Ezra has lived in his home all his life, now Toby wants to buy the cottage to rent to tourists and will probably lie and cheat to get it.

Set in beautful Cornwall, this novel is amazing. it is a story beautifully told and i absolutely loved it.

Secrets taken to the grave and mysteries uncovered make this read intriguing and I loved how the late mistress helps Ezra do what he has to do to save his home

A lovely read .. and one to help you lose yourself for a while.

I loved this . Hard to review but a book you could not put down. Some great twists and a lovely ending. A London family buy a Cornish estate and you follow their journey .They think they own more than do, ace characters and the way the bees are involved in the story is great . I can’t praise this book enough . Read it

A house with a secret, a mysterious past and a love story is always hard to put down. This book is exactly that. Set in Cornwall this is a beautiful read. It is well written with great descriptions and attention to detail. I was drawn in from page one, Brilliant!

Thank you to NetGalley and Appolooo for my copy of The Secrets of the Bees by Jane Johnson
Set in West Cornwall the Trengrose Estate has stood still with nothing changing in 100 years until Eliza Rosevear dies and the estate is sold.
Then everything changes especially for Ezra Curnow who has lived in the estate cottage all his life.
Can he stay with the new owners taking charge or do they have bigger plans.
A lovely read that you won’t want to put down.

I should first say that I lived in Cornwall until a couple of years ago (so while this book was being written), and while not a native I was there for many years, so I understand the characters in this book. Initially I thought that Toby and Minty were a bit of a caricature, while the Cornish were much more convincing. But as time went on the comers in gathered dimensions and character. I suppose as the writer is Cornish it’s a perspective that comes from experience. I enjoyed the development of the story and the characters, especially Ezra, who reminded me of a neighbour of similar age who used to leap out of hedges at me and regale me with lengthy tales of his life. It made me miss Cornwall and everything about it, it will always have a special place in my heart and this book rings true of all I know, and love, and was frustrated about regarding the issues locals had to deal with outsiders coming in and wreaking havoc. But also reminded me of why I needed to leave. There’s more to it than Cornwall though. There are layers and nuance. Though I found the ending rather too neat. But I would recommend it. It’s nothing like the numerous saccharin tales of Cornwall I can’t abide, and offers a deep understanding of the magic of the place and its people.

Having really enjoyed Jane Johnson’s ‘The Sea Gate’ I was looking forward to reading ‘Secrets of the Bees’ and am pleased to say I was not disappointed.
The clash of cultures when a wealthy London family move to Cornwall and find they have an aged and eccentric ‘tenant’ leads to conflict and enlightenment with different members of the family. Echoes from the past in the form of memories recalled and discovered diaries give an extra dimension to the story.
I thoroughly enjoyed Secrets of the Bees and would definitely recommend it.
Thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for the chance to read and review Secrets of the Bees

One of the best stories I have read in a while. Set in Cornwall a place which I a;ways find fascinating to read about with a rich history. The story of Ezra was both heart warming, sad and touching at times. I loved the description of the area of the Trengrose estate and Ezra's little cottage his home since birth. Great characters and a wonderful story which really captured my imagination. A compelling read.

This is a well written and engaging story which I enjoyed. The characters were beautifully drawn out - particularly Ezra - you could really share his pain and anguish as well as his empathy and understanding of the natural world and his bees. . I loved the setting and the development of the story. Would recommend - many thanks.

A gorgeous, compassionate and surprising novel about tangled family secrets, the dark and light in people, and most of all about the deep time of landscape and nature which has the ability to heal and redeem us, if only we can let it. Secrets of the Bees is a remarkable read, both lyrical and wryly funny, cosy and genuinely moving. It evokes the scents and textures, the thorny hedgerows, fields and cottages of Cornwall so stunningly that when I finished I blinked myself awake as if I'd been in a dream. Above all what I loved was this work's nuanced, warm treatment of humans in all their strength and weakness. I raced through it in a single sitting, chuckling and occasionally wiping away tears. One of my favourite passages:

"He thought about the apple blossom and the wildflowers and how the winter light sparkled on the little stream when there were no leaves on the trees. The bats that came and went, sometimes nesting in his loft, the fox, the badgers, the rabbits and hedgehogs; and finally, the bees. In a hive they would remake, better than before, in the orchard that would at last belong to him in word as well as deed. And despite the powerful upheaval that had occurred in his world these past couple of hours, like a seismic shift of tectonic plates, he felt peace settle over him."

Without a doubt my favourite book of the year so far. A book that I will treasure and re-read.

