We first meet Flora as she emerges a fully-grown adult in the hive's Arrival The main narrative follows the life of a bee born to the lowest caste in 'law' and religion of the beehive for those who bask in the Queen's holy love (her pheromones) and devoteĪll their labour to the survival of the hive. ' Accept, Obey, and Serve'-these words echo throughout the novel, the guiding Representations but I was assured that Paull had created a story worthy of critical attention. Unlikely that a book about insects could address disability without reducing disability to stereotypical and tired (even if unintentionally) to disability literature, we imagine non-fiction texts like biographies and memoirs or, ifįictional, those rare stories that place a disabled human character at the centre of narrative. Most of the time, when we think of a book as belonging Interest in disability in a fantastic (non-human) setting. Studies and not a science fiction reader, but they immediately recommended this book to me as one that takes an The person I was speaking with was unfamiliar with disability Interests in disability studies and science fiction. I first heard of Laline Paull's The Bees (Harper Collins, 2014) when I was discussing my research Book Review - The Bees (Laline Paull) Book Review: The Bees (Laline Paull) Reviewed by Kathryn Allan

The bees laline