A beautiful memoir, interwoven with fine detail on the art of beekeeping. Meredith’s childhood was heartbreaking, shunned and treated coldly by her mother and grandmother. Her grandfather being the only light in an otherwise bleak childhood- teaching her the ways of bees and using them as an analogy for the behaviour of people in her life.

I love this story. The feelings and thoughts of a young girl whose mother became a child herself when her husband abandoned them. The complicity of the grandmother and her attitude to her daughter all becomes clear at the end but, throughout the story, the bewilderment of this little girl is such a poignant tale. All that seems to anchor her in the now is her grandfather and his bees. I confess I learnt so much about bees will never look at them in the same way again. Even after I finished It this tale continue lingered in my mind. A really worthwhile read.

I found this to be a poignant memoir of a young girl growing up and experiencing her parent's divorce, moving to another area and learning to fit in with others from a very early age. She learns about life through the lens of 'the bees' that her step grandfather keeps. A story of survival against the odd.s!

The Honey Bus by Meredith May
This is the story of a young girl growing up in a dysfunctional family in the seventies. Her parents split up acrimoniously and Meredith and her brother fly from Rhode Island to California to live with her mother’s parents. Meredith’s grandfather is a beekeeper and through his stories of bees she manages to cope with the pain of her upbringing.
Meredith’s mother is emotionally abusive and unable to provide the right environment for children to thrive and grow. The grandmother, a teacher, is also unable to provide the nurturing, loving home the children need and it is only the step grandfather who offers the emotional stability necessary for Meredith and her brother, Matthew. The detailed natural history information related to bees is really fascinating and engaging.

A powerful and inspiring book which is beautiful and utterly heartfelt. I haven't been so moved by a book in a long while and finished this with a lump in my throat. A wonderful story of bees, family, heartbreak and love. Utterly wonderful!

This is a fascinating read that pulls at the heartstrings. It is a very emotional memoir. It is amazing how bees and the love and understanding of her grandfather helped Meredith and her brother through a really difficult childhood. I will remember this book for a long time.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This was an interesting memoir by Meredith May about her childhood. Meredith was five and living in Rhode Island when her mother decided to leave the marriage and took Meredith and her younger brother to California to live with her parents.

Once in California Meredith’s mentally ill mother took to her bed and hardly interacted with the family. On the few occasions that she did it always seemed to end in trauma for Meredith and her brother. Meredith’s grandmother was often cold and took sides with her daughter. Meredith’s grandfather was her saving grace. He had a battered old military bus in his backyard which he’s converted into a small scale honey production plant. He had bee hives all over the area and, over the next few years, taught Meredith how to care for them and how to collect their honey. He also used the ways the bees behaved as an illustration to Meredith in how to deal with the many challenges that she faced in her life. This book is part memoir and part beekeeping guide. The reader will learn a lot of fascinating things about the different types of bees and their different functions, as well as how to collect honey and the potentially devastating effect that losing our bees will have on the world.

It was a lovely story but I am somewhat sceptical just how true it all is as the idea of a five year old girl remembering so many conversations and her surroundings in such great detail would be very remarkable. Even if she did have an amazing memory I find it hard to believe that a five year old would have enough emotional intelligence to understand the significance of all the stories that her grandfather told using bees as an example for how humans would ideally interact.

I would have liked to know more about Meredith’s life and that of her brother and the rest of the family from when Meredith went to college in 1987 until present day. There is a brief epilogue in 2015 but only a few words about the intervening three decades.

With thanks to NetGalley and HQ for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Some of the events recorded in this memoir are so sad and shocking that it's hard to believe you are reading non-fiction, as its content has much in common with a literary fiction story about a dysfunctional American Family. However, this is a woman's recollection of her childhood, some of it depressing, but mostly uplifting because she finds someone prepared to show her the beauty of nature and how its lessons can help anyone escape to a better life.

Meredith May's childhood growing up in 1970s North America is interesting from a historical point of view, especially for people who grew up in the same time period. The insight into how honey bees live, what makes them work as a family, and how their experiences can help humans live better lives, is what makes this book remarkable.

It highlights the importance of honey bees to the ecosystem and draws realistic parallels between honey bee and human families and society.

Meredith's relationship with her younger brother is selfless. It highlights the inadequacy of her mother and grandmother's maternal skills because of mental health issues and their inherent lack of insight into the needs of young children.

Her Grandpa, although unconventional, understands what she needs, and provides her with security, time and most of all an understanding of life and its mysteries through his love of honey bees and beekeeping.

A complex, poignant journey through the eyes of a young girl faced with life's misery and wonders, as she learns with her grandpa's and the honey bees' help, how to find a life worth living.

