Bee and the Orange Tree

by Melissa Ashley

It's 1699, and the salons of Paris are bursting with the creative energy of fierce, independent-minded women. But outside those doors, the patriarchal forces of Louis XIV and the Catholic Church are moving to curb their freedoms. In this battle for equality, Baroness Marie Catherine D'Aulnoy invents a powerful 'fairy tales'.When Marie Catherine's daughter, Angelina, arrives in Paris for the first time, she is swept up in the glamour and sensuality of the city, where a woman may live outside the confines of the church or marriage. But this is a fragile freedom, as she discovers when Marie Catherine's close friend Nicola Tiquet is arrested, accused of conspiring to murder her abusive husband. In the race to rescue Nicola, illusions will be shattered and dark secrets revealed as all three women learn how far they will go to preserve their liberty in a society determined to control them.This keenly-awaited second book from Melissa Ashley, author of The Birdman's Wife, restores another remarkable, little-known woman to her rightful place in history, revealing the dissent hidden beneath the whimsical surfaces of Marie Catherine's fairy tales. The Bee and the Orange Tree is a beautifully lyrical and deeply absorbing portrait of a time, a place, and the subversive power of the imagination.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Book Club, France, LGBT, Audiobook

387 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 29, 2019

About the author

Melissa Ashley is a writer, poet, birder and academic who tutors in poetry and creative writing at the University of Queensland. She has published a collection of poems, The Hospital for Dolls, short stories, essays and articles.

What started out as research for a PhD dissertation on Elizabeth Gould became a labour of love and her first novel, The Birdman’s Wife. Inspired by her heroine, she studied taxidermy as a volunteer at the Queensland Museum.

Melissa was born in New Zealand and moved to Queensland at the age of eight; she lives in Brisbane with her two children.

Reviews

[Zia K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hammy Disappointment

(You've Probably Already Read a Dozen like it, and it's no Better than Most You Think of)
When I picked up the book I thought it was going to be exactly up my alley. I have always been fascinated by strangely ahead- of- their- time female heroines, but I am afraid to say I am unpleasantly surprised by just how mediocre this book was.

The story follows Catherine-Marie, Madame D'Aulnoy and examines her relationship with her daughter Angelina, and it also follows the story of Madame D'Aulnoy's best friend Nicola. D'Aulnoy lived the life of a popular salon hostess, a pop icon of her day, and the normalcy of her life was destroyed when her best friend was accused of trying to assassinate her husband Claude. The entire story bridges the gap of the women's experience from a POV of youth to POV of maturity. From the suffering of each woman trapped in this world, a bigger picture forms which shows how the world is against them. Unfortunately, the execution left much to be desired.

The way this entire book is written, it's just so hammy and mediocre it might as well have been written by a high school blogger. Despite the long paragraphs of descriptions and inner dialogues, most of the story requires WAY too much telling to fill the readers in on who someone is, their backstory and their outlook etc. It's also filled with cringe-inducing amount of melodrama and cartoonish level of characterization. Villains are cartoonish villains and the strong women stock are lauded to such an extent that they wink through the pages at the reader:

Here is a particular bit that's more reminiscent of an exchange between 2 woke hipsters at an Oregan coffee house than 1699. And every interaction between the ingenue Angelina and the stock supportive caricature of Alphonse reads like that:

" ‘Really?’
Alphonse rested his chin in his hands,
studying her with great amusement.

‘We read voraciously. Maman would send us forbidden books, autobiographical novels by the femme forte , the strong women of the Fronde – the Duchess de Chevreuse, Marie d’Orl é ans, and the Duchess de Montpensier. We have them in our library; let me know if you wish to borrow any. I was raised on them. And do you know that recently, Maman’s contemporaries have taken up the trope? You have competition. There’s Marie-Jeanne L’Héritier—’ " (end quote)

LOL Melissa, no boy talks like that, certainly not while he's letting you flex hashtag girlpower through his husk of a voice. Also it's such a transparent "I'm supposed to like him because he's different" set up in that part of the girl meets boy story beat. The kernel of the story's already there, but the writer have to jab a very Americanized romance in the middle, and as a result the tone of the story suffered more than the execution at the Place de Greve itself.

