Is there a certain scent that just floods you with good memories? Is it the freshly cut grass of an early summer? The smell of apple pie in the fall? Is it freshly washed sheets or the scent of the soft hair of a newborn? This book is so descriptive that sometimes I felt I was there in the small Mexican town of Linares. I could smell the beautiful nature it described!

The book is set in the early 1900’s, but also goes back and forth in time. It tells of the story of a baby found underneath a bridge covered in bees that seem not to hurt him. I would say that the genre is magical realism. It also had a lot of history on Mexico right before their revolution. The book gives the perspectives of the baby’s caretakers, family, friends and enemies. There is also tragedy in the book, but also lots of places that made me smile and sigh with nostalgia. The characters are deep and developed very well. I loved Simonopio, who is one of the protagonist, and his innocence and loyalty. And like so many of my favorite movies and books, I was sad and happy in the end.

I deeply enjoyed the book and losing myself in the story Sofia Segovia, the author, wrote.

The book was originally written in Spanish. It was translated by Simon Bruni and I believe he did an excellent job. I can only imagine how beautiful the book would be to read it in its original language!

I highly recommend this book if you like magical realism like The Alchemist or Beloved. If you want to lounge around and have a long good read, this is a great book to escape to. The book is very clean and has no sex scenes. There are some times where the sadness and evil is very raw and real, but Ms. Segovia does it in a way that doesn’t assault the senses. I loved this book and 5-starred it on my Goodreads account.

The book is 471 pages long. As of right now it is free if you have Amazon unlimited. You can buy the book here.