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Of Bees and Mist: A Novel [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Erick Setiawan
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (125 customer reviews)


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Book Description

August 4, 2009
Raised in a sepulchral house where ghosts dwell in mirrors, Meridia grows up lonely and miserable. But at age sixteen, she has a chance at happiness when she falls in love with Daniel-a caring and naive young man. Soon they marry, and Meridia can finally escape to live with her husband's family, unaware that they harbor dark secrets of their own. There is a grave hidden in the garden, there are two sisters groomed from birth to despise each other, and there is Eva-the formidable matriarch and the wickedest mother-in-law imaginable-whose grievances swarm the air in an army of bees. As Meridia struggles to keep her life and marriage together, she discovers long-buried secrets about her own past as well as shocking truths about her new family that inexorably push her love, courage, and sanity to the brink.

Of Bees and Mist is an engrossing fable that chronicles three generations of women under one family tree over a period of thirty years-their galvanic love and passion, their shifting alliances, their superstitions and complex domestic politics-and places them in a mythical town where spirits and spells, witchcraft and demons, and prophets and clairvoyance are an everyday reality. Erick Setiawan's astonishing debut is a richly atmospheric and tumultuous ride of hope and heartbreak that is altogether touching, truthful, and entirely memorable.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Setiawan's debut novel spans 30 years in this heartfelt magical-realist story of two rival families living in a mystical world that transcends both time and place. Meridia is a lonely child; a mysterious incident when she was an infant has torn apart her parents, leaving them sharing nothing but a cold, mist-filled home. Not until Meridia meets the charmer Daniel, at age 16, does she finally feel loved. They marry and move in with his family and at first Meridia loves her life in Daniel's home. But she quickly learns of matriarch Eva's deceitful, manipulative ways and her power, both natural and supernatural, which she uses to control her family. When Meridia rebels against Eva, finding unexpected support from her parents, the rivalry solidifies and a lifelong battle begins. As time passes, Meridia faces heartbreak and betrayal, becoming a strong, fiercely independent woman. While filled with fortune-tellers, ghosts and unexplained phenomena, the relationships between the various characters are true to life so that fans of fantasy and fiction lovers alike are sure to enjoy this magical tale. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"While filled with fortune-tellers, ghosts and unexplained phenomena, the relationships between the various characters are true to life so that fans of fantasy and fiction lovers alike are sure to enjoy this magical tale." --Publishers Weekly

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster (August 4, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1615233504
  • ISBN-13: 978-1416596240
  • ASIN: 1416596240
  • Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.6 x 1.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (125 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,115,971 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Erick Setiawan was born in 1975 in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Chinese parents. A quiet, shy child, he was thankfully raised in a family of gifted storytellers, who taught him that while life might have an endless supply of conflict, not all of it translates into a good story. Due to the anti-Chinese sentiment prevalent in Indonesia, his childhood was often fraught with tension, which prompted him to take comfort in books and in the world of his imagination. To traumatize him further, his parents sent him to Catholic schools, where he learned from an early age to feel guilty about everything and that a grown man in a sash and a swishing robe with a ruler in his hand was in no way maternal.

At age sixteen, he left his family and moved to the United States. He knew three people and barely spoke English, yet was somehow convinced that he could compete with the top students to get into the best colleges. His resolution/delusion pushed him to work hard. The following year, his first choice, Harvard, rejected him, but fortunately Stanford had a lower standard. To this day, he believes that they admitted him by mistake.

In college, he wanted to study English, but his shyness and insecurity about his adopted language prevented him from enrolling in classes that required him to speak. Instead, he chose to major in Psychology and Computer Science, going as far as getting a Master's in the latter. Bafflingly enough, studying about mental disorders and complex algorithms only increased his hunger for literature. Once too often, he shuffled aside his term papers and problem sets to lose himself in a novel.

After graduation, he began his tenure as a software engineer in San Francisco. By the end of the first year, he knew that his heart was not in it. Confronted with the risk of being a corporate burnout at twenty-six, he turned to writing in his spare time. To the exasperation of his bosses, he began coming to work late and taking longer and longer lunch breaks in order to write. Several years, two failed novels, and countless short stories later, he decided to quit his job to finish writing Of Bees and Mist. At the time, he had no book deal and knew no one in publishing, but he pursued his passion with the same stubborn resolution/delusion that had motivated him earlier. He sold Of Bees and Mist four years after he started it.

For more information, please go to www.ofbeesandmist.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 32 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Unique & Magical June 17, 2009
Format:Hardcover
This is truly one of those unique novels you come across once in a great while. I am so happy to have been able to read this as part of book club. If you are stuck in reality & don't handle imagination well, this won't be the book for you. The author creates a place that remains nameless and a time that is timeless. These particular details are left to what you can imagine them to be. Reality is mixed with magic to create an adult fable full of love, deception, death, new life, ghosts and so much more. I wasn't sure when I first began to read this book if I would like it. About 9 chapters in, it swept me away. There are characters you will love, some you will love to hate, others you will pity & others that will intrigue. The story is based around a young girl raised in a loveless home. She meets and falls in love with a boy who takes her away, but sometimes the hell we don't know is worse then the hell we do know. You follow her through her life and the lives of her family. Definately the type of book you can get lost in. The author has a beautiful way of wording his descriptions. Be sure to investigate the cover! There are many secrets hiding there as well!
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Nice blend of real life and magic June 14, 2009
Format:Hardcover
Of Bees and Mist" is an enchanting and magical book about a young girl named Meridia, who is isolated not only from her classmates but her distant and distracted parents as well. Her father is cold and cruel to her, while her mother often forgets her existance. Meridia's life seems to change for the better when she meets a young man who can change her destiny, even though it means dealing with his impossible family.