In the end all I could think about is that this story should by all account have been better, it just wasn't. But at least I paid so you see what little I got from it.

[Theresa Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was such a pleasure to read The Bee and the Orange Tree, the second novel by acclaimed author, Melissa Ashley. Set in 1699, under the gaze of three women, Melissa Ashley takes us back to Paris, where a woman could write and perform stories within literary saloons, but have no agency whatsoever over their own life.

‘She felt it her duty to lay bare the dark and piquant potential of women unafraid of their own minds.’

While this novel in part tells the story of the invention of fairy tales – long before the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen – it is also an illuminating sociological examination of the layers of patriarchy set firmly in place within 17th century France.

‘…a marriage, however poisonous, is to be protected at all costs. There are no grounds for separation. Not adultery, not cruelty, not even fraud. Women are minors in the eyes of the law. Either they’re owned by their parents or their husbands.’

Never more is this demonstrated than in the fate of Nicola Tiquet. Yet, there are other examples of these restrictions in action throughout the story. Marie Catherine’s own experiences with her elderly wastrel husband; Angelina’s experiences as a daughter who was given over to be raised in a convent, despite not being an orphan. These women are oppressed, they have been cheated out of experiencing their lives as fully as their male counterparts’ experience, but they have not been beaten. Their strength prevails and Melissa Ashley articulates this with vivacity.

‘A convent or a marriage – the twin prisons of women’s lives.’

The writing throughout is lyrical, giving the reader the illusion of being caught within a fairy tale whilst reading about fairy tales. Yet there is also a brutality in evidence, reminding the reader that within every fairy tale, there is darkness before light, and not every character is destined to achieve their happy ending. There is a strong presence of history throughout the novel and coupled with Melissa’s elegant prose, the story is dripping with atmosphere. I felt like I was walking alongside the characters on the streets of Paris, experiencing, as they were, the literary saloons, the cafes, and most horrifying of all, the prisons. I fell in love with this story and found myself lingering over it far longer than what I normally do with a novel. In addition, it is just so beautifully presented. Affirm have published this as a hardback with the most gorgeous endpapers and fairy tale illustrations throughout, turning this novel into a sensory experience that goes beyond just reading a story. It rather makes me long for the days when all new releases were hardbacks. I highly recommend The Bee and the Orange Tree, particularly to those who enjoy reading about writers and the origins of stories from the past.

Thanks is extended to Affirm Press for providing me with a copy of The Bee and the Orange Tree for review.

[Braxton Javier · Rating 1 out of 5]

Has anyone ever seen the episode of Rick and Morty where the playwright is reciting his play to Morty? That is this book in form. The writing is disjointed, the author puts emphasis on details that aren’t necessary and the world building is pretty much obsolete. If you’re going to write a book that has a lot of characters, you don’t add more characters to describe that character - most of the characters are unnecessary and just go into strenuous amounts of details where you see the mentioned once in the book. The writing has no flow, I am so angry that people have rated it five stars and I don’t believe that they have any concept of what a good book reads like.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't help but feel let down by this one.

The author's passion project about the life of Baroness Marie-catherine d'Aurnoy, who I didn't realise was a real historical figure until the notes at the end - I was drawn in by the beautiful cover and the synopsis that this is about the birth of fairy tales in late 17th century France.

Having recently reread Beauty and the Beast, I recognize the style of prose in the writing of this novel but ultimately it was a let down. It covers more about the injustices of being a woman under King Louis' regime in pre-revolutionary Parisienne society and under the Catholic church. We are told the story of Nicola Tiquet who stands accused of attempting to murder her philandering, mercenary and violent husband.

It has not much to do with fairy tales at all.

Read if you enjoy French history, of the Regency period or thereabouts and are happy to "soak up" a bucketful of descriptions of fashionable dress, Salons, food, make-up, etc. ad nauseum.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Storytelling’s an escape: a place I visit.’

