Bee Season

A Novel

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Bee Season

By: Myla Goldberg

Narrated by: Myla Goldberg

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Eliza Naumann, a seemingly unremarkable 9-year-old, expects never to fit into her gifted family: her autodidact father, Saul, absorbed in his study of Jewish mysticism; her brother, Aaron, the vessel of his father's spiritual ambitions; and her brilliant but distant lawyer-mom, Miriam. But when Eliza sweeps her school and district spelling bees in quick succession, Saul takes it as a sign that she is destined for greatness. In this altered reality, Saul inducts her into his hallowed study and lavishes upon her the attention previously reserved for Aaron, who in his displacement embarks upon a lone quest for spiritual fulfillment. When Miriam's secret life triggers a familial explosion, it is Eliza who must order the chaos.

Myla Goldberg's keen eye for detail brings Eliza's journey to three-dimensional life. As she rises from classroom obscurity to the blinding lights and outsized expectations of the National Bee, Eliza's small pains and large joys are finely wrought and deeply felt.

Not merely a coming-of-age story, Goldberg's first novel delicately examines the unraveling fabric of one family. The outcome of this tale is as startling and unconventional as her prose, which wields its metaphors sharply and rings with maturity. The work of a lyrical and gifted storyteller, Bee Season marks the arrival of an extraordinarily talented new writer.

Action & Adventure

Coming of Age

Family Life

Fiction

Genre Fiction

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Critic reviews

Book Sense Book of the Year Award Finalist, Adult Fiction, 2001

"Goldberg strikes new ground here, and displays a fresh, distinctive and totally winning voice." (Publishers Weekly)
"There is something of Holden Caulfield in Eliza, the same crazed determination to save her loved ones from themselves. An impressive debut from a remarkably talented writer." (Booklist)

Most relevant

Having never heard of the author or the book, I was bowled over by this book. This is a story of an observant Jewish family and the stresses of everyday life upon all of them.

From the point of view of every member of the family, one gets to see how much is going on which is never communicated to the other members of the family.

I was also highly impressed with the imagery which Myla Goldberg brings to this novel. She is a master of the English language.

I recommend this very highly.