Miriam Naumann from Bee Season: A Novel is Eliza's mother. To say that she is eccentric is an understatement. Stemming from the loss of her parents at an early age, Miriam is a high powered successful laywer on the outside, and a kleptomaniac craving order and sense on the inside. She keeps all of her stolen treasures in a storage closet she calls her kaleidescope. She is distant and emotionally unable to reach out to any of her family members.