I opened this novel and found myself in Paris in 1699. In the Paris of literary salons, in a world where some women can have an independent life outside the restrictions imposed by marriage or the confines of the church. Or can they? This is the world of Louis XIV, ‘the Sun King’, a world in which the Catholic church is dominant.

Told in the third person, there are four parts to the story which unfolds over a period of just three months between March and June 1699. The chapters alternate between the three women who are central to this novel: Nicola Ticquet, Baroness Marie Catherine D’Aulnoy, and her daughter Angelina.

Marie Catherine D’Aulnoy, inventor of fairy tales, is struggling to write. Her youngest daughter, Angelina, is learning to live outside St Anne’s Convent. Nicola Ticquet, friend of Marie Catherine, is wealthy and married to an abusive husband, Claude Ticquet. When Claude Ticquet is attacked, Nicola is suspected of arranging to murder him.

Three women, three very different stories. Freedom, even for Marie Catherine D’Aulnoy, is more apparent that real. She and Angelina try to save Nicola. Woven around Nicola’s plight, we learn more about Marie Catherine’s past, about how Angelina came to be in a convent, about double standards and about the purpose of Marie Catherine D’Aulnoy’s fairy tales.

I found it difficult to put this novel down. For a while I was in late 17th century Paris, observing and wondering. Would Marie Catherine write again, how would Angelina fare outside St Anne’s, can Nicola survive?

‘It felt as if she had stumbled into a war between men and women, and she was merely girding herself for the next battle.’

Before I picked up this book, I’d not been aware of the Baroness Marie Catherine D’Aulnoy. I was unaware of her life and work, and I’m grateful that Ms Ashley has written a novel about her. Like Elizabeth Gould (from Ms Ashley’s first novel ‘The Birdman’s Wife’), Marie Catherine D’Aulnoy is another interesting woman on the fringe of history. A beautifully written and illustrated novel.

Highly recommended.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Bronwyn Hegarty · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not the usual type of book that I read, however I enjoyed exploring a different writing style and plot. It is set in Paris and focuses on an unusual phenomenon for the times, a successful woman writer who writes in a fairytale genre. She mentors other writers, and in particular has taken Alphonse, a transgender male under her wing. Catherine conducts literary salons and encourages other writers, however she is suffering a writer's block herself.

Most of the plot surrounds her friend Nicola who is accused of plotting to kill her husband, with the valet. Catherine tries to save her by petitioning the wealthy circle of acquaintances and friends' to give support to help have Nicola freed.

Throughout the narrative and by using the voice of the daughter, Angelina, a number of family secrets are revealed to the reader. Angelina has the most authentic voice. Feminist messages permeate the book - the challenges for women writers, the fate of women married off for money and to keep face in society, disempowered wives with abusive husbands, the fate of unwed girls who fall pregnant, the tendency of these neglected wives to take lovers and so on.

I perservered with the book but it was challenging to read and I struggled through a disjointed plot, and the main voice was unconvincing. The descriptions did not make it easy to visualise the era or the characters, and since little atmosphere was created, it was hard to have empathy for most of the characters. They just didn't seem authentic. The premise on which the title of the book was based was disappointing.

[Jennie O'bryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the writing convoluted and rather dull - it seemed disjointed and I didn’t understand the emphasis on things that weren’t ultimately important to the story.

[Marquise · Rating 1 out of 5]

Madame d'Aulnoy is one of my favourite salonnières and authored some of my most favourite literary fairy tales, on top of creating the concept of a conte de fées as we know it today, and she was an extremely interesting and unconventional woman who, in many ways, broke the mould for her time.

With such an impressive résumé, I'm so disappointed that this novel managed to make her such a boring frump and narrate her life in such a boring way, and also give part of her story to two other women, Angelica and Nicola. The author obviously has done her research into d'Aulnoy and knows her life well, but that doesn't translate into a good novel or even a good story because she hasn't been able to fit all that academic knowledge into a storytelling style that does d'Aulnoy justice. Not even found a way to seamlessly fit one of her most famous fairy tales organically into the novel, so she dumped it whole and unedited, with its own chapter and title, in the book. That's really poor, poor writing.

