Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
A Swarming of Bees
- Fridgyth the Herb-Wife, Book 1
- Narrated by: Danielle Cohen
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.00 for first 30 days
A Swarming of Bees
Buy Now for £15.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Summary
"A herb-wife on a mule may go where warriors cannot - she may see what warriors cannot see and hear what warriors cannot hear!”
The Monastery at Whitby is ruled over by the powerful and independent Abbess Hild. But when she needs someone to confide in, she turns to the honest warmth of her friend Fridgyth, the half-pagan herb-wife.
A divisive and life-altering decision taken at the Great Synod is swiftly overshadowed as the monastery is ravaged by a deadly plague. As she tends the sick, Fridgyth starts to suspect that not all the deaths are natural. Despite Hild's stern warnings "not to meddle" she sets out to investigate.
Can Fridgyth's wisdom and intuition unmask the murderer and unravel the dark politics surrounding the deaths and clandestine arrival of two young scholars?
Listeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about A Swarming of Bees
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Barrie D.
- 10-03-24
Involving story
An enjoyable and engaging listen that takes you through early Christianity among pagan believers and weaves a good mystery in amongst early experiences of the plague.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anna Kalin
- 13-02-24
Loved the narration and pace of this story.
Narrator was great and story had an interesting historical backdrop
Look forward to more in this series.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Milli Sharon Norris
- 03-03-24
needs to do more research
a pretty good story overall. I've no idea how accurate most of the detail is but Linnaeus method of classifying organisms was about 1000 years after this was meant to be set! overlooking this, was a good story but I won't be buying the next one.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mair
- 28-09-24
Enjoyable Read
The attention to historical detail was excellent and handled well, woven into the tale and gently delivered as part of the story.
Good characters, but perhaps the changes of names could have been better handled? This was a wee bit confusing at times. It became clearer as you read on but was muddled at the start.
Sometimes the plot felt a bit slow, and this needs tightening up before the next instalment but the Herb Woman and Mother Hilde are a great addition to historical mystery fiction.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 15-06-24
Excellent historical mystery
what excellent research went into this novel! I love this period of history and it's so much fun to find it about it through well-researched fiction like this. The herb -wife is such an interesting main character, linking the old beliefs to the new Christian god of the abbey.
Very good narration, with a good pace and lively intonation. The story is engaging and within its historical context - which is actually really difficult as it is so 'limited' compared to what narrative resources are available in our time period. Really, really enjoyed this!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance2 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- J M Jeynes
- 18-11-23
Mediocre
A “listen before falling asleep” book. Narration was rather annoyingly cloying. Shame, cause there was so much scope for character development especially given the historical period but unfortunately this didn’t happen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Client d'Amazon
- 22-01-24
Well researched historical tale
Told fro an unusual point of view, and woven around factual material, this was an interesting listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- jocat
- 10-06-24
not going to finish
Too slow, both the plot and the reader. Can't stand the names and the history seems a bit dodgy.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- JM
- 18-12-23
Tedious and boring
I usually enjoy this genre but found this one rather boring. The narrator monotonous delivery may have something to do with it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!