The Boy Who Taught The Beekeeper To Read

Apr 21, 2025 6:09 AM

Author:Susan Hill

A young school boy visiting his aunt's country house finds company and friendship with the gentle beekeeper and begins teaching the man to read, so that it seems nothing can ever intrude upon their closeness. A young country girl fights against becoming a downtrodden domestic skivvy like her dead mother, while another young girl reaches a delicate understanding with an elderly blind man as they walk along the beach together. On another beach a more sinister plot unfolds as a gang of boys plans the most wicked deed.

Reviews

Hill can evoke a setting, convey the essence of a situation and let one see into the inmost hearts of her character in a paragraph or even a single sentence

—— Francis King , Spectator

Hill's sentences speak eloquently...the pleasure to be had from [these] stories lies in their carefulness: memories are exactly sustained, small gifts are valued, little words are listened to

—— Guardian

Hill's stories evoke place, situation and complex emotions with enviable economy... Masterly

—— Daily Mail

Simple and mesmeric prose

—— Observer

These very strange, beautiful tales demonstrate a relentless capacity to surprise... The Boy Who Taught the Beekeeper to Read introduces many individual people who will continue to stare back at the reader long after the book is closed

—— Times Literary Supplement

Spine-chilling twists and turns - Graham Greene eat your heart out

—— Tatler

Darien Dogs is a bullishly confident and vivacious collection

—— Time Out

Beautifully paced and pitched

—— Independent

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