[Cass Moriarty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Melissa Ashley came to prominence when her debut novel, The Birdman’s Wife, expertly re-imagined the life of Elizabeth Gould. Following this theme of uncovering the lives of fascinating but largely forgotten women from history, her second novel The Bee and the Orange Tree (Affirm Press 2019) is an engaging and previously untold story about Frenchwoman Baroness Marie Catherine D’Aulnoy, the inventor of fairy tales long before the Brothers Grimm. Set in Paris in 1699, this novel is a completely immersive experience of French aristocratic life and the strong and independent women who battled constantly for agency against the constraints of the church, the monarchy and the patriarchy. But it is also a much deeper and plot-driven book – the story of Marie Catherine’s friend, Nicola, accused of attempting to murder her husband, and the Baroness’ youngest daughter, Angelina, adjusting to the glamorous and often confusing life of the City of Lights after being raised in a convent. Told from the perspectives of these three woman – each feisty and determined, each talented and generous, each struggling to assert their identity while tied by societal expectations – The Bee and the Orange Tree explores what it means to be female, to be an artist, to be a benefactor; what it meant to be the 17th century equivalent of today’s ‘Influencer’!
I had expected this book to be about the secret history of fairy tales, and it certainly is that. In her research, the author has uncovered many wonderful fables and fantastical stories that were written, often by women, and usually for adults, rather than for children. The fairy tales were a coded way of addressing the inequalities and injustices of the times, particularly against women. The language, the evocative imagery, the delightful characters – all were woven together to construct escapist stories with moral or instructive or cautionary advice for young women about to navigate the world of marriage, children and expectations. As was common in the day, Marie Catherine held regular literary salons in her bedchamber, where artists gathered to listen to each other recite their work and to offer feedback, suggestions and encouragement.
But what I didn’t expect was that this book would be so full of intrigue, scheming, plotting, murder, mayhem, cunning, torture, crime, racy sexual liaisons, indiscretions, ancestral secrets, lies, backstabbing and passion. At the opening, Marie Catherine’s friend Nicola Tiquet is under suspicion for conspiring to murder her husband, and the plot is driven by Nicola’s increasingly desperate situation, her pleas of her innocence, Marie Catherine’s attempts to help her plight, and the terrible hypocrisy and unfairness of the time around how women were treated, their lack of rights and power, and the unjust and seemingly random operation of the legal system, fuelled more by money changing hands than actual facts. But also right from the beginning, we know that Nicola’s husband Claude is a brutish man who terrorised his wife…and so we are left wondering whether perhaps she could indeed be guilty of trying to enact revenge. This unsolved mystery propels the story forward as it is a race to uncover the truth before it is too late.
The other aspect of this novel that I found surprising was the tender, joyful, supportive and endearing friendships between women, who may have been subjugated by the men around them, but who nevertheless forged strong bonds of companionship and intellectual rigour that sustained them from the powerlessness they often felt in other areas of their lives. This is very much a story about female friendship – loyalty, betrayal, forgiveness – and the lengths women will go to in order to protect each other.
The sumptuous setting of The Bee and the Orange Tree is rich in meticulously researched details of the time. The intricate fashions, wigs and powders; the minutiae of preparing for dressing and bathing and one’s toilette; the blood-letting and other common medical cures; the class levels of servants and attendants; the extraordinary furnishings – canopied beds and exquisite handmade armoires and curtained carriages. Reading from these pages feels like being on a film set; the smells, sounds and sights of a place 300 years ago and across the other side of the world brought to life.
Much is made of the writing muse and I particularly love this passage that depicts Marie Catherine’s anguish over her writing life: ‘All the advice and experience and practice in the world was not necessarily any help when one’s well had run dry of ideas … What had happened to those hours she used to spend, wresting an idea that would not leave her in peace … If it were her last act, she would again seduce the gods of story to toss their net of wonders at her feet, to strew their gifts before her, and out she would pluck one starfish, one mushroom, one invisible cloak, one prince dressed as a pauper, one naked king. Oh, she would take it all and rush, her apron lifted and bulging with treasure, back to her desk to make sense of the hoard.’ Which of the writers amongst us cannot recognise that feeling?
Or this exchange and piece of writing advice still relevant today:
“‘But I set my works in courts from a hundred years past, and in distant countries.’
‘But the books’ concerns are from the life you live.’ …
‘An author must be brave,’ said Marie Catherine. ‘You can say whatever you like in your writing. It’s your opportunity to re-imagine the world as you would have it turn.’”
The Bee and the Orange Tree is written in beautiful, literary language reminiscent of the time, imbued with French sensibilities and an ornately described setting. It is an intriguing mystery, the pages filled with uncertainty about the literal life or death fate of the characters. And it is a tender homage to female friendship and to the inimitable and innate power of women to bond together and to support each other in times of difficulty. Complete with a handful of reproductions of original black and white drawings, this book is an engrossing read and a lovely objet d’art.

