The Music of Bees

Readers of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine will love this heartwarming debut novel about three lonely strangers in a small Oregon town who are dealing with grief and life's unexpected turns. They are brought together by coincidence on a nearby honeybee farm, where they discover unexpected healing, unexpected friendship, and perhaps even a second chance.

Alice Holtzman, 44, is grieving over her husband's untimely death, her unfulfilled career, and her lack of family. Alice has been experiencing panic attacks whenever she reflects on how her life hasn't gone as planned. She's not feeling better these days, not even from her beloved honeybees that she raises in her leisure time.

She's transporting 120,000 honeybees in the back of her pickup truck when she almost runs into Jake, the disturbed, paraplegic adolescent with the tallest mohawk in Hood River County, during a panic attack. Alice surprises herself by extending an invitation to Jake to visit her farm, drawn to his genuine curiosity about her bees and desire to save him from his toxic home environment.

And then there's Harry, a twenty-four-year-old who is in severe need of employment due to his crippling social phobia. He is surprised to be employed when he responds to Alice's ad for part-time farm work. As Alice, Jake, and Harry unexpectedly become friends, a dishonest pesticide company sets up shop in the area, endangering the honeybee colony and exposing widespread corruption in the area. For the benefit of the bees, the unusual trio must band together; in the process, they might create a new future for themselves.

The Music of Bees is a heartwarming, inspiring, and beautifully touching story about the strength of friendship, compassion in the face of loss, and having the guts to start over when things don't go as planned—at any age.