We love the Scots. Kate Atkinson, Iain Banks, Alasdair Gray... The country regularly produces writers with a penchant for black humor and a delicious turn of phrase. So we weren't entirely surprised when we were drawn into
Lisa O'Donnell's debut novel from its arresting first sentences.
The Death of Bees is the macabre — and hilarious — coming-of-age story of two young sisters, Marnie and Nelly, who we first encounter as they're burying their parents in the backyard. The novel contains a sort of murder-mystery, but at heart it's an exploration of family and community — those we're born with and those we choose to create. Alison Espach, author of
The Adults, raves, "
The Death of Bees is completely addictive. A beautiful and darkly funny story of two sisters building a fantasy within a nightmare." We agree, and we're proud to have chosen
The Death of Bees as our Indiespensable Volume #37.
We're also including a very early (so early that the publisher hasn't decided on the final book cover yet!) advance reader copy of The Illusion of Separateness by Simon Van Booy, the author of Everything Beautiful Began After and The Secret Lives of People in Love. This gorgeous novel illuminates the invisible connections between seemingly disparate people. Andre Dubus III, a former Indiespensable author, writes, "If F. Scott Fitzgerald and Marguerite Duras had had a son, he would be Simon Van Booy; this is a truly special writer who does things with abstract language that are so evocative and original your breath literally catches in your chest."
Though it's true that The Death of Bees isn't so much about actual bees — it's more of a metaphor — we thought, hey, who doesn't like bees? Or beestuffs? So we've included some beeswax lip balm from Worker B, creator of all things handcrafted and bee-related, and a 12-ounce jar of pure, golden, raw honey from the Wessels Family farm in Forest Grove, Oregon. Your particular jar of honey was made from clover pollen and originates in the fields surrounding Oregon City — just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Indiespensable headquarters.