The Bee Sting
2023
Ratings5
Average rating4.3
15
Ratings5
Average rating4.3
'A tragicomic triumph. You won't read a sadder, truer, funnier novel this year' Guardian 'It's a thing of beauty, a novel that will fill your heart' Observer Irresistibly funny, wise and thought-provoking, The Bee Sting is a tour de force about family, fortune, and the struggle to be a good person when the world is falling apart . . . The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie's once-lucrative car business is going under - but rather than face the music, he's spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife Imelda is selling off her jewellery on eBay while their teenage daughter Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge-drink her way to her final exams. And twelve-year-old PJ is putting the final touches to his grand plan to run away from home. Where did it all go wrong? A patch of ice on the tarmac, a casual favour to a charming stranger, a bee caught beneath a bridal veil - can a single moment of bad luck change the direction of a life? And if the story has already been written - is there still time to find a happy ending?
Reviews with the most likes.
Wow! What a book. I absolutely loved it even as the last 30 pages had me stressfully reading passages and then looking at the next page then jumping back because I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen. And the ending just leaves you with your heart in your throat. The structure mimics pulling a bow taut and then letting the arrow fly.
If you're not a fan of unique syntax and punctuation (e.g. no quotation marks, no full stops in certain sections), this book will probably not land for you. Unsure of how the audio will be.
This was my first book by Paul Murray and it won't be the last. Glad I sprung for the UK edition!
