- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Tindal Street Press (21 May 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0955647665
- ISBN-13: 978-0955647666
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.6 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 336,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Tell it to the Bees
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Lydia Weekes is a beautiful young woman, although she hardly knows it. Her volatile husband all but ignores her and then he is gone completely, leaving her to support their son Charlie on her own with longer shifts at the local factory. A secretive schoolboy, Charlie is increasingly left to his own rich imagination - until he meets the town's new female GP, who encourages his interest in her beehives.
This is the 1950s: when patients sit in front of a doctor's home fire in a carpeted waiting room, abortion is illegal and sexual freedom a source of scandal. When a wary friendship between Charlie's mother and Dr Jean Markham becomes a startling and renewing love affair, their secret passion invites suspicion from Lydia's vindictive sister-in-law, Pam, threatening the safety of her son.
''A page-turning, involving read that makes you ask big questions about the world and its prejudices. Liberating and uplifting'' - Jackie Kay
''It gripped me like a vice, and I stopped doing anything else to get to the end and find out what was going to happen.'' - Andrew Davies
''Shaw s writing is lovely: elegant, subtle and haunting.'' - The Times
''Powerfully exposes the wrenches of prejudice . . . A tender and unlikely page-turner.'' - Financial Times
''A memorable evocation of an era when homosexuality was a crime and abortion illegal. One senses a committed and thoughtful writer intent on using her gifts. It will be interesting to see what she does next.'' - Times Literary Supplement
This is the 1950s: when patients sit in front of a doctor's home fire in a carpeted waiting room, abortion is illegal and sexual freedom a source of scandal. When a wary friendship between Charlie's mother and Dr Jean Markham becomes a startling and renewing love affair, their secret passion invites suspicion from Lydia's vindictive sister-in-law, Pam, threatening the safety of her son.
''A page-turning, involving read that makes you ask big questions about the world and its prejudices. Liberating and uplifting'' - Jackie Kay
''It gripped me like a vice, and I stopped doing anything else to get to the end and find out what was going to happen.'' - Andrew Davies
''Shaw s writing is lovely: elegant, subtle and haunting.'' - The Times
''Powerfully exposes the wrenches of prejudice . . . A tender and unlikely page-turner.'' - Financial Times
''A memorable evocation of an era when homosexuality was a crime and abortion illegal. One senses a committed and thoughtful writer intent on using her gifts. It will be interesting to see what she does next.'' - Times Literary Supplement
About the Author
Fiona Shaw lives in North Yorkshire, where she teaches at the University of York. Her best-selling non-fiction debut Out of Me, about postnatal depression, was shortlisted for the MIND prize.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Fiona Shaw just gets better and better! This is a beautifully written and tender account of three intertwined lives - that of a bee keeping Doctor who lives on the hill, a single mother who works in the factory and reads detective novels to keep the loneliness at bay, and her thougthful imaginative son who learns how to navigate a life that takes several unexpected turns. The 1950s are bought evocatively to life in a novel full of emotional charge, fine detail, and poignant moments. Ideal for a summer read!
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A brilliantly written romance and an emotional roller coaster. Excellent and gripping story-telling. Great characters who come stunningly to life on the page. This book is superbly evocative of the fifties without overdoing the detail. A relationship develops between a working class mother and her doctor - while she struggles with the abusive father of her son Charlie, a wonderfully realised character who is realistically and sensitively written and through whose eyes we see and feel the world shatter and reform around him. Tell It to The Bees is moving and hopeful - and there are wonderful passages on bees and bee-keeping just at a time when hives are threatened by pollution. A great read for a couple of summer days in the garden or on holiday. A five star Book Prize certainty.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Tell it to the Bees is a beautiful read. The three main characters are so real, and the world they inhabit so vivid, that it's a totally absorbing book. I read the first five chapters one night, and the rest of the book the next day non-stop. It made me think a lot about how society's attitudes towards women, love and family have changed (or not) since the fifties. It's written with warmth and intelligence and I would recommend it to anyone.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Tell It To The Bees
This story is beautifully written. I'm so glad I discovered this author. Read some of her other books and I think they open the imagination brilliantly.
Published 4 months ago by Kirsty3080
A 'nice' read...
*Firstly, I think it a little misleading to compare this story to Sarah Waters as Waters is clearly on another level entirely to Fiona Shaw. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Ms. Jf Bowers
For "GandORs" and Awards, but worth reading
I read this book for name-related personal reasons - it's not a natural type of book I would generally reach for. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Stressman
Authentic and gripping
I just bought this book when it came out because I was told that if I liked Sarah Waters, I might like this book as well, and, truely, this book is a real discovery!!! Read more
Published 9 months ago by Nats' Art & Ink
Books
I quite liked this book and I am glad I read it,but it wasnt a can't put down kind of book from Anne
Published 21 months ago by Mrs. E. A. Robb
memorable but dreary
The main characters are all very memorable and likeable and the story is gripping. Although it had a happy ending, it left me feeling it was rather a depressing, maybe its the era... Read more
Published on 26 May 2010 by S. Smith
A Riveting Read
Fiona shaw has given us a captivating thoughtful read. Beautifully written, a convincing picture of the life the 50's. Read more
Published on 25 April 2010 by Alice in Wonderland
Heartwarming, incisive and healing.
Having lived the last 5 years of my life in York, this book was spontaneously recommended to me by my Yoga instructor just two weeks ago. Read more
Published on 27 Oct 2009 by Mr. J. R. F. Richards
An honest and emotional read
Set in a small town just after the Second World War, Shaw centres her piece on a failing marriage with a jealous and unfaithful husband. Read more
Published on 23 Sep 2009 by Vanisha Dhimer
Interesting title, interesting book
Not having lived through the 50s I could still identify with some of the activities and descriptions within it, but what really made it moving and brought you up sharply was the... Read more
Published on 5 Sep 2009 by Book chatter
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