Bee Season

A Novel

By: Myla Goldberg

Narrated by: Myla Goldberg

Eliza Naumann, a seemingly unremarkable 9-year-old, expects never to fit into her gifted family: her autodidact father, Saul, absorbed in his study of Jewish mysticism; her brother, Aaron, the vessel of his father's spiritual ambitions; and her brilliant but distant lawyer-mom, Miriam. But when Eliza sweeps her school and district spelling bees in quick succession, Saul takes it as a sign that she is destined for greatness. In this altered reality, Saul inducts her into his hallowed study and lavishes upon her the attention previously reserved for Aaron, who in his displacement embarks upon a lone quest for spiritual fulfillment. When Miriam's secret life triggers a familial explosion, it is Eliza who must order the chaos.

Myla Goldberg's keen eye for detail brings Eliza's journey to three-dimensional life. As she rises from classroom obscurity to the blinding lights and outsized expectations of the National Bee, Eliza's small pains and large joys are finely wrought and deeply felt.

Not merely a coming-of-age story, Goldberg's first novel delicately examines the unraveling fabric of one family. The outcome of this tale is as startling and unconventional as her prose, which wields its metaphors sharply and rings with maturity. The work of a lyrical and gifted storyteller, Bee Season marks the arrival of an extraordinarily talented new writer.

©2000 Myla Goldberg (P)2001 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

• Book Sense Book of the Year Award Finalist, Adult Fiction, 2001

"Goldberg strikes new ground here, and displays a fresh, distinctive and totally winning voice." (Publishers Weekly)
"There is something of Holden Caulfield in Eliza, the same crazed determination to save her loved ones from themselves. An impressive debut from a remarkably talented writer." (Booklist)

Dysfunctional Family

Having never heard of the author or the book, I was bowled over by this book. This is a story of an observant Jewish family and the stresses of everyday life upon all of them.

From the point of view of every member of the family, one gets to see how much is going on which is never communicated to the other members of the family.

I was also highly impressed with the imagery which Myla Goldberg brings to this novel. She is a master of the English language.

I recommend this very highly.

Not Just a Spelling Bee

The characters and the storyline are suprisingly complex in this slice-of-life novel, based on the individual tribulations of the Naumann family. Nobody thinks youngest child Eliza is anything more than ordinary...but she discovers a talent that could bind the family together when all looks lost.

Superb novel needs narrator w/ equal vocal talent

Meticulously researched, profoundly perceptive, poetic book. Unfortunately, author's limited vocal range can't differentiate the characters sufficiently.

Grating reader detracts from story

I just can’t listen to this story because the reader’s voice is too grating too listen to.

Great read

This book was interesting and a little mysterious. I think the author does a great job weaving the mystical Jewish storyline to the mystery of the family living together as strangers. Great story

Interesting read

Definitely gave a few surprises. Narrator sounded like they were trying to imitate a child's voice, which grew tiresome by the second chapter and only continued to grate on my nerves for the next 8hours of listening. The story itself though, was thought provoking and well-paced.

my family now seems normal

I truly enjoyed this audiobook, although it may be a little far fetched. Normally the author reading their own work makes me cringe, but Myla reads it perfectly. The story flows and is very well written. Download this one.

Kept me on my bike

I ride my bike while listening to books, and there were several days when I rode extra miles just to listen to this. Not at all what I expected, but a pleasant departure from the typical.

Interesting

The book follows the story of a girl who's always been 'just OK' academically, as opposed to her father's star, the 16 yr old brother who's excelled since kindergarten, where she always felt she'd been a disappointment to him and her mother. All of a sudden, at 12, she's coming into a superiority in spelling that's magical to her and she's not sure how to handle it with her family. As she progresses, changes to her and each person in the family begin. Some are subtle, some stark and with some surprising twists and turns. Is it the timing of her coming out or would they have happened anyway... Some are expected, but not quite in the way they're presented. Some are startling. Thought provoking and different. The author narrates and is OK, but I do wonder how much the presentation might change with a different reader.

Fascinating concept but something missing

Bee Season combines a young girl's unexpected gift for spelling with the exploration of her family's dysfunction and each family member's individual pursuit of spirituality even as the family pulls apart at the seams.

I love Goldberg's imaginative description of Eliza's experience with vowels and consonants as her spelling becomes more and more mystical. I also love the creative and beautiful depiction of Eliza's mother's obsession (I won't give anything away by saying what she's obessed with). But, some of the characters' motivations are unclear or not believable, and this makes some of the plot hard to swallow.

Also, I appreciate that Goldberg is reading her own book - but with only a few exceptions I find that actors or professional readers do a better job than the authors themselves, and this book is no exception.

Then on the positive side, Goldberg's discussion of Jewish mysticism and alternative religion is pretty fascinating.

So, I do recommend it but with some reservation. I'm curious to see the movie verion with Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche.