This book is a gift to yourself - take time to read it

books:


	• The Keeper of the Bees (Library of Indiana Classics) Gene Stratton-Porter Indiana University Press, 1991 - 528 pages average customer review:based on 25 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

This book is a gift to yourself - take time to read it

I have purchased many copies of this book as gifts - something I cannot write about the popular fiction that fills the Costco/Sams warehouses! Carole Joy Seid recommends this for high school students - and I think it should be "required reading" for all of us. Gene Stratton-Porter is truly a gifted writer - treat yourself to this book.. (and others)

All Abuzz over this one

This book of life and how beekeeping made the man is an absolutley fabulous book for young and old alike. Set in the period of post WW1, it tells of life in a time little of us remember but none of us should ever forget. a man in ashes takes a chance at life when he believes all is lost for him. The tale and the beekeeping will keep you reading long past bedtime

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For those who love a story

If you enjoy beautifully written literature that transports you to days gone by, then this is a book worth reading. A must for your personal library. It does not contain the garbage that you find in current fiction inserted unnecessarily with the veneer ambition of getting a book published. This book is a classic not to be compared with today's works. It's timeless American fiction.

Wholesome Romance and Recovery Story

This novel, written by the author of A Girl of the Limberlost and Freckles, begins at the end of WW I (The Great War). Jamie MacFarlane, an American of Scottish descent, is languishing in a California hospital, the wound in his chest not getting any better. He is far from God, alone in the world, and sure he will soon die. He overhears that he is to be sent to a different hospital, one rife with tuberculosis. Instead of submitting to certain death, Jamie walks away from the military hospital and embarks on a "Great Adventure."

From his first interactions with people (and because the author repeatedly tells us), we can see Jamie is a man of fine moral character--trustworthy, honest, wholesome, and helpful. Eventually, his Great Adventure brings him to the point of death, or so he thinks. Then he stumbles upon a lovely little house by the ocean. A man appears at the gate and calls for help. Jamie, forgetting his own near-exhaustion and certain death, rushes to the aid of the elderly man and telephones for help. The man, The Bee Master, asks Jamie to live in his house and manage it and care for his bees and plants until he is able to return. (Because, he could see immediately that Jamie was an honest, wholesome, trustworthy fellow.)

The story progresses with the addition of new characters--the Little Scout, a genderless neighborhood child and "partner" of the Bee Master who befriends Jamie and provides all sorts of sage wisdom and childish fun; Margaret, the kindly neighbor who cooks and cleans for Jamie while living through her own struggles; and the Storm Girl, a mysterious woman who unburdens her heart to Jamie and is helped by him.

The story progresses in a satisfying way. Porter spares no expense in her discussion of nature. Bees and their workings, the native flora of California, the scents of the garden, the landscape of the area--all are worked in as an integral part of the story. She also make sure to express her views of the morality of the time and stresses the sorrows of young people and their modern, "oversexed" ways and the wearing of too much makeup while playing up the ideas of patriotism and the American melting pot. The ideas of working hard, prayers and thanksgiving, helping one's fellow man, and forgiveness are all woven in to this tale.

In addition to all the wholesomeness and nature study, the book is also a romance. Who is the mystery girl? Will she and Jamie ever get together? Where is Margaret's daughter? Will Jamie's wound heal? Will the Bee Master return to his home? What are the secrets of his past?

As far as objectionable material, a woman becomes pregnant out of wedlock (but pays heavily for her indiscretion), and Jamie thinks about his Storm Girl (but not in an inappropriate way). Many tomatoes are eaten, although I doubt any would find this objectionable.

All in all, The Keeper of the Bees is a clean, pleasant read which adults and teens alike would enjoy. The plot would be a bit much for a younger reader (elementary), but the material would not be objectionable.

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Like a comforting blanket

This is one of those books that you think your grandparents' would like you to read, but not in a bad way. The story is pure and has a very homey feeling to it. While not like the books I typically read, I found it to be very enjoyable.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

1925. Stratton-Porter was an American feminist, environmentalist, photographer and one of Indiana's most famous female authors. Many of her writings were moralistic and romantic novels. Posthumously published, The Keeper of the Bees explores the feelings of the post-World War I generation. The protagonist is an injured soldier who finds his life again in helping others. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

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