[Coral Ward · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointing. 2 stars. Verbose amongst lots of other problems. It was a book club read for our group, otherwise I would have put it down.

[Dasha Zelinsky · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terribly Researched and Terrifyingly Dull

Because I was already familiar with Madame D'Alnoy and case Tiquet from the French 1983 TV series about them, I burrowed this book from a friend. This book was a double disappointment, both as a piece of entertainment and also as a piece of research.

To began with; as a piece of medium this book is bloated with overwhelming amount of unnecessary information and is overall very, very, tonally disjointed.

For example, Even though I have researched the same subject and also familiar with exactly all the sources the Author has read- I still found the book overburdened with unnecessary amount of street names, the names and titles of this lord and that lady etc. I am not joking, nearly 40% of what was written on the pages and between any random pages are huge blocks of texts describing Old Paris. You have no idea of which one is truly relevant and what you will need in the later part of the story. But here is the kicker, it is exposition without even being exposition, because ultimately it is not related to the story. None of them has any relation to the plot itself.

Worse yet, aside from these heavy pointless exposition details which has no bearing on the plot, an alarming amount of those historical research are egregiously wrong (I will elaborate later).

What killed both pacing and clarity is the tonally disjointed story. In a very short timeline~ a period of little more than 2 months, we are introduced to 3 main characters and 1 of them is a complete wide-eyed ingenue who is not familiar with Paris at all. All 3 women are on completely different wave lengths, 1 is suffering from Passion of the Christ level of torture, another is the life of the party in the Parisian elite, while 1 is a fish out of water story that feels like a Romcom from the WB that happened to have a sad interval. The mood was so disjointed that you are not attached to anyone in the story, not truly. you should care about Madame Tiquet but we don't know enough about her. We should care about Madame D'Alnoy but she is already at her prime and has no arc except feeling sorry for her friend. We should care about Angelina but she is both a pure invention from the author and also so generic that even if she did learn how poor women are treated she's excruciatingly annoying to read through because of her naiveity and weirdly timed rebellion when things much bigger than her are taking place. A beheading of a friend is taking place for goodness sakes. The sum of the 3 women;s story is not one of unified narrative but a Frankenstein's monster, cobbled and stitched together. We did not have time to know any of them, despite the excessive telling from the author, and what was shown was diluted between the 3 tones. Not to mention the God awful level of libfem pandering for the obvious book clubs who would be reading it.

But all of that, ALL OF THAT could be forgivable if the overabundant level of research is actually remotely accurate. Which, unfortunately is less than amateurish. The author might have padded the book with many places, the street names etc to seem authoritative with her research and those areas are the only accurate ones. Aside from that, its riddled with mistakes and anachronisms.

