The Honey Thief

At first this is a story about a mother moving with her pre-teen daughter from New York City to the countryside where she hopes for a fresh start. The daughter, Eva, has been caught shoplifting a number of times, she’s definitely got an attitude and maybe something else is going on. Her mother Miriam has to work long hours to support them, so Eva is left to her own devices- there’s a babysitter but she goes out bike riding and exploring alone. Finds a small farm nearby where a man puts out honey jars by the road for sale, on the honor system. You can guess what happens. Then Eva sneaks into the field where the hives are kept, and meets the beekeeper. She finds his work fascinating, starts pestering him with questions, hanging show more around, wanting to know more. He shows her things when he opens a hive, in spite of feeling uneasy about it. Meanwhile there’s chapters showing the mother’s point of view, and they weave into the past, telling what happened when Miriam first met Eva’s father. At first I thought this part so dull in comparison- personally I much preferred reading about how the bees were tended, and I related a lot more to the reclusive beekeeper, his reasons for settling on his grandmother’s farm leaving behind a lucrative desk job. . . but I soon found how relevant the backstory of Eva’s parents was.

SKIP this paragraph to avoid SPOILERS: her father had a mental illness, which he failed to disclose to Miriam when they first met, fell in love quickly and had a baby without much planning. He hadn’t had a bad episode in a long time and wanting to be better, thought he’d put it all behind him, until things slowly started unraveling. When Miriam finally realized something was seriously wrong, they were at a crisis point. This all felt way too familiar to me, as a reader- someone in my family has bipolar disorder, so I knew exactly what they were talking about it and a lot of it rang true to me. How the symptoms sneak up on you, subtly getting worse, but you don’t want it to be the mental illness so you don’t see it for what it is at first.. And after you’re always questioning: is my teen just being a teenager? is this normal mood swings? or is it a manic episode.

So I found the book really compelling, even though some of it was uneven, sometimes the dialog a bit awkward, the accident at the end a bit predictable. However then it dropped off abruptly. I expected a bit more resolution- I was glad that Miriam finally told Eva more about her father, but she didn’t really explain the illness, and there was no hint of them finding out the answer to the big question: does Eva have it too. I suppose that’s realistic after all- you wouldn’t immediately tell an eleven-year-old who’s ready to find reasons to distrust you already, that you suspect she could have a serious mental health issue- but still I wanted to know more.

I liked this well enough I’ll look out for more by the same author.

from the Dogear Diary show less

Rarely am I captivated by a mother/daughter story, and this book is one of the exceptions. I don't know if it is because the book features bees and honey, themes that have been favorites since reading one sentence about Yemeni honey in Motoring With Mohammed years ago, or because Elizabeth Graver is so skilled at telling a mother/daughter story without being overly sentimental. The sticky sweet honey is the only thing sticky sweet in the story.

This is also a story of mental illness and the fear of inheritance. This part of the story is not at all a side story; it is very much a part of the mother/daughter story even though neither exhibit mental illness. It makes one wonder if knowing there is a chance of illness makes life easier or show more just makes one question every deviance, or even perceived deviance, from the norm as a sign of impending illness. show less

The Honey Thief presents a coming of age story of a girl, Eva, on the cusp of adolescence who has recently moved to the New York countryside from the city, in a desperate attempt by her widowed mother to escape a troubling past. The immediate impetus for the move is Eva's series of compulsive thefts. Her mother, Miriam, moves Eva out of the city in an attempt to stop the behavior. For Miriam Eva stealing is much more troubling than just adolescent misbehavior. Why that is is related throughout the book in a series of flashbacks, that tell the story of Eva's parents early relationship and their marriage, before Eva's father's death, several years after her birth. Yet, the country does little to help Eva, and, if anything, her problems show more worsen. The one mitigating factor for Eva seems to be her introduction to a local beekeeper, who invites Eva to watch and learn about his bees. But through a series of chance encounters the one stable and satisfying part of Eva's life will be endangered too.

Eva's story is an interesting one, and the relationship she develops with Burl the beekeeper is an interesting and nuanced one that Graver develops with skill. Ultimately I found the end of this book much less satisfying than the first 3/4 of the text. The ending was a surprise, but unsatisfying. It's difficult to explain why without giving away the ending, but suffice it to say that I found there to be little resolution for the most sympathetic and interesting character in the book. But up until the end the rest of the text was engaging, full of complicated characters and problems. Eva's family is one in which all members are burdened, both by the past and by illness, and much of Eva and Miriam's tell is really an attempt to deal with these problems. Graver is a good writer, I simply wished she'd handled the ending with more complexity. show less

I kept waiting for a resolution - but nothing substantial. Interesting insights into "madness" if you will. Are people's lives so haunted by the events of their lives? I'm not convinced.

Twelve year old Eva is caught shoplifting, twice. Her mother, Miriam, decides that a change of scenery is in order, for both her and Eva's benefit, so she moves them to upstate New York, near Ithaca. Eva's father had died 6 years earlier. Eva is a lonely child and riding her second-hand bike around the area, she happens on a stand selling honey, unmanned. She decides to take a few jars.

However, she's intrigued and returns, to ultimately befriend Burl, the 40-year-old owner the stand and the associated farm and bee hives.

The Honey Thief is about growing up, about dealing with loss both through the death of a loved one and the result of a dear friend/lover moving away. Eva, Miriam and Burl are all dealing with loss of some sort and the show more means by which they cope/learn are different.

The Honey Thief is an interesting story and an enjoyable read. However, if you want a more compelling story, one that teaches you about bees, then Telling the Bees by Peggy Hesketh is really the book for you. show less

A very good read with complexities that kept me wondering about this unusual girl, her widowed mother, and the events that brought them to move to a new town. This story was authentic, sometimes haunting, and always enjoyable.

Graver did an excellent job at unraveling the mystery behind the death of 11 year-old Eva's father, and it was both shocking and believable. Graver writes with a quietness that I totally enjoyed. A lovely novel that I would recommend.

Elizabeth Graver's first novel, Unravelling, was hailed on publication as "exceptional" (The New York Times Book Review), "a pleasure" (The New Yorker), and "exquisitely poignant and sensual" (The Boston Globe). Now, in her second novel, she proves herself to be a major voice in American fiction. The summer that eleven-year-old Eva is caught shoplifting (for the fourth time), her mother, Miriam, decides the only solution is to move out of the city to a quiet town in upstate New York. There, she hopes, they can have the normal life she longs for. But Miriam is bound by a past she is trying to forget, and tensions escalate. It is only when Eva meets a reclusive beekeeper that she-and her mother-can find their way back to each other, and show more can begin life with renewed promise. A haunting novel of memory and desire, The Honey Thief reveals the healing power of friendship and the ineradicable bonds of mother and child. show less