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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'The highly anticipated new novel by the bestselling author of Jasper Jones.
'Find out who you are, and live that life.'
'Late in the night, fourteen-year-old Sam Watson steps onto a quiet overpass, climbs over the rail and looks down at the road far below.
'At the other end of the same bridge, an old man, Vic, smokes his last cigarette.
'The two see each other across the void. A fateful connection is made, and an unlikely friendship blooms. Slowly, we learn what led Sam and Vic to the bridge that night. Bonded by their suffering, each privately commits to the impossible task of saving the other.
'Honeybee is a heart-breaking, life-affirming novel that throws us headlong into a world of petty thefts, extortion plots, botched bank robberies, daring dog rescues and one spectacular drag show.
'At the heart of Honeybee is Sam: a solitary, resilient young person battling to navigate the world as their true self; ensnared by a loyalty to a troubled mother, scarred by the volatility of a domineering step-father, and confounded by the kindness of new alliances.
'Honeybee is a tender, profoundly moving novel brimming with vivid characters and luminous words. It's about two lives forever changed by a chance encounter -- one offering hope, the other redemption. It's about when to persevere, and when to be merciful, as Sam learns when to let go, and when to hold on.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Dedication :
For Them on the Bridge
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Number 7 on the Better Reading's 2001 Top 100
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Large print.
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
Not Who But How
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , April 2021;
— Review of Honeybee 2020 single work novel'Last year, Craig Silvey’s third novel was published, his first since the hugely popular Jasper Jones in 2009. Honeybee, a story about a troubled trans teenager, Sam, and their unlikely friendship with the older widower Vic was considered, on publication, to be fairly offensive by many trans readers, myself included. Offensive because it is a cis man writing a trans teenager with all the predictable tropes: a troubled home life, suicide attempts, ambiguous language that evades gender until a big ‘reveal’. I watched the book come out, I watched it sell well, and I watched as not one reviewer engaged with it as a literary critic. No one considered it worthy of literary criticism, seemingly on the basis of its relationship to transness. I hate being a trans person when a book like this comes out, not because I feel unsettled in my identity, but because I hate being treated like I’m too fragile to understand the stakes of fiction by critics who aren’t assessing it as such.' (Introduction)
-
Risks and Rewards of Transformation
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 17 October 2020; (p. 17)
— Review of Honeybee 2020 single work novel -
[Review] Honeybee
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , October 2020;
— Review of Honeybee 2020 single work novel -
A Bumpy Road : Craig Silvey's New Novel
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 426 2020; (p. 36)
— Review of Honeybee 2020 single work novel'Honeybee, Craig Silvey’s highly anticipated new novel, his first since Jasper Jones (2009), chronicles the coming of age of fourteen-year-old transgender narrator Sam Watson, who was assigned male at birth. This is a story of desperate loneliness and fear, of neglect, family violence, betrayal, and self-disgust. But it is also one of love and solidarity, a celebration of the kindness of strangers who become family and friends.' (Introduction)
-
Honeybee by Craig Silvey Review – A Tender but Uncomfortable Coming-of-age Story
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 25 September 2020;
— Review of Honeybee 2020 single work novel'Silvey’s first novel since Jasper Jones is a compassionate tale about overcoming trauma to find family and self-acceptance, narrated by a trans child.'
-
Honeybee by Craig Silvey Review – A Tender but Uncomfortable Coming-of-age Story
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 25 September 2020;
— Review of Honeybee 2020 single work novel'Silvey’s first novel since Jasper Jones is a compassionate tale about overcoming trauma to find family and self-acceptance, narrated by a trans child.'
-
A Bumpy Road : Craig Silvey's New Novel
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 426 2020; (p. 36)
— Review of Honeybee 2020 single work novel'Honeybee, Craig Silvey’s highly anticipated new novel, his first since Jasper Jones (2009), chronicles the coming of age of fourteen-year-old transgender narrator Sam Watson, who was assigned male at birth. This is a story of desperate loneliness and fear, of neglect, family violence, betrayal, and self-disgust. But it is also one of love and solidarity, a celebration of the kindness of strangers who become family and friends.' (Introduction)
-
[Review] Honeybee
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , October 2020;
— Review of Honeybee 2020 single work novel -
Risks and Rewards of Transformation
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 17 October 2020; (p. 17)
— Review of Honeybee 2020 single work novel -
Not Who But How
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , April 2021;
— Review of Honeybee 2020 single work novel'Last year, Craig Silvey’s third novel was published, his first since the hugely popular Jasper Jones in 2009. Honeybee, a story about a troubled trans teenager, Sam, and their unlikely friendship with the older widower Vic was considered, on publication, to be fairly offensive by many trans readers, myself included. Offensive because it is a cis man writing a trans teenager with all the predictable tropes: a troubled home life, suicide attempts, ambiguous language that evades gender until a big ‘reveal’. I watched the book come out, I watched it sell well, and I watched as not one reviewer engaged with it as a literary critic. No one considered it worthy of literary criticism, seemingly on the basis of its relationship to transness. I hate being a trans person when a book like this comes out, not because I feel unsettled in my identity, but because I hate being treated like I’m too fragile to understand the stakes of fiction by critics who aren’t assessing it as such.' (Introduction)
Awards
- 2021 shortlisted Booksellers Choice Award — Adult Fiction Book of the Year
- 2021 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Audiobook of the year
- 2021 shortlisted APA Book Design Awards — Best Designed Literary Fiction Book designed by Sonny Day & Biddy Maroney, WBYK
- 2021 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Australian Literary Fiction Book of the Year
- 2021 winner Indie Awards — Fiction