Day of the Bees

A Novel

by Thomas Sanchez

Knopf, 305 pp., $24

Day of the Bees hinges on a bizarre event in which Louise, the love-stricken heroine, is raped by Nazi officers, rescued by a beekeeper, drenched with honey, and stung by thousands of bees. This is bookended by a series of letters that recount Louise’s love affair with a legendary painter, their eventual separation as Germany takes control of France, and Louise’s subsequent assistance with the rebel forces. It’s all quite intriguing, but Sanchez, in arranging his novel as a series of flashbacks, never allows his characters to convincingly react or change to the circumstances with any degree of believability. Louise at one point says, “I can cook up a plastique bomb faster than I can make an omelette.” That’s quite a change from her previous claim that “love letters can seem so trite.” A welcome change, but one that could have used a bit of a polish among the razor-sharp observations on love, patriotism, and valor.

This article appears in Rick Perry.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US