Her details about late 17th century is laced with mistakes. In fact, so many mistakes that I my temples were boiling as I read through them. I mean there are sections mentioning that guards are still wearing chainmails and still have tower shields blazoned with medieval heraldry, or that somehow the Inquisition or the equivalent of it that's killing women taking place in Paris at the time. I don't know where the author got the idea to frame the persecution of women as that of zealots. *Cough *cough, this is not France during the Wars of Religion, it's not France during the reign of Cardinal Mazarin during the Fronde, not even the Burning Court during the Affaire of the Poisons. This and the extremely anachronistic feminist insertions the author placed at every interval as if to wink and nod at the readers. For such laborious over commitment to world building- these sure kills the immersion every time they are mentioned.

And lastly, for Christ sakes, the names. All the wrong names. What did the author do with the actual name of those people??? Every name is as if its pronounced through an ear grating heavy Bristol accent. Every time a name I knew well was butchered this way when I read their names in this book my brain hated me for sounding it in my head in that accent.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had such high hopes for this book and finished it feeling rather dejected. There was a solid story to tell for each of the three main characters but none of them were done justice.

I was hoping that this story would remind me of the heartbreaking bitterness of Burial Rites by Hanna Kent instead I was completely unmoved by Nicola’s trial and resulting death.

Alphonse and Angelina’s friendship and resulting romance felt forced. Their relationship formed in written correspondence that the audience never sees. The interactions we do read left me feeling that any feelings were one sided on Angelina’s behalf. Then suddenly at the end of the book we’re to believe that they are madly in love and running away together.

I did appreciate Angelina’s falling out with faith and the Catholic Church as a result of her friends suicide. This gave the story life and context but could have been explored further. Angelina’s unrequited love for Henrietta and her journey to self acceptance would have made a more compelling character development then her relationship with Alphonse.

[Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m disappointed with this book unfortunately. The message was clear about the date and lives of women and it gave me something to read to pass the time. However, it didn’t pull me into the story, make me feel anything for the characters or make me really want to know how it ended.

[Rudy er ikke Død · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book had a very erotic beheading. But it is located at the very end. To get there, the reader had to wade through a very bland story.

The book is front loaded with often unnecessary historic details and backstories really slowed the pacing down. With so much of those details honestly it feels like many things could be setups but just ended up leading to no where. But even when divorced from those annoying details what WAS there was not any better. The pacing was further spoiled by Angelina and her new friend Alphonse. Reading them was excruciatingly boring, YIKES.

I am more than happy to provide a juicy excerpt which skips to the very end and at the only high point of the entire book, the incredibly erotic beheading scene.

*SPOILER WARNING* of course

"...(The executioner) Monsieur de Longval approached Madame Tiquet. She held her hand out for him to kiss, an act of exquisite civility, given the circumstances. She glanced at the crowds, whom she had entranced, their gazes fixed on her every movement. Her serenity was unearthly, such a contrast to the comportment of her servant. Perhaps she had been wrongly accused and condemned. She kissed the handle of the executioner’s axe, as was the custom. ‘Sir,’ she began, ‘would you be kind enough to show me the position I’m to take?" Then,

".....Mesmerised, she (her friend) watched the executioner wipe a cloth across the blade. ...The Archbishop crouched before the cushion on which Madame Tiquet had knelt, observing the executioner’s assistant pick up the severed head and walk to the edge of the scaffold, where he placed it, turning it out so that all of Paris could see her features. "

[Clare · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. (However, I did read the unedited reading copy. I can only hope that the published version was further smoothed out.)
TL;DR: the writing style did not at all work for me.
The story, setting and characters failed to gel together or interest me in any way. There were random leaps in the story and character developments which meant I could not get a sense for any of the characters or their motivations. This is a shame because the premise of the story has such potential.
The writing can be pretty but artificially so. It gave off the sense that the author cared rather more about displaying her technical skills as a writer than creating a cohesive and compelling narrative. In the end, this meant I felt frustrated for the lack of any meat for me to sink my teeth into. Just because one can, does not mean one should.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful Historical Fiction. Reclaims the lives of 18th century forgotten French women writers of novels and fairy tales. Told from three first person perspectives: The ageing fairy tale writer; The falsely accused wife awaiting the death sentence; The daughter discovering her identity after being released from a cloistered upbringing in a Nunnery.
Each part of the story-line held me equally captivated.
I had a slow start to reading this due to a stressful bushfire season. Current fire's edge is only a few kms away and has already burnt over 76,000 ha. Current conditions are mild, so felt able to devote my attention to reading this over the past few days. An excellent novel and highly recommended for readers who enjoy Historical Fiction in a French setting.

