‘Here is the Beehive’ by Sarah Crossan   (2020) – 266 pages

Over the years I have had good luck reading novels in verse. I must admit that I find a lot of other regular short stand-alone poetry too abstract and impenetrable for my taste and comprehension. However when a novel is written in verse, I find that the verse usually moves the story along in a pleasant rhythmic way. Here is a list of some of my favorite novels in verse. I actually seek out verse novels to read.

‘Here is the Beehive’ is my latest written in a lyrical free verse. This is the first novel for adults written by Sarah Crossan. She has written numerous books for children and young adults.

‘Here is the Beehive’ on the contrary has a very adult subject. It is narrated in the first person by estate lawyer Ana Kelly and is addressed to Connor Mooney, a man with whom she has been carrying on a three-year affair, unbeknownst to their respective mates. Connor has already died in the first chapter in a bicycle accident.

“I miss the freckles on your shoulders,

the wispy tufts of hair there

and the clean soapy smell of you.”

Somehow despite Connor and Ana’s intense affair, they have kept it a secret. When Ana and her husband Paul go on a trip,

“Paul showers,

leaving the door to the en suite

open so I can’t get even

ten uninterrupted minutes

to think of you and touch myself.”

After Connor’s death, Ana secretly attends his funeral and encounters his wife Rebecca there.

“She is forty-six, rich, with incredible posture.

But she is nervous, I think, busily fussing.

Her hair is greasy.”

This is a tale as old as time, a woman’s obsessive adulterous love affair with a man who ultimately has no intention of leaving his wife. The man’s death provides an original slant to the story.

“I imagined you writing a list –

pros and cons

me and her

for and against

good and bad

stay or go

wondering how I measured up

and

knowing I was always the loser.”

Both couples have children, but the children play barely any role in the story.

I found ‘Here is the Beehive’ a fresh affecting take on an old story and found the writing both lively and sociable.

Grade:    B+