ∙ Woman's WorldNY Post ∙ BookRiot ∙ Bookish ∙ Christian Science Monitor Nerd Daily ∙ The Tempest ∙ Midwestness ∙ The Coil ∙ Read It Forward ∙ and more!

“An exquisite debut that combines a moving tale of friendship with a fascinating primer on bees.” (People)

“This heartwarming, uplifting story will make you want to call your own friends, not to mention grab some honey.” (Good Housekeeping)

Three lonely strangers in a rural Oregon town, each working through grief and life's curveballs, are brought together by happenstance on a local honeybee farm where they find surprising friendship, healing - and maybe even a second chance - just when they least expect it.

Forty-four-year-old Alice Holtzman is stuck in a dead-end job, bereft of family, and now reeling from the unexpected death of her husband. Alice has begun having panic attacks whenever she thinks about how her life hasn't turned out the way she dreamed. Even the beloved honeybees she raises in her spare time aren't helping her feel better these days.

In the grip of a panic attack, she nearly collides with Jake - a troubled, paraplegic teenager with the tallest mohawk in Hood River County - while carrying 120,000 honeybees in the back of her pickup truck. Charmed by Jake's sincere interest in her bees and seeking to rescue him from his toxic home life, Alice surprises herself by inviting Jake to her farm.

And then there's Harry, a 24-year-old with debilitating social anxiety who is desperate for work. When he applies to Alice's ad for part-time farm help, he's shocked to find himself hired. As an unexpected friendship blossoms among Alice, Jake, and Harry, a nefarious pesticide company moves to town, threatening the local honeybee population and illuminating deep-seated corruption in the community. The unlikely trio must unite for the sake of the bees - and in the process, they just might forge a new future for themselves.

Beautifully moving, warm, and uplifting, The Music of Bees is about the power of friendship, compassion in the face of loss, and finding the courage to start over (at any age) when things don't turn out the way you expect.

“A hopeful, uplifting story about the power of chosen family and newfound home and beginning again...but it’s the bees, with all their wonder and intricacy and intrigue, that make this story sing.” (Laurie Frankel, New York Times best-selling author of This Is How It Always Is)

"Eileen Garvin's debut novel is uplifting, funny, bold, and inspirational. The Music of Bees sings!" (Adriana Trigiani, New York Times best-selling author)

©2020 Eileen Garvin (P)2020 Penguin Audio
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What the critics say

“An exquisite debut that combines a moving tale of friendship with a fascinating primer on bees.” (People)

“This heartwarming, uplifting story will make you want to call your own friends, not to mention grab some honey.” (Good Housekeeping)

"A sweet story and a nice reminder that 'flaws' can actually be strengths.” (The Washington Post)

What listeners say about The Music of Bees

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  • Overall
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Loved this book.

I didn’t want the story to end. It was so so good. Thank you Eileen.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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All about bees and a heartwarming, inspiring story

I was gradually captured by these 3 unlikely heroes who I frankly didn’t believe at the opening could ever overcome their despair and change their lives for the better. Lots of courage on display here, and also support and kindness. Fascinating learning about bee ‘society’, and their role in our lives.
So wonderful to listen to Therese Plummer. Great narration.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful story of overcoming the odds

As a beekeeper in the Pacific North West, I could really connect with characters' interactions with the bees. I have recommended this book to everyone I talk to, I loved it!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic story and delivery

I think what I like the most about it is its believability, real life Struggles with real emotions, the interior workings of people's minds that are connected to their hurts and how that exhibits itself in their behaviour and how they navigate in the world before healing was felt very accurate

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Great listen!

Such a captivating bunch of characters! I couldn’t stop listening as I wanted to find out how the three would evolve!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Loved this book

This was a refreshing book of human kindness. Performance excellent with pleasant reading voice. Highly recommend!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful story!

Great story, great narration and wonderful writing. Bee keeper or not this is a “must listen to”

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Great narrator, slow story

Narrator does a great job. The story itself is okay but it’s very slow and plodding, and gets pretty repetitive and predictable. I didn’t dislike it or regret the time spent with it, but it was definitely too long for what it was and the characters were a bit one-note for me. I did enjoy the bee facts, but the characters repeated the same thoughts and feelings over and over and over and over to the point where I was hoping they’d just get on with it already. Had to speed up to almost 2x by the end just to get through it. Decent, but not the best book I’ve ever listened to.

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