Tell it to the Bees by Fiona Shaw

I’ve been reading a lot of books over the past week. Sadly, I tested positive for Covid-19, and have to stay in for ten days. To keep me busy I have been doing a readathon. I’ve been focusing on sapphic romances and books I had on my reading list. I must say out of all the books I have read lately, I would say this one is my favourite. I found myself enjoying sapphic fiction because I feel I can relate to both people in the relationship. Many of the books I read lately shared a theme of romance between two women in a times where it was publically frowned upon. To this day, there’s still a lot places where open sexuality is frowned upon. Sure, it’s a lot more acceptable now, than in the book’s setting, but when there are other countries where being gay is still punishable by death, it makes you wonder how much humanity has really progressed in 70 years.

The books is set in rural Scotland in the 1950s. It’s a gorgeous setting and one I’ve found myself familiar in post-war fiction. I noticed a trend in some of the books I was reading. In the relationships between both women, one of them always has at least one child whilst the other woman does not. Carol has her child in the High Price of Salt. In Pages for Her, Flannery has Winda whilst Anne chooses not to have children. In Tell it to the Bees, it’s Lydia who has a son called Charlie. These might be pure coincidences, but it’s made me notice that I did a somewhat similar thing unconsciously with Yuzuko and Sakura in Game of Mass Destruction. What makes this book a lot different than others I have read is how Lydia’s son, Charlie is driving force between Lydia and Jean.

Jean bonds with Charlie after he takes an interest in her bee colony, which is where the book gets its title on. I really like the way Charlie is written in this story because I feel he really drives the plot and shows Lydia’s motivations. I enjoyed reading about Jean and Lydia’s domesticated lifestyle. The fact that Jean let’s Lydia and Charlie move into her house after her divorce and landlord kicking her out shows what a kind and loving person she is.

It’s frustrating to see the prejudice Jean and Lydia endure. I know times where different back then, but I just feel that Jean and Lydia would have been welcomed into many communities if this was set in modern times. The novel has this great cinematic feel to it.

When I finished reading the book and looked up reviews, I was really confused. They were talking about a rape scene, but I didn’t remember a rape scene in the book. Then I found out that the scene they were talking about only happened in the film.

I really love the ending where Charlie visits his dad, and shows no sign of real hatred towards either of his parents and Jean. He grew up to be a great person. I know that this book has been adapted into a film, but I’ve read reviews that say it betrays to the book’s ending which makes me not want to watch the film. Based on what I’ve read up, the movie strays away from the original source, and away from what made the book such a safe haven for it’s audience.

Even the author herself, expressed dismay at the movie’s ending. The movie took away what make the book so special. Lydia and Jean stay together despite the diffulcities. They were allowed to grow old together despite their challenges. The slow pace at the start of the book, seeing Lydia’s husband be the arsehole he is, Jean going above and beyond for her patients even when they are not so kind to her. The book satisfied me s a reader. It’s one I wold like to go back to and read again .