I loved this book and what a twist!
Set in Cornwall it follows Erza an elderly man living in his cottage on the edge of an estate quietly until the city folk rock up and turn his peaceful existence into turmoil.
If you like Lucinda Riley , Judith Lennox you will love this

This book is beautifully written, it took me a little bit to get into it, but by the end I was hooked. It was a story that has many stories intertwined, focusing on the past of Ezra, as well as the present. Set in Cornwall, in a large country home, the story focuses on Ezra and a family from London, who want to change the house and get Ezra out. With some unexpected turns in the book I recommend reading this book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

*4 Stars*

Copy kindly received via NetGalley for an honest review.

This was quite a good read and I found the characters to be interesting. There were lots of stories told and lots of secrets. The ending was interesting too. Would recommend.

Secrets of the Bees by Jane Johnson

Set in West Cornwall mainly on the Trengrose Estate nothing much has changed in 100 years until owner Eliza Rosevear dies and the estate is sold.
Ezra Curnow who has lived in the estate cottage all his life finds that everything is changing , and as far as he thinks , not for the better . What secrets have laid hidden .
New owners arrive and people wonder what will happen now .
A lovely read that you won’t want to put down.

Ezra Curnow is almost eighty years old and has spent his whole life living in a little cottage on the Trengrose estate in Cornwall. It was home to his father and grandfather before him and Ezra can’t imagine living anywhere else. His cottage has no modern appliances or conveniences, not even a television, but Ezra doesn’t see the need; he spends most of his time outdoors with his cat and tame jackdaw, growing his own fruit and vegetables and tending to his bees in their hive.

Ezra’s peaceful life is shattered when Eliza Rosevear, mistress of Trengrose House, dies without leaving a will. The estate goes up for sale and is bought by Toby Hardman, a London businessman, who arrives with his wife Minty, an interior designer, and their teenage son, Dom. As soon as they move in, they begin converting part of the estate into a glamping site and looking for other ways to bring in tourists. Ezra is horrified, particularly when they remove the ancient Celtic cross that gives Trengrose its name. Worse still, it seems that the Hardmans also have their eye on Ezra’s cottage and with no official paperwork to prove that it’s his, he could be at risk of losing his home.

Secrets of the Bees is Jane Johnson’s latest novel and one of several, including The White Hare, that are set in her native Cornwall. Her love for the Cornish landscape, history, customs and people comes through strongly in her descriptive writing and in her creation of Ezra Curnow. Ezra represents tradition and a way of life that has almost disappeared; he has very little in terms of material possessions, but is happy and content. The Hardmans are the complete opposite – they represent change and modernity, they have money, cars, technology, yet what they don’t have is happiness. Toby and Minty’s marriage is strained and lacking in trust, while Dom has been expelled from his expensive school for dealing drugs. Although Toby is the villain of the book and seems to be a lost cause, there’s still hope for Minty and Dom and we see them begin to improve and grow as people through their association with Ezra and the Cornish countryside. Dom even became one of my favourite characters, which I certainly hadn’t expected at first.

It’s very common, of course, for residents to object to new developments in their area, particularly ones that could damage the environment or cause noise and disruption, but Ezra takes his protests a step further. He comes up with some very inventive and amusing ways to throw the Hardmans’ plans into disarray, which adds some humour to a serious subject. Proving ownership of his cottage is much more difficult for him – there’s always been an understanding between the Rosevears and the Curnows but apparently nothing has been put in writing. It’s only when we are given some glimpses into the lives of Eliza Rosevear and her family – and into Ezra’s own past, including his National Service in Cyprus in the 1950s – that the truth about the Trengrose estate begins to emerge.

Although the book seemed slow at first and it took a while for things to really start moving, I gradually became completely immersed in the story. I could picture the setting so vividly and I loved everything Jane Johnson had to say about human beings and our relationship with the natural environment. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Johnson so far, whether set in Cornwall or in other parts of the world, historical or contemporary. I must find time to go back and read the remaining books of hers that I haven’t tried yet.

Set in a Cornwall which is real rather than all clotted cream and pretty cottages, Secrets Of The Bees is a novel that details, among other things, the clash of incoming second home money against time honoured tradition and long held land.
The story concerns, on the one hand, Ezra who has lived in his cottage all his life, as has his father and grandfather before him, and Toby and Minty who buy and move into the manor house on whose land his cottage sits.
Toby, in particular is determined that Ezra be evicted and his cottage become part of their money making scheme for the estate. Minty, however, the longer she stays in the house, deveps an empathy for the house and its history.
Running alongside this, the main drama, is a tale of a lesser known part of British army history, the campaign in the 50s on Cyprus. It doesn't necessarily make for edifying reading, but it certainly lends more depth to the novel.
Although the ending of this novel may tie up all too conviently the disparate strands of the stories, I read the book with a great deal of pleasure and was drawn into the plot and characters. Occasionally, I did feel as if I was being lectured to on some subjects, but I think the author, being Cornish herself, could be excused for wanting to get her points about Cornwall ,warts and all, across to her readers.
Thank you to NetGalley and publisher, Head of Zeus for an e arc of this title in return for an honest review