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by Barbara Fowler (Author), Jacque Hillman (Editor), Katie Gould (Associate Editor)
Barbara Fowler's memoir, Telling the Bees, traces her family's extraordinary journey from 1988 to 2004-a span of years in which their seemingly Norman Rockwell life was upended by unimaginable events. The story begins in 1988, when the Fowlers' youngest child, Barrymore, is diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer. Faced with the devastating possibility that he might not survive, the family enters a world of hospitals, uncertainty, and fear.
At St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Barbara becomes part of a community of families, patients and medical staff who bond together in this life-altering experience. From nurses and doctors who offer kindness and excellent medical care to mothers and fathers who help each other through dark times and rejoice in the good times. She becomes friends with a mother and her child from Russia who are glad to share small moments with an American mother who speaks Russian.
When Barrymore falls into remission, they believe they have emerged from the storm-until life delivers another blow. At just fourteen, Barrymore is gravely injured in a car accident, suffering a traumatic brain injury that changes the course of his life forever.
But the most shattering events are still to come. In 2004, Bradley-the Fowlers' middle son-dies suddenly of myocarditis, a loss that fractures the family's sense of stability and spirit. In the wake of these cascading crises, Barbara writes with unflinching honesty about how she, her husband, and their remaining children learned to navigate a world that no longer resembled the one they knew.
Throughout the memoir, Barbara pays tribute to the friends, extended family, school communities, and church members whose steady presence softened the harshest edges of each tragedy. She reflects on the deep depression into which she fell and the divine intervention she believes lifted her from that abyss. Her evolving, resilient relationship with God becomes a central thread, offering both solace and tension.
Drawing inspiration from writers such as Joseph Conrad, e. e. cummings, Joan Didion, and others, Barbara illuminates the emotional terrain of fear, grief, endurance, and gratitude. Telling the Bees is ultimately a testament to survival-not of the body alone, but of the spirit-and a reminder that even after the darkest nights, it is possible to move forward.
