The Beekeeper's Daughter

*Free e-book ARC provided by the publisher through Edelweiss/Above the Treeline in exchange for an honest review. No money or other goods were exchanged, and all views are my own.*

In 1973, nineteen-year-old Trixie Valentine meets and falls in love a British musician, Jasper, who is visiting the island of Tekanasset - a fictional Nantucket - where she lives. Their love seems doomed, however, when Jasper's brother dies and he unexpectedly has to return to England to run the estate. Trixie's parents, Grace and Frankie, with their own secrets in the past of World War 2, hurt for their daughter but know better than most what heartbreak she may suffer when up against the duty and expectations of a Lord.

The plot goes back and forth between the show more 1930s and 40s and the narrative present (mostly the 70s), telling both Grace's and Trixie's stories of love and loss. I'm no great fan of narratives that primarily rest on the fact that the characters can't just have a conversation to clear everything up (okay, yes, it's often more complicated than I'm making it sound, even in real life), so I often found myself irritated with the characters and their choices. The details about beekeeping and descriptions of landscapes were the strongest parts of the story, while the characters felt flat and the dialogue stilted and often peppered with advice that sounded like the wrap up of a Full House episode. The actions and feelings of the characters were simply told in the narrative or dialogue, so it felt more like puppetry and less like I was watching real people and their decisions. I started out somewhat interested but never fully invested in Grace or Trixie's story, which as time went on grew more and more sappy. Finally, the ending was so abrupt I didn't buy it. I want to get so enmeshed that I feel like the way the story unfolded was inevitable, and that never happened here. Disappointing. show less

The Beekeeper’s Daughter by Santa Montefiore is a multi-generational romance featuring the love and heartbreak of Grace Hamblin and her daughter, Trixie Valentine, both of whom are daughters of beekeepers.

It’s the Seventies and while Ian Dury has not yet released Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll, they are the mantra of the generation, except for the youth of picture-perfect Tekanasset Island off the coast of Massachusetts. There, the Sixties seem to have sailed past the country clubs and gardens, leaving them in their idyllic past. That is, until the British Invasion arrives in the form of an aspiring band seeking guidance from a local music impresario.

Trixie Valentine falls madly in love with one of the band mates, Jasper. It’s show more mutual and all is right with the world until his brother’s death calls him home to England and leaves her bereft and broken-hearted, but unwilling to ever settle for anything less than the love she felt for Jasper.

A generation earlier, her mother Grace Hamblin, loved two men, Freddie Valentine and Rufus, the earl of the estate where her father works as head gardener. Her love for Freddie was rooted in the lifelong friendship since childhood, years of playing together, growing together and falling from friendship into love. Her love for Rufus was romance, adult and sensual, intoxicating. But she married Freddie and he went off to WW2, coming back wounded and a cold, distant man. Her entire life, she longed for her lost love.

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice is written with skill. The sense of place is powerful. You can picture the setting easily. I am less happy about the characterization. Most of the characters are types, not people.

If you love romance, particularly blighted and star-crossed romance, then you will probably like The Beekeeper’s Daughter. People of faith may appreciate the frequent allusions to prayer and faith as sources of strength and help. The women are as perfect as perfect can be. Trixie and Grace are paragons. So are some of their friends, but there are a slew of spiteful, snobbish, petty awful women who are their foils, even though some of them get their just desserts and become friends, of course. After they suffer!!!

I was incredibly disappointed in this book. It is so retrograde with its perfect heroines who suffer without complaint and do nothing, not one thing, to change their circumstance. Then there are the awful foils because, of course, if a man someone loves marries another woman, that woman has to be a harpy. Those women are not important characters, but it is an example of the sort of tropes that infect this book. My biggest complaint, though, is that these heroines have no agency. Grace is in an unhappy marriage, but does she do anything? Trixie loves Jasper and he loves her. Does she do anything to bring them happiness?

Of course not. This is a book for those who sit and wait and hope that all good things will come. That is the opposite of the kind of characters that draw me in.

The Beekeeper’s Daughter
Santa Montefiore

I received a free copy of this book to review through a drawing at Goodreads Giveaways.
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2016/05/04/the-beekeepers-daughter-b... show less

I was not familiar with this author prior to reading The Beekeeper’s Daughter but I will certainly try another of her publications after this story. What attracted me to this book was the description on Goodreads and the inside flap of the book:

“England, 1932: Grace Hamblin is growing up in a rural idyll. The beekeeper’s daughter, she knows her place and her future – that is until her father dies and leaves her alone. ”

The setting of rural Devon had me interested and I had hoped it wouldn’t be a flat-out romance. I don’t mind some love interest woven into stories but I’m not a big fan of the romance genre. However, stories set in the British Isles and Ireland attract my interest. This is a multigenerational story which show more flips between 1932 England in 1932, Massachusetts in 1973 and ending with Massachusetts in 1990.

The book starts in Massachusetts – it’s 1973 and Grace’s daughter Trixie (Beatrix) is tired of the small community life. She takes up with an aspiring English rock musician, Jasper Duncliffe, and plans to tour with his group across the USA. Straight off I have to say, I wasn’t invested in Trixie’s character at all. However, her mother Grace is an interesting character and I became fully absorbed with her backstory. That’s what kept me reading at first. Too much more about Trixie and I would have called it a loss, picked up another book.

