Raihana knows one thing for sure. To survive in the
brutal world in which we live, one must put aside
childhood dreams and face the reality of what lies ahead.
This is the lesson she has learned while biding her time
in a refugee camp in North Western Pakistan. When she is
granted asylum from the Danish government, Raihana must
start anew despite her longing for her war-torn homeland
of Afghanistan and the family she will never see again.
When the opportunity to apprentice a local
beekeeper presents itself, Raihana enthusiastically
embraces her new-found independence despite the peculiar
circumstances in which she works. As she soon discovers,
Gunnar, the local beekeeper who has become her boss, is
struggling with his own demons as he desperately tries to
cope with the sudden death of his wife. At first, both
Raihana and Gunnar doubt their ability to help one
another, but as their friendship slowly blossoms, that
soon changes. They come to realize that although they may
not speak the same language; their hearts do tell the same
story of love and loss.
As their friendship deepens, suspicions among the
neighbors as well as among Raihana's own kind are raised
concerning the unconventional relationship of these
dissimilar individuals. As tensions mount and paths are
crossed, their friendship is put to the pivotal test as
they try to put aside the outside world and relish in the
joy of being together. When an act of violence threatens
to destroy the special bond that they have uniquely
shared, Raihana and Gunnar are forced to face the
unthinkable. Will their relationship survive? And yet
more importantly, at what cost?
THE SOUND OF LANGUAGE is an engrossing novel that
dares to cross the barriers that separate the races.
Eloquently written, Malladi harmoniously incorporates the
life cycle of the bee with the emotional journey of two
lives that due to circumstances out of their control will
never be the same. Once again, Malladi treads on a path
few dare to take and quite beautifully comes out on top.
Escaping the turmoil and heartbreak of war-torn Kabul,
Raihana settles with distant relatives in the strange, cold,
damp country of Denmark. Homesick and heartbroken, Raihana
bravely attempts to start a new life, trying hard not to
ponder the fate of her husband, who was taken prisoner by
the Taliban and never heard from again.
Soon after arriving, Raihana finds herself in a language
school, struggling to learn Danish, which she thinks sounds
like the buzzing of bees. To improve her speaking skills,
Raihana apprentices herself to Gunnar, a recent widower who
is steadily withdrawing from the world around him, even
neglecting the bee colonies he worked so hard to cultivate
with his late wife. Over the course of the bee season,
Raihana and Gunnar forge an unlikely relationship, despite
the disapproval of their friends and relatives. But when the
violence Raihana thought she had left behind in Afghanistan
rears its head, she and Gunnar are forced to confront the
ghosts of the past as they navigate the uncertain future.
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