Review: The Beekeeper's Daughter by Santa Montefiore

England, 1932: Grace Hamblin is growing up in a rural idyll. The beekeeper's daughter, she knows her place and her future - that is until her father dies and leaves her alone. Alone, that is, except for one man who she just can't shake from her thoughts…
Massachusetts, 1973: Grace's daughter Trixie Valentine is in love with an unsuitable boy. He's wild and romantic, and in a band that might be going somewhere. But when tragedy strikes and he has to go home to England, he promises to come back to Trixie one day, if only she will wait for him.
Both mother and daughter are searching for love and happiness, unaware of the secrets that bind them. To find what they are longing for they must confront the secrets of the past, and unravel the lies told long ago…

Review: This is the second book by this author that I'd read and I have to admit that i definitely preferred secrets of the lighthouse to this title. The structure of the story is quite interesting, dropping you straight in the middle of everything and leaving you to read your way out. There is mother Grace and her daughter and each of them has their own story to tell and their own secret and it all ties up mysteriously together. Unfortunately I guessed pretty early on how the whole thing tied together and so i was kind of just waiting for it to happen. I definitely preferred the part of the story that was talking about Grace's past to the present day and then even more present day stuff where she is a mother and her daughter is discovering things for herself.

There are a lot of characters to take in over the course of the novel, none of them particularly stood out for me. Some of them were pretty weak and made bad choices and others made choices that I didn't think fitted with their character traits. I really liked Grace and Freddy as characters though, they stuck together through thick and thin and wanted what was best for their daughter which, considering what they went through, is truly admirable! The other characters in the novel did add stuff to the story, i just didn't particularly warm to any of them and none of them really stuck with me. I loved the setting of this story, which is split between England and Massachusetts and i really felt like i was there with the characters because of Santa's beautiful writing! 

I actually learnt quite a lot from this book.. There are things i learnt about bees and about society in 1930 Britain and so i will definitely take that away from this reading experience. The story as whole was a little lacking for me and nothing really stands out as a memorable moment. It was a pleasant read and i made it through to the end but if you're looking for a little more action, this isn't the book for you!