When Simonopio is discovered under a bridge, cradled in a blanket of bees, the Francisco and Beatriz Morales family could have had no idea what an important role he would play in the life of their family. Set in the turbulent decades of the early 20th century Mexico, war and disease, land reform and nature itself will conspire against Simonopio as he tries to protect the family that has taken him in as their own. As Fransisco and Beatriz try to work their land and raise their family, Mexico will prove itself to a land of love and loss, poverty and comfort, incredible beauty and sickening hatred.
I don't even know how to start with this lovely, lovely book. With his visionary sense of coming danger and true connection with bees, Simonopio brings a strong sense of magical realism to the Morales hacienda. The land itself and Morales as its steward is the backdrop for all of the book, I love how immersed I felt in a Mexico of the past, even as it struggled through a revolution. Beatriz is a nuanced and deep woman, as a mother I felt her own emotions very deeply as she tried to keep her children safe in a world where safety just could not be assumed. It's a slow-moving story, a story woven with compassion and a fluid chronology that took me a minute to get used to before I just let myself fall right in. As lovely as the writing is in translation, I can't imagine reading it in the original Spanish. While I can't call it a page turner, I never wanted to switch to a different book before finishing - I knew I cared about this family and wanted to follow them to the end.
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