As a young child, Meridia had a realization: she and her
parents were never, all three, in a room together at the
same time. Her vague and opaquely verbose mother and
brusque father did not speak directly to each other and did
not comment on Meridia's remembered dream of a sparkling
silver thing that scared her, the constant chill of the
house, nor even the mists that assaulted their front stoop
and into which her father disappeared.
Leaving her home to marry was to be a delight, a joyous
freedom into adulthood and a truly familial atmosphere.
Quickly Meridia realized that every family has secret
twists and turns: some families may be wrapped with chill
fogs, while others are battered by persuasive bees.
Like the best of DeLint's work, OF BEES AND MIST is an
amazing tale of generational relationships, personal
development and well-crafted narration filled with
symbolism and beauty. This is a fabulous book for readers
looking for an excellent story told in a richly-created
world that bears a close resemblance to our own...and an
even closer resemblance to bedtime stories and fairy tales.
Raised in a sepulchral house where ghosts dwell in mirrors,
Meridia grows up lonely and miserable. But at age sixteen,
she has a chance at happiness when she falls in love with
Daniel-a caring and naive young man. Soon they marry, and
Meridia can finally escape to live with her husband's
family, unaware that they harbor dark secrets of their own.
There is a grave hidden in the garden, there are two sisters
groomed from birth to despise each other, and there is
Eva-the formidable matriarch and the wickedest mother-in-law
imaginable-whose grievances swarm the air in an army of
bees. As Meridia struggles to keep her life and marriage
together, she discovers long-buried secrets about her own
past as well as shocking truths about her new family that
inexorably push her love, courage, and sanity to the brink.
Of Bees and Mist is an engrossing fable that
chronicles three generations of women under one family tree
over a period of thirty years-their galvanic love and
passion, their shifting alliances, their superstitions and
complex domestic politics-and places them in a mythical town
where spirits and spells, witchcraft and demons, and
prophets and clairvoyance are an everyday reality. Erick
Setiawan's astonishing debut is a richly atmospheric and
tumultuous ride of hope and heartbreak that is altogether
touching, truthful, and entirely memorable.
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