Anyway, a family emergency arises for Jasper and he has an obligation to return to England but promises to send for Trixie. It becomes clear to Grace and Freddie which family Jasper is from, they both know their daughter will be forgotten. How do they know this family, you ask? Well it will be explained in Grace’s backstory.

When we start reading about Grace she is married to Freddie Valentine, living in Massachusetts, employed as a landscape designer and keeps bees. When her backstory starts she is only 14 years old and Freddie is her best friend. So you have certain spoilers right off such as knowing who she will marry and knowing her beloved father dies while she is still living in England.

The scenery and dialogue are very detailed and you have a feeling of viewing the countryside rather than reading about it. Great descriptive prose. If the research about beekeeping is correct then you will learn so very much about bees and how they are handled, winterized, how to collect honey and more. I personally enjoyed reading those passages. It flowed smoothly, it wasn’t a tutorial at all.

This book isn’t a romance but there is romance and family upheaval in the plot. There are betrayals, mysteries, sorrow and love.

The bees had a supporting role in this story so I choose to make a dish with honeyed chicken tenderloins. This is a light meal which may be prepared in under a half hour. A cold Rose went well with this meal. show less

Enjoyed this book a lot even though there were flaws. Excellent description about keeping bees without getting boring and why each person was interested. Definitely a story about the different class systems of England and how much it has not changed thru the years. Could understand why Grace's husband Freddie acted the way he did at the beginning of his marriage but why continue the attitude for so many years. Got why Grace held a feeling for Rufus but never got why he did because their relationship was not that long and intense. Same for the summer romance of Trixie and Jasper: it seemed more like a teenage love.

I haven’t read any of Santa Montefiore’s books before, and if I’d seen the cover in a shop I doubt I would have picked it up: flowers, soft focus woman in a flowing dress. A bit twee for me. But I didn’t see the cover, I downloaded it from Net Galley. And it just goes to show how a cover can deter as well as attract, because I enjoyed the book. In a ‘I need an unchallenging read for a hot summer day when my brain isn’t fully-functioning’ kind of way.
I was 75% of the way through the book before I worked out why I was slightly dissatisfied, and I emphasize the ‘slightly’. Something was missing: context. The bees are drawn beautifully, the description of bees, the beekeeping, their role in Grace’s life. I could not say show more the same for the World War Two strand, in which war was a distant event: the women take over work at the Hall, and they have plenty of vegetables to eat. Likewise the Seventies, lightly drawn with sweeping pencil strokes. That’s why for me, the book is a lightweight read although it examines heavyweight topics and the characterization is strong. So I guess this will be labelled as Romance Genre.
Will I read another Montefiore novel? Maybe, it would be immensely comforting if I was ill or was facing an endless plane flight. If you hate romance, this is not for you. There’s lots of youthful longing, love won and lost, sad adultery and mature longing of long lost loves. I can see why her novels sell by the bucket-load.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/ show less

Was weer een heerlijke Santa Montefiore, zoals al haar boeken.Gaat de geschiedenis zich herhalen? En wat heeft Trixie met het verleden van haar moeder te maken, je leest het allemaal in deze geweldige roman.Ik heb er van genoten en heb ook stiekem weer iets geleerd over de bijen, maar of ik er nu niet meer bang van ben vraag ik me echt af. Niet alleen het verhaal is mooi maar ik vind het ook een prettige schrijfstijl (bij al haar boeken), ze slepen je gewoon mee zonder dat je hoeft na te denken, alleen maar ontspannen en genieten.

I just finished reading The Beekeeper’s Daughter by Santa Montefiore. The book starts out in 1973 on Tekanasset Island, Massachusetts. Trixie (Beatrix) Valentine is 19 years old and is eagerly sowing her wild oats! Trixie is headstrong and rebellious. She is in love with Jasper Duncliffe. Jasper is British and the second son (which means he does not inherit the estate or title unless something happens to his brother). He is also an up and coming rock musician and singer. Trixie is always sneaking off to spend time with him. Jasper is going to go on tour in the fall and Trixie wants to go with him (instead of going to college). Everything is rosy until Jasper receives word that his older brother died in an accident. Jasper has to show more return home to Walbridge. Trixie wants to go with him, but Jasper asks her to wait and he will send for her. They exchange letters (remember it is 1973 and people still communicate via snail mail) frequently at first and then slowly Jasper’s letters slow down to a small trickle. Then the last letter arrives breaking things off between them. Trixie is crushed. She leaves the island for New York and a career in fashion journalism.

Grace Hamblin Valentine is Trixie’s mother. Grace and her husband, Freddie are originally from Walbridge (in England). They moved to the island after World War II. Grace remembers her time in Walbridge with her father and Rufus Melville. Grace goes back to 1932 and remembers when she met Rufus. The book goes back and forth between 1973 and the 1930’s. We learn about Grace’s father, growing up learning about bees and gardening, a love of literature and falling in love.

Trixie’s parents never talk about their past or where they grew up. In 1990 Trixie decides to find out more about them and visits Walbridge. What Trixie uncovers not only helps her but her parents.

I give The Beekeeper’s Daughter 3 out of 5 stars. I found the book to be long. Longer than it needed to be. With some editing, I think this could be a much better book. I started enjoying The Beekeeper’s Daughter more in the second half of the book (it is just getting to that part that is hard).

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. show less