Uncle Dixon always told Rennie to tell the bees everything, but somewhere along the way, Rennie forgot. Now, with her life at its lowest, she begins to see the bees in a new light. Will she believe again in the magic of the hives, and will she listen as the bees try to guide her home? Perfect for fans of Sarah Addison Allen, Margaret Renkl, and Rachel Linden.

It’s 1969, and the town of Spark Tennessee, is just as excited about the moon landing as the rest of the country. Rennie Hendricks is grieving and trying to heal from the unimaginable loss of her infant son. She had hoped a child would repair the cracks in her marriage to her husband, Tiny, but the tragedy has only served to illuminate his abusive character. Trying to relieve some of the financial stress that inflames Tiny’s anger, Rennie accepts a position cooking at the local diner. Hidden away in a kitchen making delicious food, she rediscovers the joy she finds in cooking for others, and as she spends more time with her new boss, she realizes there are more options for women than she thought possible.

One of the benefits of her new job is that she can bring meals to her beloved Uncle Dixon, the man who practically raised her along with her late Aunt Eugenia, a woman unkindly labeled as a witch by most of the town. What those people didn’t understand is that Eugenia was a healer and connected to power they couldn’t grasp.

Rennie thinks her elderly uncle is confused when he talks about communicating with his bees, but then she starts to see them glow, leading her toward safety time and time again. Could it be that these bees, discovered long ago by her Aunt Eugenia, are magical and trying to tell her something? And what about the new neighbor, Ambrose Beckett, who seems to understand the bees too. Is he being truthful about why he has moved to Spark, or is there more to him than meets the eye?

Hope-filled and infused with magical realism, Bees in June captures Rennie’s journey back to her true self, creating a rewarding life that the bees showed her was possible if she only believed in herself and the magic that surrounds her.

I grew up in a very rural area in Kentucky. Reading this book felt like a visit home.  The love and support Rennie receives from her family and friends is so authentic to life in a small town. Even the story of Ambrose moving into the community and the suspicion surrounding him was very authentic. Rumors always swirl when a new person arrives.  I loved the way the town rallies around Rennie not just in her grief, but in supporting her as she deals with her abusive husband, even as she tries to hide the truth about the abuse. Rennie, who is so fragile at the beginning of this story,  is empowered by this encouragement  from the women in her life, as well as Uncle Dixon’s memories of Aunt Eugenia and develops into a strong, confident woman.  

I also loved the legends of bees, and the mystery and magic they portray in the story. I started out reading the book, but then I discovered that in the audio book, the voices of the bees were unexpected but spot on, so I downloaded the audio book as well.  I loved the audio version!    There were many nuggets of wisdom from the bees.  My favorite was “Human’s most tenacious lies are the ones they tell themselves”.  The bees’ point of view quickly became one of my favorite parts of the book.  I’m not typically a fan of magical realism, but in this book, it was done so well.  In addition to the wisdom of the bees, the watchful eye of Poe, the Crow, accentuates that Rennie’s kindness was  recognized and repaid  in unexpected ways.  

Finally, I loved the setting of the 1969 moon landing. Again, the portrayal of the small town excitement and celebrations felt very authentic. The skepticism, Walter Cronkite, and poor MayDean’s total lack of understanding added a background of nostalgia and light heartedness to a  very emotional story. For me, this was a 5 star read because of the setting, the character growth and the beautiful descriptive writing. 

Elizabeth is a native Nashvillian, who had the extraordinarily good fortune of having as an English teacher in middle school author Lee Smith. Lee told Elizabeth to always keep writing, which she has joyfully done.

She received her Bachelor’s degree in English literature from Hamilton College in upstate New York after spending a glorious Junior year in Canterbury, England, attending the University of Kent. She visited a dozen countries during her time there, much to the detriment of her GPA. As an Anglophile, one of the highlights of her travels was finding herself in a tiny museum in Wales, alone with Princess Diana’s wedding dress. 

After a year working in Manhattan, she returned to Nashville and married her high school sweetheart. They have now-grown identical twin daughters.

She holds a Master’s degree in education from Belmont University in Nashville, and recently retired from a non-profit, working with children and adults with reading-based learning disabilities such as dyslexia. 

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Elizabeth is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association and the Nashville Writers Alliance.