The Bees by Laline Paull

A thriller which is literally set in a beehive.

Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction + longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize for New Fiction - it's gotta BEE good.

'Flora 717 is a worker bee born into the lowest caste of her totalitarian hive society. Though prepared to sacrifice everything for the Queen and work herself to death, she is a survivor who escapes internal massacres, religious purges, and can even successfully confront a huge marauding wasp. With each act of bravery her status grows, revealing both the enemies within, and the sinister secrets that rule the hive. But when Flora’s devotion to a life of service is overwhelmed by fierce and forbidden maternal love, she must break the most sacred law of all, and embark on a collision course with everything she holds most dear.'