Josephine Moon

The Beekeeper’s Secret is a thoughtful and engaging story of family, secrets, guilt and redemption.

“Now it seemed that what they said was true, that the past would indeed always catch up with you—especially if you had something to hide.”

Though Maria Lindsey has spent decades attempting to atone for her mistakes, first as a nun, and now as the manager, and beekeeper, of Honeybee Haven, whose activities support a Cambodian orphanage, she has always known that the time would come when show more she would have to confess her sins. She just didn’t expect that the daughter of her estranged sister, Tansy, would be the first to hear the whole sordid tale.

Maria’s decades old secret is a shocking one, related to a topical issue that the author deals with sensitively. It’s a confronting subject, involving misconduct within the Catholic Church, which may be a trigger for some readers, and though the reader may make a guess at Maria’s experience, the truth is likely to be a surprise.

Maria may be ready to break her silence, but there is someone who is determined that she not say a word.

Tansy Butterfield has always wondered what caused the estrangement between her mother, Enid, aunt Florrie, and their eldest sister. With her thirtieth birthday coming up, she’s tracked down Maria, delighted to learn she has been living barely an hours drive away in the Noosa Hinterland, hoping to arrange a surprise reunion.

It is through Tansy, and her relationship with her husband, and her family, that Moon thoughtfully explores the complicated dynamics that unites, and divide, families. While Tansy is getting to know her aunt, she keeps the secret of Maria from her family, something that her mother in particular, is deeply hurt by, when the truth comes out at a family gathering.

Another large part of this novel is devoted to Maria’s role as a beekeeper, and though I’m vaguely aware of the importance of bees to the health of our environment, I found the tidbits of information Moon shared about their habits and behaviour interesting.

A heartfelt contemporary fiction novel with surprising complexity, given the colourful cover, I liked The Beekeeper’s Secret. As the tagline suggests, this is a story with a sting in its tale. show less

This is an archetypal Chick Lit novel. It's probably 5 stars as a rank within its genre, but only 1 or 2 stars in general literary terms. Predictability, romance, happy ending, 'tragedy', female leads, new age men, evil men - it's got them all. I'm not saying it's not worth reading - I read it and enjoyed it. But I would be embarrassed to admit that to certain people whose respect I seek.

Chick-lit isn't usually my cup of tea (pun intended!), but the promised aesthetic of a tea shop drew me in, and the feminism kept me there. This book is a lovely comfort read and absolutely delivered on the tea vibe. I loved how the women dealt with their own issues but also built a safety net among themselves over the course of the story. (I do wish Leila had come clean with Lucas about the email, though.) There was more depth and complexity than I expected, and Moon did a great job of show more promoting healthy relationships and demonstrating what they do and don't look like. show less

A contemporary Australian family drama featuring delicious jams and a trip on the famous Ghan down the red centre of Australia. Aggie runs a café in the Barossa Valley of South Australia. After Aggie’s mother Valeria has a mini-stroke, great aunt Myrtle decides to arrange a family trip on the Ghan to celebrate Valeria’s 70th birthday. Aggie is recovering from a broken relationship and the pain of failed IVF treatment, and feels she needs to work on her fractured relationship with the show more crusty Valeria. Myrtle’s long term friend and travel adventure companion Dolcie comes along, and Aggie’s daughter Holly, who is visiting from the US. On the trip they meet Rupert, an old acquaintance of Valeria’s, and Harry, a somewhat unsuccessful surfer from Byron Bay.

The story deals with the relationships between the characters. Jam features too as Aggie, Myrtle and Valeria are all prize winning jam-makers. I found Valeria interesting with her principles and opinions on what everyone ought to do, seeming only to render her bitter and hard. The book is a journey in many ways. Myrtle and Dolcie were delightful. A pleasant, enjoyable book that makes me want to drink tea, eat jam and scones, and travel the Ghan. One part of the book that was somewhat shocking to me-as someone living in a country with tight gun control laws and very rare shootings-was the part dealing with high school shootings in the US and the very realistic, traumatic practice scenarios. show less