OF BEES AND MIST

by Erick Setiawan
 
This book, at heart, is the story of an extended family over the course of five decades centering around the marriage of Meridia and Daniel. But both setting and style are unusual in the extreme, blending elements of fairy tale and magical realism to create a world like none I’ve ever experienced.  If you are someone who needs to understand what is happening at every moment in a book—this is not the book for you.  But if you are open to sinking into a metaphor and letting it wrap the story around you like, well, a mist—you’ve gotta read this!
 
Through the story of Meridia, we see the rise and downfall of five different marriages and many parent/child relationships.  From her unhappy parents, to her controlling mother-in-law, Meridia tries to find her own path in her marriage to Daniel, and to escape the mistakes of her family’s past. In each character, though their situations are often extreme, it is easy to recognize the kernel behavior or twist of logic from one’s own life.
 
This book required me to open my mind to a way of reading and processing story that was entirely new to me, and the reward of this enchanting story was well worth it!(Lily)