Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Ardent Swarm
Ardent Swarm | Yamen Manai
1 post | 2 read
From an award-winning Tunisian author comes a stirring allegory about a country in the aftermath of revolution and the power of a single quest.Sidi lives a hermetic life as a bee whisperer, tending to his beloved "girls" on the outskirts of the desolate North African village of Nawa. He wakes one morning to find that something has attacked one of his beehives, brutally killing every inhabitant. Heartbroken, he soon learns that a mysterious swarm of vicious hornets committed the mass murder--but where did they come from, and how can he stop them? If he is going to unravel this mystery and save his bees from annihilation, Sidi must venture out into the village and then brave the big city and beyond in search of answers.Along the way, he discovers a country and a people turned upside down by their new post-Arab Spring reality as Islamic fundamentalists seek to influence votes any way they can on the eve of the country's first democratic elections. To succeed in his quest, and find a glimmer of hope to protect all that he holds dear, Sidi will have to look further than he ever imagined.In this brilliantly accessible modern-day parable, Yamen Manai uses a masterful blend of humor and drama to reveal what happens in a country shaken by revolutionary change after the world stops watching.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
review
coffees
Ardent Swarm | Yamen Manai
post image
Mehso-so

I briefly cried over this book before disappearing. Well, I powered through and finished it!

It wasn't the book for me. It was really hard to get a grasp at what was happening bc it felt like there were many threads and I couldn't find the link. Partially, I think it's bc of how vague certain things were. But I could feel like it was a social commentary of the state and its people. But I don't have that knowledge to really appreciate it #tunisia