Book Review – Secrets of the Bees by Jane Johnson @HoZ_Books

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Secrets of the Bees by Jane Johnson especially given it’s publication day! My thanks to Eleanor and Sophie at Ransom PR for inviting me to join the tour and to Head of Zeus for my review copy via NetGalley. Do check out the review by my tour buddy today, bookstagrammer cosylittlereadingcorner.

About the Book

Time has forgotten this remote corner of West Cornwall, and left its many secrets undisturbed. Until now…

Ezra Curnow has lived in the little cottage on the Trengrose estate all his life. He was born there, as was his father, and his grandfather before that. It is his own little Cornish paradise.

Then the mistress of the estate, Eliza, dies without leaving a will, putting the cottage’s ownership into question. London financier Toby and his wife Minty are soon enticed by Trengrose’s charm and, worse still, see a lucrative rental opportunity in Ezra’s cottage.

But Ezra is prepared to battle to save his beloved home, and has a number of secret weapons in his armoury. What Ezra doesn’t know is that Eliza also took some secrets to her grave – and she doesn’t intend to rest quietly until they come to light…

Format: Hardcover (336 pages) Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 5th June 2025 Genre: Contemporary Fiction

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My Review

Ezra epitomises someone who is ‘in tune’ with nature in a way people once were but are sadly less so these days. He grows his own fruit and vegetables (and some other things as well), tends to the bees in their hive and uses herbal remedies. He doesn’t see humans as superior to animals. Although he has a cat companion, he doesn’t own him; Bucca comes and goes as he pleases. The same with the jackdaw who pecks mealworms from Ezra’s pocket.

Ezra has few material possessions and his cottage doesn’t have the things we might consider essential today, like electricity, a telephone line or an inside bathroom. But that doesn’t matter to him. He’s happy living in the cottage where he was born and the only way he intends to leave is, in his own words, feet first.

The sale of Trengrose House threatens to upend everything because its new owners, the Hardmans, see only its financial potential. They represent everything Ezra is not. They’re not interested in preserving the estate with its orchards and meadows. To them the Celtic cross in the lane is merely an obstacle not a sacred monument that’s stood there for centuries. And they’re definitely not interested that Ezra’s lived in the cottage all his life, they just want him out. Unfortunately they haven’t counted on Ezra’s determination, resourcefulness, and ingenuity. And his capacity for mischief making.

There’s quite a contrast between the more lighthearted moments and what we learn about Ezra’s experiences as a young man.

The landscape, culture and history of Cornwall is an essential element of the book, reflecting the author’s own attachment to the county. The story also incorporates some of the social and economic issues Cornish people face today, such as a lack of affordable housing, but in a way that never feels like a political tract. There is though a strong ecological message that runs throughout the book. ‘Everywhere humans go, they wreck it. Pillage the land for whatever profit they can make out of it, without giving a thought to the consequences for any other living thing.’

It seems to me all the characters learn something in the course of the book, leading them to a sense of fulfilment. With Ezra’s help, Mindy and Toby’s son Dominic learns to identify the local flora and fauna, whilst their daughter Miranda comes to appreciate the wild landscape around Trengrose with the help of Ezra’s great-nephew Sam. Mindy becomes absorbed in discovering the history of Trengrose House and its previous occupants, uncovering some long hidden secrets in the process. Toby? Well, the only thing he learns is that there are some things money can’t buy. (The description of him as an ‘encysted pustule’ is spot on.)

The reader learns quite a bit as well about Ezra, including some things I certainly didn’t see coming.

Secrets of the Bees is a heartwarming story that has woven into it a message about the risk we run if we lose our connection with nature and value things purely in monetary terms. ‘You can’t buy birdsong, or the sight of your bees visiting your own flowers, or the sun through the leaves of the apple trees, or the smell of ripe tomatoes you’ve grown from seed…’ Add a whiff of the supernatural, a touch of mystery and an element of melodrama and you have all the ingredients for an entertaining read.

In three words: Engaging, tender, intriguing

About the Author

Jane Johnson is a novelist, historican and publisher. She is the UK publisher of many bestselling authors, including George R.R. Martin. She has written for both adults and children, including the bestselling novels The Tenth Gift and The Salt Road. Jane is married to a Berber chef she met while climbing in Morocco. She divides her time between London, Cornwall and the Anti-Atlas Mountains.

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