The Enlightenment of Bees

A heartbroken young woman searches for significance on a six-week humanitarian adventure in this fine tale of personal transformation from Linden (An Ascension of Larks). After Mia West’s longtime boyfriend breaks up with her, Mia wangles her way under false pretenses into an international humanitarian project funded by a reclusive billionaire. Thinking she would spend the trip getting her heart settled and enjoying world travel, Mia joins her roommate and four others, including a magnetic Hawaiian urban farmer named Kai, to serve in the Mumbai slums. As the eclectic team members feed impoverished children and become better acquainted, Mia fights the attraction between Kai and herself. Unexpectedly, the team is diverted to Hungary, where they help refugees flowing in from war-torn Middle Eastern countries. Thrown into a situation beyond her expectations, experience, and emotional bandwidth, Mia learns firsthand the depths of suffering that happen daily outside her little world. Facing the dire situation requires Mia to rely on her faith in ways she never has before, and she turns to God as a source of hope. Linden, an international aid worker herself, writes authoritatively on the dynamics of supplying aid. Inspirational readers will delight in Linden’s global scope and spirited group of humane characters. [em](July) [/em]