\s mYevtew KALEIDOSCOPE - University of British Columbia

OPINIONS & NOTESqueenly. But for this evolution to work,she must increasingly surrender humandefinitions and assent to bee definitions,particularly of her sexuality. Kinship,sexuality, defines the structure of thenovel. Habella's first period; the loss ofvirginity that felt "like a bee sting";Habella's decision to marry not for lovebut for procreation, like a queen's mating,all mark the book's time. Reinforcingthe counterstructures of human andapian sexuality in the novel is a brilliantpun, hidden within the text yet continuallyevoked by the underlying metaphorswith which the book begins, develops,and ends. The scientific name for bees:order, hymen-opt er a, "membrane wing."The homologies established by that punare the connecting link between Habella'ssexual initiation and her final flight.One should not, however, think ofThe Bee Book as reductionist. It neithersubsumes humans to bees (a hierarchynot confirmed by the book) nor limitslife's possibilities to queenly procreation.On the contrary, if there is a true herofigurein the book it is the bent, haggard,seemingly sexless Miss Kelly, primaryteacher in St. Paul's Catholic School, a"tireless worker," in apian terms, "whodoes not outlive her usefulness." MissKelly inspires her youthful charges withan unequalled love of learning and loveof self. They grow taller in her presence,flourish under her nurturing affections.In one of the most delightful scenes inthe novel (a comic transformation, perhaps,of the infamous moth ball dance inMargaret Atwood's Lady Oracle), MissKelly encourages Habella to dress in aQueen Bee costume to help illustrateMiss Kelly's lecture on the language ofthe bees. While the other children strokeher, Habella pushes eggs from a secretplace in the abdomen of her costume.In contrast to the shame of sexualityimposed by her parents, here Miss Kelly(the spinster-character ridiculed in muchtraditional fiction) encourages this naturalappreciation of sensuality. She becomesHabella's inspiration both as ascientist and as woman aware of herunique gifts. Similarly, Matthias, thehomosexual, is the first man to loveHabella and to appreciate her poetic insights.It is Matthias, too, who arrangesfor the publication of The Bee Book, thelast and living word of his friend andnonsexual lover. It is also Matthias whodelivers the novel's eloquent tribute tothe workers who have "no sex life at allthat we would recognize" but who mightactually lead "more fully sensual andsatisfactory lives" than "you or I." Heconcludes his speech on bees :"The sexless worker ... is stroked andnuzzled a thousand times a day, her abdomenrubbed by a dozen workers seekinginformation and sustenance. She shines inthe radiance of the sun as she searches withfreedom and ingenuity for the nectar of amillion flowers. I bid you do the same."The Bee Book is an intricate and technicallydazzling work. As much as Quebecwriters such as Louky Bersianik,Nicole Brossard, Madeleine Gagnon, orJovette Marchessault, Ann Rosenberg ishelping to redefine the boundaries ofexperimental fiction. Yet Rosenberg'snovel, just when it threatens to overpowerwith its erudition, yields to atender story of Miss Kelly, an octogenariannow, doubled with arthritis, taking atrain to Minnesota to rescue an agedsister from a nursing home. Or we havecomical interludes such as the attemptedseduction through stories of sexy slugs.Sometimes fuzzy and cute, The BeeBook's satire yet packs a sting. Finally, itis a landmark novel. It is challenging,charming, outrageous, inventive — inshort, a honey of a book.NOTES1 Ann Rosenberg, The Bee Book (Toronto:Coach House Press, 1981), p. 7.CATHY N. DAVIDSON2OO