Description

pp. 312, signed  by the author on the title page, “Like her characters, Anderson-Dargatz is possessed of the capacity to delve into the realm of the unconscious. Even the photographs that are sprinkled throughout the book (photos taken from the writer’s own family albums) have the evocative effect of d??u. Early in the novel, Augusta has a vision of a man with a honeybee on his lip. The picture confuses her. Is he dead? Or is this a sign of the gift of speech and vision? As one character puts it, “bees were the ‘birds of the muses’ and could bestow the gift of song or eloquence on a baby simply by landing on that babe’s lips”. Augusta’s mother’s honeybees land on the young Augusta’s chin and mouth when she eats the ripe peaches in their orchard, transferring the gift of insight from mother to daughter. If bees acquire a totemic significance in this novel, Anderson-Dargatz is blessed with their power. She speaks with a honeybee on her lips.”