The Enlightenment of Bees

Score: 4/5 Bookmarks

The Enlightenment of Bees by Rachel Linden was a lovely tale of self-discovery, of humanity, empathy, and adapting when your life crumbles around you.

Our main character Mia West had been moving towards the life she thought she wanted, to become a baker, and marry her boyfriend of six-years. But when her boyfriend breaks up with her instead of proposing (ring in hand), she loses her job, and her flat-mate tells her she’s leaving on a world trip with a humanitarian organization Mia has to question everything she thought she knew.

We then join Mia on her journey as she tries to discover how she can use her skills and talents to do good in the world, and find her bigger purpose.

I can completely understand what Mia is going through. I am still looking for the best way to contribute to the world using the gifts that I have and be able to make a difference in other people’s lives.

I had the opportunity to talk to the author at a local bookstore here in Seattle and she told me that so many of the things that happen to Mia in the book are actually autobiographical. Plus she’s moved around the world helping various humanitarian organizations herself!

I actually listened to The Enlightenment of Bees as an audiobook and enjoyed it so much. It’s narrated by Madison Lawrence. You can get your own audio copy while supporting local brick-and-mortar bookstores, through Libro.fm, by clicking the button below. Use the code ‘LatestBookCrush’ to get yourself three-for-one audiobooks! Or you can get the physical copy here.

Synopsis:

Rachel Linden’s newest contemporary women’s fiction story speaks to the universal struggle of what it means to live a meaningful life where the passions we have meet the needs of the world.

At 26, idealistic baker Mia West has her entire life planned out: a Craftsman cottage in Seattle, baking at The Butter Emporium, and the love of her life, her boyfriend Ethan, by her side. But when Ethan breaks up with her instead of proposing on their sixth dating anniversary (with the Tiffany blue box in his pocket), Mia’s carefully planned future crumbles.

Adrift and devastated, she determines to find new meaning in her life by helping those in need. Guided by recurring dreams about honeybees that seem to be leading her toward this new path in life, Mia joins her vivacious housemate Rosie on an around-the-world humanitarian trip funded by the reclusive billionaire, Lars Lindstrom. Along with a famous grunge rock star, an Ethiopian immigrant, and an unsettlingly attractive Hawaiian urban farmer named Kai, Mia and Rosie embark on the trip of a lifetime. From the slums of Mumbai to a Hungarian border camp during the refugee crisis, Mia’s eyes are opened and her idealistic vision is challenged as she experiences the euphoria, disillusionment, and heartbreaking reality of humanitarian work abroad.

As Mia grapples with how to make a difference in an overwhelmingly difficult world, circumstances force her to choose between the life she thought she wanted and the unexpected life she has built.