Yamen Manaï

Set in a fictional North African country just after the Arab Spring, The Ardent Swarm follows small town hermetic beekeeper Sidi in his quest to save his "girls" after a violent attack on his beehives leaves one entire colony decimated.

Following both Sidi and his bees and the fate of the country as it moves into fundamentalism after "democratic" elections, the novel illustrates how chaos affects communities.

While the secondary storyline of the rise of the Party of God to power (through show more nefarious means) is interesting and frightening, the real heart and life of this story lies with Sidi and his journey to protect and save his precious children.

I learned more about bees than I ever thought I'd want to know and I found myself absolutely mesmerised by their machinations and the complexity of the workings in a hive. Sidi's love and care for them was poignant and his odyssey, which finds him moving far outside his comfort zone, kept me engrossed.

If you would have told me before I read this that I'd get teary eyed about a bunch of bees, I'd have laughed but I did and I admit it with no shame. The Ardent Swarm is a highly readable and beautiful little parable and I can happily recommend it. show less

Sidi is a beekeeper in the village of Nawa, Tunisia and passionate about protecting "his girls." As the novel opens, one of his hives has been destroyed by massive hornets of a type he has never seen before. He vows to learn about the intruder and not only protect his hives, but breed bees that can defend themselves against the hornets. Sidi is also extremely leery of the new democratic elections, the first after the overthrow of The Handsome One, and the Party of God officials that have show more come to the village with handouts in exchange for votes. He worked for a time in Saudi Arabia and is aware of the hypocrisy of the zealots. The two plot lines merge as one serves as an allegory for the other.

Yamen Manai was born in Tunis and is a scientist as well as writer. In an interview he said he was watching a National Geographic program about how Japanese bees defend themselves against the giant Asian hornet and had the inspiration that led to his writing this allegorical novel set in Tunisia after the Arab Spring. His writing incorporates both the political situation and environmental concerns, yet is often funny. Manai credits Arabic poetry and the oral tradition with influencing his writing.

Note: I found the prologue off-putting, but it had little to do with the subsequent story and could easily have been cut. show less

When a strange predator endangers the future of his hives, North African beekeeper Sidi sets out to identify the threat and find a way to neutralize it. Sidi lives in Nawa, an isolated village that has suddenly received a lot of attention leading up to its first election in decades. The Party of God, a fundamentalist Muslim political party, is distributing food, clothing, and other forms of aid to buy the votes of the villagers. Is there a connection between politics and the threat to show more Sidi’s bees?

I was fascinated by the bee culture that drives this novel. The preservation of Sidi’s bees seems to be an allegory for the preservation of culture amidst political unrest. I’m really glad I picked up this little gem on World Book Day last year. show less

This is an excellent story of a beekeeper whose bees have been slaughtered by a devilish killer at the same time religious extremists are assuming power in Tunisia. Our beekeeper & his friends set out to discover and destroy the evil killing his “girls.” The author has a subtle sense of humor I really enjoyed and a lovely style of writing. The book is satisfying on all fronts. Highly recommended short read.