I purchased this book for my own personal collection.
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Published: September 19, 2023
Summary:
It’s been more than a decade since the world has come undone, and Sasha Severn has returned to her childhood home with one goal in mind―find the mythic research her father, the infamous Last Beekeeper, hid before he was incarcerated. There, Sasha is confronted with a group of squatters who have claimed the quiet, idyllic farm as their own. While she initially feels threatened, the group soon becomes her newfound family, offering what she hasn’t felt since her father was security and hope. Maybe it’s time to forget the family secrets buried on the farm and focus on her future.
But just as she settles into her new life, Sasha witnesses the impossible. She sees a honey bee, presumed extinct. People who claim to see bees are ridiculed and silenced for reasons Sasha doesn’t understand, but she can’t shake the feeling that this impossible bee is connected to her father’s missing research. Fighting to uncover the truth could shatter Sasha’s fragile security and threaten the lives of her newfound family―or it could save them all.
Julie Carrick Dalton’s The Last Beekeeper is a celebration of found family, an exploration of truth versus power, and the triumph of hope in the face of despair. It is a meditation on forgiveness and redemption and a reminder to cherish the beauty that still exists in this fragile world.
My thoughts:
This past year, I have become a bit obsessed with climate fiction. When I heard that Julie Carrick Dalton’s new book tackled that subject, I knew I had to read it, plus…just look at the cover. Isn’t it stunning?
This book completely swept me away in the way it was written. A mix of speculative fiction and dystopian fiction with a touch of a mystery, this one kept me totally engaged. I loved the world that the author built and the way she used the extinction of bees to tell her story.
It is so clear this author has a love of nature and is very passionate about environmental/climate issues. I know how important bees are to the food supply, but seeing it play out in a book just makes the message hit home a little stronger. It also hits home just how reliant we are on the natural world and that if we don’t start taking care of it now, we won’t have what we need to survive.
I highly recommend this book, especially if you are a fan of climate fiction like I am.
