Author
Bee Club, a novel by MEA McNeil
Appropriate for older children and adults
Publisher: Nervous Ghost Press
Publication Date: November 14, 2024
Pages: 268
Dimensions: 5.25in x .75in x 8in | 14oz
Language: English
Type: Paperback
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 978-1-7345685-4-7
Price: $13.95 + tax and shipping
ORDER FROM Nervous Ghost Press
Bee Club, a novel by M.E.A. McNeil, tells the story of a disparate group attracted to the importance and intrigue of a bunch of insects. They find themselves bound together like kin to these undomesticated creatures – from the curious hobbyists to the entomologists delving into the mysteries of Apis down to the veins in their wings. Some keep bees to eke out a livelihood, like an elderly Finnish woman; some to heal, like the vet from a VA beekeeping program to treat PTSD; some for the spirit, like the woman who extols the beneficial vibrations of a buzzing colony; some for adventure and a few bucks, like the trio of friends that cram into a vintage Airstream to count frames of migratory bees for almond pollination. And then there is the bee-phobic teenager, with nowhere else to go.
There, in the Northern California countryside, the club is a microcosm of the joys and anguish of the wider beekeeping world. The beekeepers confront the reality of a continuing loss of bees. They face pests, pathogens and poor forage – and their own irreconcilable convictions. Whatever the opinions of those who tend their boxes, the bees are independent; they mingle their genes and their problems. The narrative follows, at bee’s-eye level, the lineage of one queen bee with a genetic advantage. Meanwhile, the beekeepers come together for raucous club meetings, county fair contests, a bee beard show, a pathogen-sniffing dog, a bee truck spill, a battle against regulation that would shut them all down, the annual Bee Ball and an event that brings an unexpected resolution. Here is an engrossing, witty and accurately-detailed story, as much about bees as their hovering people
Praise for BEE CLUB
“Wonderful. Just – wonderful. From descriptive passages that made me feel Like I was there, to heartbreaking scenes, to the right-on-the-money portrayal of the journalist, I enjoyed this story from beginning to end. Witty, heartwarming and true-to-life.”
Eugene Makovec
Editor, The American Bee Journal
“Bees have a way of healing and educating people, and the process is usually unconventional. With a clear and honest voice, M.E.A. McNeil takes us on Lilja’s journey into the world of bees and beekeepers where we experience truth-telling within Finnish saunas, just-like-real-life
bickering among beekeepers, and biologically sound depictions of bees’ magical ways. We learn it is not just Lilja’s journey; it is also all of ours.”
Marla Spivak
Distinguished McKnight Professor of Entomology, University of Minnesota
MacArthur Fellow
“This beautiful, evocative story is a love letter to the creative and un-expected communities that sustain us, to the back-roads landscape of northern California – and to the surprising ways that beekeeping can connect hearts and minds. The characters are complex, the vivid descriptions engage your senses, and the story compels you to keep reading.“
Sarah Pollock
Writer and longtime senior editor, Mother Jones
Professor Emerita, Mills College
“A thoroughly modern, warm-hearted story. The bee ‘facts’ are impeccable—and extensive in the novel. You will enjoy the beekeeping and the story around the bees.”
Dewey Caron
Emeritus Professor of Entomology, University of Delaware
Author of Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping
A MOTHER'S STORY
Based on the Lemminkainen Runes from the Finnish Epic the Kalevela
Written and Illustrated by
M.E.A. McNeil
Appropriate for older children and adults
Hardbound with slip cover - red cloth
6 1/4 x 6 1/4 inches
46 accordion pleated pages
ISBN 0-9761833-0-7
List price $25.00
TO ORDER
THE MAGIC STORYSINGER
From the Finnish Epic Tale Kalevala
Retold and illustrated by
M.E.A. McNeil
Appropriate for all ages
Hardbound
7 x 10 inches
112 pages
Published by Stemmer House,
Owings Mills, Maryland, 1993
ISBN 0-88045-128-9
List Price $16.95
TO ORDER
THE FIRST YEAR: Rheumatoid Arthritis
An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed
by M.E.A. McNeil
Forward by Ken Sack, M.D.
Paperback
9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
320 pages
Published by Marlowe & Company
(Avalon), New York, 2005
ISBN-10: 1569243646
ISBN-13: 978-1596243640
List price $16.95
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VINTNERS CLUB
Fourteen Years of Wine Tastings 1973 - 1987
Edited and illustrated by
M.E.A. McNeil
Vintners Press, 1988
Out of Print