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Laline Paull Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Laline Paull
Photo: Adrian Peacock/Ecco

Laline Paull

Laline Paull Biography

Laline Paull studied English at Oxford, screenwriting in Los Angeles, and theater in London. She lives in England with her husband, photographer Adrian Peacock, and their three children.

Laline Paull's website

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Interview

Laline Paull talks about her first novel, The Bees, set inside the dystopian world of a bee hive!

How did you become inspired to write about bees?

My beekeeper friend Angie Biltcliffe opened the magic door to the hive for me. She was dying of cancer, and she said she hoped there would be a flowering of creativity when she had gone. I took that very much to heart. Immediately after her funeral I started reading about the honeybees she loved so much and called "her girls." That was it for me; intrigue became fascination became obsession with the incredible ancient social order that is the hive, and the extraordinary process of making the unique substance that is honey. Bees are quite miraculous creatures.


One of the most remarkable aspects of The Bees is the complex gender politics. How close is this to the reality of the hive?

I'm neither beekeeper nor biologist, but I have tried to do my research as well as I can and I believe that I've got it more or less accurate: the Queen is the only fertile female in her society, the huge majority of the workforce are sterile females, and the small minority of drones exist solely to fly out to inseminate a queen or princess (unmated queen) from another hive. And, yes, when their summer of love has passed, the remaining drones are driven out of their home hive, to ...

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Books by this Author

Books by Laline Paull at BookBrowse
The Bees jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Laline Paull but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • A.S. Byatt

    A.S. Byatt

    Dame Antonia Susan Byatt (b. 1936) was born and grew up in Yorkshire, England. She attended Newnham College, Cambridge; Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania; and Somerville College, Oxford, where she studied as a postgraduate.... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Bees

    Try:
    Ragnarok
    by A.S. Byatt

  • Michel Faber

    Michel Faber

    Michel Faber is considered Dutch in the Netherlands, which is where he was born; Australian in Australia, because he lived there for so long; and Scottish in Scotland, where he emigrated with his wife and family in 2003... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Bees

    Try:
    The Book of Strange New Things
    by Michel Faber

We recommend 7 similar authors

View all 7 Read-Alikes

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In Our Midst
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In Our Midst follows a German immigrant family’s fight for freedom after their internment post–Pearl Harbor.
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