Maddy Harland

In facing the problems of the world head on and seeking solutions, we are frequently told that we need to develop a new narrative. This can seem quite abstract and even a tall order as so much needs to be changed and so quickly if we are to slow down the great challenges of our time like climate chaos and the Sixth Mass Extinction. It may seem like a mouse standing in front of a careering juggernaut, yet we know that how we think influences the world that we create. When we think and act collectively we can have the power to change everything.

I have always been blessed with privilege. I grew up in a family with two parents, with a dad who gave up his nationality of birth to become British and subsequently had a very successful career. I have always had enough to eat, a roof over my head, good health, family, a good education and a white skin. Permaculture teacher and renowned author, Starhawk, taught me to acknowledge and be grateful for that privilege. It is an ongoing and profound lesson as privilege and our awareness of its systemic effects are often unconscious.

The Bees is a strange and disturbing novel which anthropomorphises honeybees. It takes you deep inside an orchard hive, a palatial, hierarchical wax edifice commanded by the Queen and awash with coded scents of the Hive Mind. I couldn’t help drawing parallels with aspects of a Borg ship yet there is far more sensuality, pheremones and beauty here.