I received a copy of this book from HQ via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

An interesting biography that weaves links between human behaviour and bees - I learnt a lot about bees from reading this book. The relationships in this book are very engaging and the fact it is non-fiction shines through this book, it is believable and honest whilst still being engaging.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

Whilst I liked the sound of the blurb, this isn't the type of novel I usually enjoy but I loved it. Following a young girl to adulthood through the trials and tribulations of family life, I laughed and cried (more than once) with the engaging narrative that made me feel that I was there with her. Seamlessly weaved into the novel were fascinating facts about bees that linked to the events but also gave me a greater respect for the world around me. I've already recommended this novel to family and friends.

A fascinating, beautiful story however it is not without sadness. A memoir of Merediths childhood where the lack of a mothers love was replaced by a grandfathers love where connections were made through the love and interest of bee keeping and joint love of nature.
Thank you to both NetGalley and HQ publishers for giving me a eARC of this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

A beautifully touching book that is part memoirs part tribute to both bees and grandpa's.
I loved the nostalgia that lifts off of each page of music, sights, smells, all evocative of simple pleasures scattered amongst difficult and harrowing experiences. The juxtaposition of Meredith's childhood lessons from her neglectful, mentally ill mother and her patient and nurturing grandpa are moving beyond comprehension. I've read few books that really stir such a sense of grief, sadness but joy amongst the pages. There are drips of uplifting, small but significant, moments where Meredith finds a strength, a lesson, a chance to free herself from her difficult upbringing, The education about bees and their wonderful approach to love, survival, sacrifice and family is stunning, so much is shared to be learned and absorbed and applied to our own inadequate ways of protecting our world, how the bees have everything to learn from.
Ultimately this book holds powerful lessons about following your own path and being the light in the darkness.

I found this book really engaging and interesting, even though at first I thought it wasn't my kind of thing. Meredith May's professional background has clearly helped her writing skills - this book was never boring and it kept me up later than I intended on more than one night! Heartwarmimg without being sickly, unflinching in its description of cruelty and ultimately life affirming. A good read indeed.

This was a fascinating story based around the lives of bees. It was very sad in parts but showed the power of the human spirit amidst trauma and neglect, given the right catalyst. Very uplifting and I hope a way to help the bees survive, is found. I really enjoy reading a book and learning something new at the same time.

What a fab book. It was not all plain sailing for Meredith and Matthew and they had a very difficult childhood with a mom who was not capable to giving love for reasons eventually explained near the end of the story. It was very sad in places but Grandpa was on hand and led them in the right direction through his stories and nurturing of his bees. We would all love a granddad like this and many people do. Children are very resilient that this shows in this book and it does not always matter what life throws at you, you can survive if you have the urgency to do so. I feel I could almost look after the bees as the information about looking after them was not heavy but informative in an amazing way. I think this book would make a wonderful movie and would like to think that this could happen one day

What a lovely book full of information about bees and how one caring person made such a difference to a young girl in need of a family.
This autobiographical story will stay with me not just for the beauty of the bees and the nature but for the resilience of Meredith,who despite growing up with a hugely dysfunctional mother manages to learn lessons from the way bees organise their lives. Her step grandfather gently guides her and helps her make sense of things that are happening that she can not control. Life as a young child in 1970s America isn’t easy for either Meredith or her younger brother particularly when her parents split up and her mother takes them back to her childhood home in California.
The bookis at times deeply moving, sometimes disturbing ,but as Meredith grows so does her understanding of her mother and grandmother’s behaviour. Luckily she has a way out eventually helped by her knowledge of bees and nature .
If you are at all interested in bees then this is the book for you if you know nothing of bees and don’t know what all the fuss about insecticides is then this is the book for you . Read it and share it with others

A wonderful book despite the very sad and dysfunctional family at its heart. The novel follows the progress of Meredith, a little girl who becomes totally bewildered with her parents and her life when she is uprooted from her happy early years to live with her mother, brother and grandparents. It is only the steadfastness and fascination for her grandfather's bees that keeps her sane and teaches her to survive whatever life may throw at her. I loved this book and sharing the bees' quirks and lifestyle through the eyes of a young girl. An ultimately uplifting and simply engrossing read!

With a depressed single mother who could barely get out of bed, Meredith relied on her grandfather for love and solace. She also found another avenue for learning life’s lessons – her grandfather’s bees. Through the hive, Meredith learned about family, loyalty, self-sacrifice and resilience. A thought-provoking memoir.

This was a real eye opener into how Honey Bees work as a family and how they helped a little girl with her family life.
A super read.

Wonderful. Working with her grandpa caring for his bees helped Meredith survive her dysfunctional childhood learning life lessons along the way . All you ever needed to know about bees and beekeeping all packaged up in a wonderful story. The epilogue is a bonus.