Enchanting, original, imaginative. These are words that are in danger of losing some of their impact through repetition. Publishers bandy them about too much. But in the case of author Erick Setiawan and his extraordinary debut, OF BEES AND MIST, they couldn’t be more apt. You will have read many books that have some of the ingredients of this unique and unforgettable story – because at heart it’s a book about family, a theme as old as the hills – but you will never have read a family story quite like this one.
OF BEES AND MIST is such a joy because it is simply so full of life. A winding, layered, almost insanely evocative novel, it is like a window out of a grey world, an escape route into a more vibrant and exotic landscape. Erick’s story is challenging, mesmerising and escapist. Folklore brushes shoulders with the modern world, language is used in a startlingly colourful way, and through it all spins the journey of Meridia, a child, then a woman in love, then a mother, and an epic family drama of feuds, rivalries and betrayals. These are classic themes – everyone will instantly recognise the mists that swirl through Meridia’s girlhood home as the lingering resentments and disappointments of her mother, or the swarms of bees that plague her mother-in-law’s house as representing her barely suppressed rage. Erick Setiawan’s achievement in this book is to bring these perhaps everyday emotions to vibrant fictional life.
And while it’s all too easy to use biography as a filter to discuss an author’s work – and OF BEES AND MIST is, first and foremost, a testament to Setiawan’s skill as a writer: the magical effects wouldn’t be so striking if they weren’t backed up by a compulsive, twisting plot – Setiawan’s background is more than usually interesting. Born in 1975 in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Chinese parents, he grew up in a family of headstrong women who were exceptional storytellers, and was immersed in a mix of folktales, beliefs and superstitions, a hotpot whose legends and mythology encompassed both the Chinese and Indonesian cultures. Due to the anti-Chinese sentiment prevalent in Indonesia, his childhood was often fraught with fear and uneasiness, which prompted him to take comfort in books and in the world of his imagination. At the age of sixteen, he left his family and moved to the United States, receiving political asylum there. He spoke little English, but managed to be admitted to Stanford University, where his insecurity about his adopted language led him to enrol in classes that did not require him to speak before pursuing a career as a software engineer in San Francisco. But his heart was not in it, and faced with the prospect of being a corporate burnout at the age of twenty-six her turned to writing in his spare time. Several years, two failed novels and countless short stories later, he decided to quit his job to finish the book that became OF BEES AND MIST. Of this remarkable journey, he says: ‘To see the novel come this far has exceeded my wildest dreams. I know I will always be a foreigner in America. English will always be my second language. But for now, for the moment at least, I have written my way out of the crippling bond of fear.’
OF BEES AND MIST tells a story that is at once as familiar as a cherished fairytale, and a total breath of fresh air. Think 100 YEARS OF SOLITUDE; think LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE, but also think shadow puppet theatre, Chinese opera or Indian epics. This might get you somewhere close to the experience of reading this novel. But there’s no substitute for opening the book…
