The Murmur of Bees, written in Spanish by Sofía Segovia and translated to English by Simon Bruni, is a historical novel set largely between 1910 and 1930 in Northern Mexico. It follows the lives of the Morales family on Hacienda La Amistad through the third-person omniscient narrator in the past tense and Francisco Junior in the first-person present. Simonopio’s presence and clairvoyance saves the Morales family’s lives and livelihood until the tragedy of Francisco’s murder, which Francisco Junior confronts through his storytelling. The novel deals with themes of journeys, change, land, stories and storytelling, and destiny.
