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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