Part family drama and part magical realism, this book reminded me of a blend between "The House of Spirits" by Isabel Allande, and "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" by Susanna Clarke. I thought it was well written, and engaging enough to keep my interest. There is a lot of magic in it....if that's not your thing, probably you won't care for this book. But if you do like books that have moody mists, vengeful bees, and invading flowers, then you'll enjoy this one!
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars A Promising Debut February 6, 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
I have a thorny relationship with magical realism. Often, it reminds me of being little and playing games with the crazy neighbor kids who would make up the rules as they went along. Chaotic, bewildering and a bit frustrating.

That's not to say it isn't without its charms. The finest practitioners, chiefly Garcia Marquez and Allende, can conjur moods and imagery that are equal parts bleak and enchanting, about as far removed as one can get from the prickly, precise BritLit I tend to favor.

While not yet in their league, with Of Bees and Mist, Erick Setiawan has managed to conceive an absorbing fairytale about the destructive power of family secrets. Even as they navigate the mystical/metaphorical landscape he's created for them, his characters (particularly spirited protagonist Meridia) are grounded in emotional reality. And this is the most female-centric book written by a man that I've ever encountered. The men, while important to the plot, seem to occupy the roles that women are usually relegated to - the love interests. Meridia's father is an adulterer, but it is the effect his adultery has on her mother, Ravenna, that moves the plot forward, not necessarily the man himself. Meridia's husband, Daniel and his father, are little more than ciphers, acting out the whims of Eva - the family matriarch and Meridia's wicked stepmother. And what a magnificent, malificent creation she is!

The story is certainly entertaining but, at 400 pages, it would be well served by the red pencil of a merciless editor. The battles between Meridia and Eva become redundant after about the fourth time Eva finds a clever way to skirt her monster-in-law's evil machinations. There's an emotionally rich, heartbreaking story at the core of the novel that almost gets obscured by the repetitious - and frustrating - plots and counter-plots [and *counter* counter-plots] of monster-in-law Eva and her swarm of malicious bees.

But the simple fact that I felt escalating frustration over Eva's repeated attacks against Meridia's marriage and business, is testament to the fact that I really was invested in the characters and cared about the outcome of their story. There were quite a few times I wanted to take hold of Setiawan, shake him, and say, "Enough, already. Give this poor girl her happy ending!"

For hardcore fans of magical realism, Erick Setiawan is certainly a name to watch. All in all, a promising debut.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Not for the Optimistic
I couldn't wait to read this book. To start, it is very well written and keeps you turning the page. With that being said, I ask, why such turmoil all the time. Read more
Published 29 days ago by Macgyver
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantasy, fiction
Just a different genre to ones that I usually read, however it captured my interest and curiosity. Underneath all the fantasy and fiction, there holds some truth to negativity and... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Heather Westwood
3.0 out of 5 stars not a feel good book
This book is well written, but the story itself is just miserable. Most of the characters are unlikable miserable people moving between different aspects of their miserable lives. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Regina Falange
2.0 out of 5 stars I kept hoping for more
I picked up "Of Bees & Mist" because someone recommended it as similar to Alice Hoffman's Practical Magic, which I love. I couldn't love Bees & Mist though I tried. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Angel
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, one of my favorites
This is a wonderfully tragic book. I've bought nearly five copies to give to friends for birthdays and holidays. They've all enjoyed it as well.
Published 5 months ago by Brittney Tibbetts
3.0 out of 5 stars The novel; Of bees and Mist
Of bees and Mist is very nicely written, one believes the unbelievable and accept this world to be true. The mother in law is bigger than life.
Published 5 months ago by Joop van den Berg
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and transporting
The whole time I was reading I kept thinking-- why am I so gripped by this? These are ordinary events. Read more
Published 5 months ago by M. Layne
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it cant stop thinking about it
This book was a unique fusion of past and present with a lil magic mixed in. Super cute and yet very relevant and relateable to my own life. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Shree Lafaye Ziller
5.0 out of 5 stars Soooo goood
I loved this book! I could not put it down. Good from start to finish. A must read. Get it now.
Published 6 months ago by Chloe Bilal
5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely Book
A friend lent this to me last weekend, and I confess, I devoured it in two days. I loved the symbolism, and the world this author created, it felt so real. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Boysmum
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Review of "Of Bees and Mist"
I agree completely. I too received this from First Look..
it is a wonderful read.
May 25, 2009 by Kathleen Wagner |  See all 3 posts
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