The Beekeeper's Secret

This is not a recent release, being published in 2017, but it is the first novel by the popular Josephine Moon that I have read.

Maria is a former nun who lives in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, where she runs Honeybee Haven and lovingly tends to her bees. She also makes tourist products for markets and offers retreat style escapes. She lives modestly herself and all her profits go to support an orphanage in Cambodia.

Maria has been estranged from her family for most of her life and when her niece, Tansy, tracks her down and arrives on her doorstep unannounced, keen to mend the rift, she knows she can no longer keep silent about how, and why, she left the convent. This is further complicated when Maria receives an anonymous threatening note and she realises that something wicked in her past is about to catch up with her.

Meanwhile, Tansy has her own issues with her husband, Dougal, who has accepted a job in Canada. After being confident she never wanted children when they were first married, her approaching birthday sets her biological clock ticking.

Most of the secondary characters also have their own personal crises to deal with, from babies with reflux to decisions about whether to continue with university. Even Tansy’s own parents’ marriage is fracturing over religion. As a result, the primary issue involving Maria – the horrific abuse and secrecy within the Catholic Church – can sometimes get “honeyed” down by all that is going on with the others, some of which is almost trivial in comparison. (The cheerful, brightly-illustrated cover reflects this to some extent.) Bees worldwide being under threat is the other major issue to think about.

The plotline and narrative flow well and the descriptions of how bees and their hives operate are particularly interesting. Maria has her positive characteristics but her immediate trusting of the slightly irritating and pushy Tansy, only to be followed by swift reliance on family members she doesn't know when a crisis occurs, makes it seem too contrived.

However, this is an easy read and thankfully not as over-written as are so many other books in this contemporary genre. It does tend towards being preachy in places, but I'll forgive that due to its brave plotline and twist in the ending; enough to lead me to cautiously consider other titles by this author.

Three-and-a-half stars.

Booktopia

Amazon.com.au

Amazon.co.uk

---