The Little Bee Charmer of Henrietta Street
This is the third book that I have read by Sarah Webb and I absolutely loved it. The Little Bee Charmer of Henrietta Street was published by the O’Brien Press in 2021, and is a beautiful story about friendship, family, community and togetherness. It is also a story about poverty and the financial and social divide in the early 1900s. The Act of Union was still in effect during the timeframe of the book, which was why so many families lived in one big house split of into tiny sections (the tenements) owned by rich and greedy landlords. The book is aimed at 9-year olds and up.
The book is illustrated by the talented illustrator Rachel Corcoran, which I very much enjoyed, and the main character, Eliza is also an illustrator. The magic of the circus and dreams, and remembering to honour our own hopes and dreams as we grow up is important, and the circus, their bee charmer and Annie their new neighbour shows, teaches and reminds Eliza and her little brother Jonty to strive for their dreams and goals. W.B Yeats famous Irish poem entitled He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven has some lines featured in Sarah’s little treasure of a book.
The blurb for The Little Bee Charmer of Henrietta Street
Dublin, 1911
When Eliza Kane and her brother Jonty move from the leafy suburbs of Rathmines to a tenement flat on Henrietta Street in Dublin’s city centre, they are in for a shock.
Pigs and ponies in the yard, rats in the hallways and cockroaches underfoot!
But their friendly new neighbour, Annie, and her brothers help them to settle in, and when a travelling circus comes to town, with acrobats, animals and performing dogs – and Madam Ada, the bee charmer – things really start to look up.
Then tragedy strikes and Eliza, Jonty and their tenement family learn the true power of friendship.
A TALE OF FAMILY, FRIENDS AND FINDING MAGIC WHEREVER YOU ARE.
Historical Fiction
At the start of every chapter, (just like in Sarah’s book The Weather Girls), a beautiful illustration and some real facts, (about bees in this case) give little golden nuggets of information.
I love historical fiction books especially those that can be enjoyed by both children and adults too. The back of the book has a reading list with some real historical facts like The Church Street Collapse. I didn’t know about The 14 Henrietta Street Museum but now that I do, I very much intend to visit it. Sarah not only researched about The Tenements history but also about the history of the circus and about the life of bees, which she shares about at the back of the book too.
I can’t wait to read Sarah’s latest book, that was launched recently in Greystones in Halfway up the Stairs bookshop, but alas my Fibromyalgia flared up and the fatigue and pain made me housebound today, but lucky enough to open my laptop! Sarah’s newest title is called The Bookshop Sisters, illustrated by Lauren O’Hara and is also published by the O’Brien Press.
(c) Grace O’Reilly
Order your copy of The Little Bee Charmer of Henrietta Street online here.
And read more from Grace O’Reilly on Writing.ie here.
