Memories are a curious thing: while I always felt fortunate to have a few photographs of my father, they ended up contaminating my memories of him, because I looked at them so much, they gradually replaced the flesh-and-blood man whose body had a smell, whose voice had a timbre, whose hair would ruffle, and whose smile, when he unleashed it, was more contagious than the flu.” (p. 437). The Morales family names him Simonopio and raises him as their own. He turns out to have superpowers: He can see the future, which lets him help the family at crisis moments, first in the devastating 1918 flu epidemic and, later, when they risk losing their land in the wake of the Mexican Revolution.

Anselmo Espiricueta: a migrant heading north with his family, reluctantly becomes a laborer on La Amistad Tai knyga apie matymą užsimerkus. Užuodimą to, kas už keliolikos ar net kelių šimtų kilometrų. Apie kojomis neįveikiamas keliones, kurias įveiki ant bičių sparnų. Apie prisiminimą to, kas nutiks rytoj. Apie kojotus žmonėse ir žmones kojotuose. Apie apgamus ant veido – kodėl jie keičia formą ir vietą kas kartą sumirksėjus? Apie istorijas, kurias gali išgirsti akimis ir papasakoti oda. Apie visus, kuriems galbūt nebuvo lemta išgyventi, bet lemta gyventi – oi, dar ir kaip gyventi. Kaip moka gal nebent Meksikoje. Prisikeliant iš numirusiųjų. Mirtį nukeliant ar ją numatant. Nuspėjant ar nujaučiant. Karstą paruošiant dvidešimt metų iki mirties.

From the day that old Nana Reja found a baby abandoned under a bridge, the life of a small Mexican town forever changed. Disfigured and covered in a blanket of bees, little Simonopio is for some locals the stuff of superstition, a child kissed by the devil. But he is welcomed by landowners Francisco and Beatriz Morales, who adopt him and care for him as if he were their own. As he grows up, Simonopio becomes a cause for wonder to the Morales family, because when the uncannily gifted child closes his eyes, he can see what no one else can—visions of all that’s yet to come, both beautiful and dangerous. Followed by his protective swarm of bees and living to deliver his adoptive family from threats—both human and those of nature—Simonopio’s purpose in Linares will, in time, be divined. The story creates an atmosphere that seduces the senses with rich descriptions of the land, nature, as well as tragedy. The story, told by the grandson of the original Morales patriarch, is, of course, sympathetic to the plight of landowners who lost much of their wealth during the revolution. At the same time it is imbued with the humanity of those who struggle to survive, and who are darker-skinned than the landowning aristocracy.

Have you ever felt that not knowing would help you move on better than knowing? Do you have memories of events that you heard about rather than experienced directly and wish you hadn’t learned about them? When has knowing been beneficial and when has it been harmful? As part of its essence, the house also preserved the laughter and games of its children, the scolding and slamming of doors, past and present. The loose tile my grandfather and his twenty-two siblings trod with their bare feet and my father trod in his childhood was the same one I trod as a boy. That tile was a betrayer of mischief, for with its inevitable clunk, the mother of the time would be alerted to whatever plan her offspring had hatched. The house beams creaked for no apparent reason, the doors squeaked, the shutters banged rhythmically against the wall even when there was no wind. Resources, character list and discussion questions will help get your book group exploring northeast Mexico as you travel to a land of fruit trees, bees and magical realism. The Murmur of Bees is a historical fiction novel by Mexican author Sofia Segovia, her first to be translated into English. The novel is set in Northern Mexico in the early 20th century amidst the Mexican Revolution and the deadly Spanish flu pandemic. The story follows the lifetime of the Morales family of landowners. When an abandoned baby with a hive of bees next to him is found on the Morales land, Francisco and Beatriz Morales adopt the baby and treat him as their own, despite his facial deformity. Named Simonopio, the adopted child might not be able to speak, but it is clear that he is gifted. Surrounded by his bees day and night, Simonopio understands and knows things beyond human capabilities. However, despite Simonopio's protective hand over the Morales family, not all evil can be stopped. Simonopio and Francisco Junior have a very special bond. They are practically brothers. Simonopio knows that he is different from other people and it was interesting to read him imparting other knowledge to Francisco Junior, knowledge that other people just don’t listen for. Their relationship is another beautiful aspect of this book.

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How reliable is Francisco, Jr. as a narrator as he tells this story as an old man? How do you think is age and recollection have changed events or moments?