Set in a suburban hive (yes, a beehive) this is a simple yet captivating story, in the tradition of Duncton Wood and Watership Down. This Shelf Indulgence choice was recommended to me by a biology undergraduate who was so enthralled by the novel that he based his entire final year project on hive behaviour. The Bees follows Flora 717, a humble sanitation worker bee, as she rises through the ranks.

Flora survives human threats and religious purges, evading the machinati...