The Hive

Young’s entertaining if undercooked latest (after Flood) follows four sisters and the mother of the Fehler family of Cape Girardeau, Mo. When patriarch Robbie dies of a heart attack, the Fehler women are left with a mountain of debt, uncertainty, and heartbreak. Grace, Robbie’s widow, is wracked with guilt over an affair with Robbie’s coworker and throws herself into doomsday prepping. Twenty-year-old Maggie fights to save the family exterminating business despite discovering Robbie has left shares to a distant male relative to safeguard against the company becoming one led by women. Jules, a freshman at the University of Missouri, has a Black boyfriend and plans to vote for Obama in the 2008 election—things that would’ve driven Robbie crazy. Not to be outdone, 16-year-old Tammy is secretly pregnant, and 12-year-old Kate harbors a clandestine crush on her classmate Lila. As the Fehlers deal with their respective personal crises, they confront the staggering medical costs of Robbie’s death and the bleakness of a future without him. While the family dynamics are engaging, the drama can get overheated, and Young’s exploration of racism and sexism feels simplistic. It’s a decent enough family drama, but it’s not going to set the world on fire. (June)