Atlanta - August 07, 2009

Deliver Us from Eva

"Of Bees and Mist," by Erick Setiawan

During your last family reunion, Grammie did a keg stand and she-who-shall-not-be-named made out with her first cousin (through marriage, okay?).

But compared to the family in Erick Setiawan’s stunning debut novel, Of Bees and Mist, your kooky relatives are a model of — knock on wood — sanity.

The book’s drama unfolds around two women: Eva, a manipulative mother-in-law with her very own army of bees; and Meridia, a beautiful young woman who grew up in a haunted mansion (magical realism abounds).

Meridia thinks marrying Eva’s son Daniel will mark the end of her lonely and dysfunction-fraught existence, but Eva’s got other plans — attempts to ruin the couple’s jewelry business, underhanded bribes to their son, and kicking them all out of her house.

Eventually, Meridia’s fighting for her marriage, her peace of mind, and her life.

It’s a family affair.

Available online at amazon.com or at your local bookstore.

Read on: Check out our bookshelf for more novel ideas.