[Rosemary Atwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-paced and thoughtful novel that has many fine touches and wonderful subject matter. But reading it was akin to watching’My Fair Lady ‘ - fabulous costumes and visually appealing, but somewhat stodgy in the handling of dialogue and detail.

Sometimes historical novels are just too modern in their execution (excuse the pun) for realism - and authors like Antonia Byatt provide more deftness and depth in their individual interpretations of fairy tales than Ashley - but there’s a freshness in this novel that I really enjoyed, and the characterisation is sharp and wonderfully nuanced. A good discovery.

[han⚢ · Rating 2 out of 5]

don’t know how i feel about this. on one hand, i appreciate it for what it is, shining a light on forgotten women from history, but on the other hand, the author just seemed confused on what message she’s conveying to her readers

is this supposed to illustrate the suppressive patriarchal conditions in which parisian women lived under during 1699 ??? is it illustrating how tolerant the women who attended the literary salons were, yet how quickly they were to condemn one another based on sexist motives ??? or is it showing the reader, that the only way to be taken seriously during this period was to hide your sex, just like the characters in the protagonists penned fairy tales, so you could play the patriarchy, while ironically upholding said patriarchy at the same time (the only characters shown to have their stories taken seriously by other characters are men, or the one ftm, the women aren’t taken seriously by their publishers or each other.... even one of our mc basically rewrites the ftm characters story and then it’s presented as all the other characters work like what ???)
ALL of these messages are blatantly told by the author, and you’re left muddled by what point she’s trying to convey

i don’t know if this makes much sense, but i’m just annoyed that the author decided to focus on the themes and menial events that she did, instead of the plot we were promised in the blurb. this could have been so good


just to add, seeing someone else’s review call this book set in a “post french revolution france” made my day lmao

[Melissa]

I'm not gonna rate this one because I didn't read enough to form a judgement other than that this book is not for me, so this is more of a note to self than a review - just to remind myself I've already picked this one up.

I was sent an article about this one as something that might interest me because of my love of fairy tales (the protagonist's mother, Baroness D’Aulnoy, coined the term), but I really disliked the style and the characters too much to even read long enough to find out if the Baroness and her fairy tales have much to do with the story. I'm surprised because I like a lot of historical fiction and period dramas and whatnot, but this one just didn't do it for me.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this, but I found it a real let down. Over- written, in need of a bloody good edit, it feels like a passion project which needed to be finished. Wanted to give it 2.5 star for the research. Could feel for any of the character. The research is to be admired. Pity it didn’t relay well into the execution.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. Like others, I was drawn to this book on the promise of a story about an intriguing spinner of fairytales in Paris in the 1600s. What I got from the few chapters I managed was a writer not up to the task, and a story with only passing resemblance to that promised. Such a shame.

[A · Rating 2 out of 5]

started skimming at 50% because the main plot of the novel was boring me to tears. i don't know if i would call it actively bad but it was not engaging to me at all & lacking a certain authenticity? dead, dull prose

[Gwen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book because of its very intriguing premise: 17th century French baroness-turned-writer invents fairy tales but is still restricted by society because of the fact she’s born with female genitals rather than male ones. I have to admit that I was disappointed that I really couldn’t get into this book.

The story is seen from the perspective of Baroness D’Aulnoy, her daughter Angelina and her friend Nicola Tiquet in alternating chapters. Unfortunately, the story is written in the third person and the author doesn’t always seem to stick to the person whose chapter it is. I found it confusing and alienating. I think the author wanted to be very lyrical and poetic but - in my opinion - she missed the mark which often lead to a bewildering reading experience.

