Tears of Amber
by
THE MURMUR OF BEES by Sofia Segovia translated by Simon Bruni
From the day that old Nana Reja found a baby abandoned under a bridge, the life of a small Mexican town forever changed. Disfigured and covered in a blanket of bees, little Simonopio is for some locals the stuff of superstition, a child kissed by the devil. But he is welcomed by landowners Francisco and Beatriz Morales, who adopt him and care for him as if he were their own. As he grows up, Simonopio becomes a cause for wonder to the Morales family, because when the uncannily gifted child closes his eyes, he can see what no one else can―visions of all that’s yet to come, both beautiful and dangerous. Followed by his protective swarm of bees and living to deliver his adoptive family from threats―both human and those of nature―Simonopio’s purpose in Linares will, in time, be divined.
Set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution and the devastating influenza of 1918, The Murmur of Bees captures both the fate of a country in flux and the destiny of one family that has put their love, faith, and future in the unbelievable.
Sofía Segovia shares that the novel explores both the love of family and the love of land. From Nana Rega losing her child and becoming a wet nurse to the brotherhood between Simonopia and Francisco, Jr., the family bonds are tight and loving. What moments and descriptions best encompass love in your reading of the novel?
How have your memories been altered with the passage of time? When and how do you remember a photographed experience and when and how do you remember a moment for which you have never seen a photo? Are the qualities of the memory different?
Many people say that scent in particular can trigger memories, whether in the clothing of someone who has died, or in the aroma of something cooking that transports you back to your childhood. The narrator reflects that,
“Someone can tear open an orange nearby, and the aroma transports me to my mama’s kitchen or my papa’s orchard.” (p. 16)
Has this ever happened to you? What aromas bring forward the strongest memories for you?
Have you ever felt that not knowing would help you move on better than knowing? Do you have memories of events that you heard about rather than experienced directly and wish you hadn’t learned about them? When has knowing been beneficial and when has it been harmful?
There is mysticism and magic woven into the fabric of daily life through the bees that follow and lead Simonopia, through Simonopia’s mysterious disease that saves the family from contracting the flu during the pandemic, and through Simonopia and Francisco Morales Jr’s ability to communicate clearly with one another. Many passages float lightly above reality. The author says that she didn’t think about magical realism as she was writing, that it “can’t be attained when you plant it, it has to come or it feels contrived.”What is your reaction to this magical realism? Do you let yourself be immersed in it? Do you ignore or discount it?
How reliable is Francisco, Jr. as a narrator as he tells this story as an old man? How do you think is age and recollection have changed events or moments?
The 1918 pandemic forms the traumatic start to the novel. What did you know about that pandemic before reading the novel? What did you learn or feel reading the historical fiction account of the pandemic in Linares? Did you find any parallels to Covid-19?
The novel closes with hope and with reflections on life gifts. What gifts do you feel life offers and where and when does healing occur?
Questions Provided by Marmalade and Mustard Seed
