Book review! The Hive: A Novel

The Hive: A Novel by Jill Hornby ~~

The Hive is a lovely story, both heartfelt and entirely snarky, about a group of women that come together every day when dropping off and picking up their children from primary school in small-town England. The cast of characters is diverse in both attitude and background, and all the more lovely for it. The narration hops around through the cast of central players, providing an intimate look at the different perspectives of most of the women, bringing depth to the plot and characters alike.

Ever hear of Robert Harris? Or maybe Nick Hornby? The first is this author's husband and the latter is her brother. And I don't know what kind of pressure there was or wasn't, or some deep drive to make her mark in the fiction business, but thank goodness she did. This was probably one of my top reads this fall.

Embracing the feel of a small town, everyone knows everything about everyone else. The supporting cast all pulls together for events surrounding school activities, whether they sincerely want to or because they think it's expected of them. Capitalizing on relationship dynamics in a close-knit community among moms of all types, Hornby skillfully crafts a year's worth of highs and lows for the characters, piled with the life requirements, parenting necessities, tragedies and opportunities that ring true with moms in schoolyards everywhere.

Rachel has recently been left by her husband for a younger model and was - until quite recently - the right hand of the group's queen bee, Beatrice. Georgie is a career woman turned stay-at-home-mom with a gaggle of children that no one can manage to count. Heather is a bit awkward but wants to fit in with the cool crowd, trying too hard and failing most of the time. Through these three primary perspectives, we get a spectacular, holistic view of how different personalities come together to form a semi-functioning system of loving relationships, power plays, and all.

Their stories are rounded out outside perspective tales of Bea, the reigning queen herself; Joe, one of the moms working night shift with a depressed husband; Bubba, a newcomer who desperately wants to go along with the crowd but seems to think she's better than everyone else, and is blessing them with her very presence and participation; and Melissa, another newcomer with a quiet grace that seems always to know what should be said and how to best support the individuals and the group at large. The result is a wickedly funny, enjoyable ride through a year of primary school from the perspectives of moms everywhere. If you have little ones or are up to your eyeballs in your own PTA, you'll definitely enjoy this adventure!

I'd love to hear your thoughts if you've read The Hive: A Novel. And I've got more coming, so sign up for my mailing list here. It would be great to hear from you!