The story has much potential, but the writing let me down. I’m afraid I wouldn’t recommend this book.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written. Set in France in 1699. The story is in essence about women: what they could do/not do, achieve, say and so on. Mystery, family secrets, covent life, unjust legal system, all go to make up this novel.

[Marty · Rating 1 out of 5]

A giant mess. What's the story really about and who is this story about?
I can tell you its not about the titular Madame D'Alnoy, and her daughter is such a bland character. The whole story is just a bloated word diarrhea

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Forced, seemingly pseudo period tatt. Turns out is very loosely based on the assumed life of a French writer. Feels like it isn't really going anywhere, and doesn't!

[Tracey Allen at Carpe Librum · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love fairytales and historical fiction set in France, then The Bee and the Orange Tree by Melissa Ashley will interest you. Set in the salons of Paris and commencing in 1699 during the reign of the Sun King Louis XIV, this story is based on the life of Baroness Marie Catherine D’Aulnoy and her friend, socialite and heiress Madame Nicola Tiquet.

Marie Catherine was a storyteller and author known for coining the term 'fairytale' and The Bee and the Orange Tree focusses on her life, in addition to that of her daughter Angelina and friend Nicola Tiquet. Those familiar with the fate of Madame Angelique-Nicole Tiquet may be interested in this fictionalised account of her life, while simultaneously finding the conditions of her circumstances hard to process.

Imagining the literary salons of Paris in the seventeenth century was intoxicating and the list of family and character names at the beginning of the novel was extremely useful. In this novel about female agency and the power of story, our characters struggle with overbearing males in their lives:

"She'd lost count of the conversations they had shared about brutish husbands. She repeated the advice she always delivered at their end: you are more capable - of creating meaning, of finding pleasure - than you allow yourself to believe." Page 22

While seeming more appropriate for today's characters than 300 years ago, this advice is freely given, yet has surprising and unintended consequences for our characters.

The writing in The Bee and the Orange Tree by Melissa Ashley is luscious and evocative and reading it felt like an indulgence. We're also treated to some striking moments like this one:

"As the only tree standing in the field of her mother's fury, she was preparing to be lashed by strong winds, vulnerable to a fiery lightning strike." Page 291

Written by an Australian author and published in 2019, the title of this book comes from a fairytale of the same name written by Marie Catherine D’Aulnoy and published in 1697 and it really works. My reading experience would have been enhanced if I'd known the book was based on real figures from history; that understanding only arrived afterwards with the Author's Note at the end.

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to visit one of the literary salons of France in the 1600s or enjoy the work of Kate Forsyth with regard to fairytales, The Bee and the Orange Tree by Melissa Ashley is for you.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisite and beautiful! I received The Bee and The Orange Tree by Melissa Ashley as a gift by a friend.

It was truly beautiful to have and to hold with olde world illustrations and under The Bee and The Orange Tree paper cover is a gorgeous pale pink bound cover. I got the "special" hardcover edition making it the perfect gift.

I found it a pleasure to read and loved hearing about Paris and Versailles, The Sun King and many other places in and around Paris including Place des Vogues.

It's an intricate story about where the origins of fairy tales came from.

I love Melissa Ashley's writing. There's no-one else like her. This author is unique.

The Bee and The Orange Tree will sit proudly on my bookshelf right next to her previous novel, The Birdman's Wife which I also thoroughly enjoyed.

[Saturday's Child · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first encounter with author Melissa Ashley’s writing was when I thoroughly enjoyed her debut novel The Birdman’s Wife, so I had really been looking forward to reading this one. It bothered me when I read a list of characters in the beginning as I figured that I may lose track of them all and I did. I struggled with the plot for most of this novel as I just could not gain a feel for the characters or time period that it was set in. It felt like it would drift away from me for a while and then it would come back. I did however appreciate the themes within story. It was a 2.5 for me so I have rounded it up to a 3.

[Vanessa Hitchen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked that the story was based on a historical figure, and that it was set in Paris. But it was a bit too much of a slow read a bit too dull, I didn’t hugely enjoy the style of writing felt a bit disjointed.