THE BEEKEEPER’S SECRET

Today I am inspired by a lovely Australian book, The Beekeeper’s Secret by Josephine Moon.

Josephine Moon is an Australian writer who loves writing, to quote her, Foodie Literature. Her previous two novels are The Tea Chest and Chocolate Promise, also books that I can recommend.

The Beekeeper’s Secret is set in Queensland and is a tale of guilt, love, reunions, The Catholic Church and bees. Maria is the beekeeper living and managing a retreat whose profits are used to fund an orphanage in Cambodia. Maria, an ex nun, is enstranged from her family. Tansy, her niece, tracks her down and is determined to reunite her aunt with the family. But of course it is not all straight foward. In getting to know Maria, Tansy learns of her Aunt’s past, of her secret and her guilt, all whilst she is coming to terms with  some big decisions she and her husband need to make.

I love Josephine’s novels and this one did not disappoint. Josephine has a talent of bringing her love of food to literature. She researches her topics well, in this case bees. I did not read this book expecting to learn a great deal about bees, but that became an added bonus to this lovely story.

 

If one of Josephine’s goals in writing this book was to inspire her readers to be more interested and concerned about bees, then she has been succesful, with this reader at least!

The Tea Chest

The Tea Chest is a beautifully written Australian Chick Lit book.

The main characters of Kate, Elizabeth, Victoria and Leila form a very inspiring friendship based on a mutual desire to make the Tea Chest a success.

The four ladies are brought together by chance and all need to prove their worthiness and abilities not so much to each other as to themselves and their loved ones. Their determination, passion and friendship is what makes this story worth reading.

I am not a tea drinker but I was inspired to visit this shop (if it were not fictional). I was inspired by the women who created it, by the descriptions of the aromas and the atmosphere I imagine existed in the shop.

When I was last in London I had breakfast at the Tea House in Vauxhall and in my imagination I can picture the Tea Chest being similar to the Tea House.

If you like a good chick lit book and want to be inspired by passion and friendship then I can recommend this book to you.