Yamen Manaï

Set in a fictional North African country just after the Arab Spring, The Ardent Swarm follows small town hermetic beekeeper Sidi in his quest to save his "girls" after a violent attack on his beehives leaves one entire colony decimated.

Following both Sidi and his bees and the fate of the country as it moves into fundamentalism after "democratic" elections, the novel illustrates how chaos affects communities.

While the secondary storyline of the rise of the Party of God to power (through nefarious means) is interesting and frightening, the real heart and life of this story lies with Sidi and his journey to protect and save his precious children.

I learned more about bees than I ever thought I'd want to know and I found myself absolutely mesmerised by their machinations and the complexity of the workings in a hive. Sidi's love and care for them was poignant and his odyssey, which finds him moving far outside his comfort zone, kept me engrossed.

If you would have told me before I read this that I'd get teary eyed about a bunch of bees, I'd have laughed but I did and I admit it with no shame. The Ardent Swarm is a highly readable and beautiful little parable and I can happily recommend it.… (mais)

When a strange predator endangers the future of his hives, North African beekeeper Sidi sets out to identify the threat and find a way to neutralize it. Sidi lives in Nawa, an isolated village that has suddenly received a lot of attention leading up to its first election in decades. The Party of God, a fundamentalist Muslim political party, is distributing food, clothing, and other forms of aid to buy the votes of the villagers. Is there a connection between politics and the threat to Sidi’s bees?

I was fascinated by the bee culture that drives this novel. The preservation of Sidi’s bees seems to be an allegory for the preservation of culture amidst political unrest. I’m really glad I picked up this little gem on World Book Day last year.… (mais)