'This book has found a special place in my heart. It’s as strange, beautiful and unexpected, as precise and exquisite in its movings, as bees in a hive. I loved it' HELEN MACDONALD, author of H IS FOR HAWK
‘Everyone should own A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings, which moved and delighted me more than a book about insects had any right to … Jukes is a gloriously gifted writer and her book ought to become a key text of this bright moment in our history of nature writing’ Observer
‘Written finely and insightful’ Guardian
A fascinating, insightful and inspiring account of a novice beekeeper's year of keeping honeybees, which will appeal to readers of H is For Hawk and The Outrun
Entering her thirties, Helen Jukes feels trapped in an urban grind of office politics and temporary addresses – disconnected, stressed. Struggling to settle into her latest job and home in Oxford, she realises she needs to effect a change if she’s to create a meaningful life for herself, one that can accommodate comfort and labour and love. Then friends give her the gift of a colony of honeybees – according to folklore, bees freely given bring luck – and Helen embarks on her first full year of beekeeping. But what does it mean to ‘keep’ wild creatures? In learning about the bees, what can she learn of herself? And can travelling inside the hive free her outside it?
As Helen grapples with her role in the delicate, awe-inspiring ecosystem of the hive, the very act of keeping seems to open up new perspectives, deepen friendships old and new, and make her world come alive. A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings is at once a fascinating exploration of the honeybee and the hive, the practices of honey-gathering and the history of our observation of bees; and a beautifully wrought meditation on responsibility and care, on vulnerability and trust, on forging bonds and breaking new ground.
'This is classic modern nature-writing; a synthesis of scientific learning, observation and the author’s response. If you care for the wellbeing of bees and the planet and for the state of the human heart, then this book, with its deft and beautiful prose, is for you… And like all good nature writing, it also – quietly, clearly and insistently – requires us, too, to respond' Countryfile Magazine
‘An intimate exploration of the heart and home, and a tantalising glimpse into an alien culture. A brave and delicate book, rich and fascinating’ Nick Hunt, author of Where the Wild Winds Are
‘Subtly wrought personal journey into the art and science of beekeeping. Helen Jukes evokes both the practical minutiae of the work, and the findings of researchers who have illuminated bee ethology over the centuries' nature
'A mesmeric, lovely, quietly powerful book. A gentle but compelling account of the redemption that comes from relationship and attention' Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast
'A profound, funny and sometimes deeply moving book that describes a year of inner city bee keeping, while dancing between the history of bees and us and what it means to be human in our modern world' Julia Blackburn, author of Threads: The Delicate Life of John Craske
'A very human story about the aliens gathering in her back garden – bees, fascinating but almost unknowable. Their wildness and her duty to them help open up a desk rat’s uninspiring life to all the possibilities of love, care, connection and sheer wonder. It is a lovely, entirely personal journey into the very heart of the hive' Michael Pye
‘I raced through this really terrific, down-to-earth read. The existential threat to our entire ecosystem posed by the problems facing bees can be hard to grasp, but Helen manages to make this a very personal, human story that, hopefully, might inspire others to action' Luke Turner, The Quietus
A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings is a retrospective and philosophical musing over the author's year as a novice beekeeper. Originally published in 2018, this American edition is due out 5th May 2020 from Knopf Doubleday on their Pantheon imprint, it's 256 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.
I'm fond of natural philosophy and I'm a beekeeper and (fanatical) gardener. I was excited to find this book and really enjoyed reading it. It has garnered numerous comparisons to H is for Hawk, which is maybe somewhat apt in that they're both introspective memoirs by British women with more than a little life examination and personal philosophy included, but where MacDonald is dour and fierce in voice, Jukes is more gentle, humorous, bewildered, and full of ennui. I found a much more apt comparison with Sue Hubbell's work.
Either way, I found this a worthwhile and relaxing read. There's no distinct narrative arc or distinctly promoted message. There is introspection and historical comparison against the cycle of seasons and lives, human and insect.
Beautifully and lyrically written. Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
