The Bee Sting

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

WINNER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION 2023
WINNER OF AN POST IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WRITERS’ PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024

The Barnes family are in trouble. Until recently they ran the biggest business in town, now they’re teetering on the brink of bankruptcy – and that’s just the start of their problems. Dickie and Imelda’s marriage is hanging by a thread; straight-A student Cass is careening off the rails; PJ is hopelessly in debt to the school bully. Meanwhile the ghosts of old mistakes are rising out of the past to meet them, but everyone’s too wrapped up in the present to see the danger looming . . .

'A tragicomic triumph. You won't read a sadder, truer, funnier novel this year' Guardian

'Generous, immersive, sharp-witted and devastating; the sort of novel that becomes a friend for life' Financial Times

‘Paul Murray [is] the undisputed reigning champion of epic Irish tragicomedy’ Spectator

‘An instant classic’ Washington Post

‘[An] astute, remorselessly funny novel’ Daily Mirror

‘A wagyu steak of a novel . . . A classic in the mode of The Corrections’ The Times

Paul MurrayHeather O’SullivanBarry FitzgeraldBeau HollandCiaran O'BrienLisa Caruccio CamePenguin Audio

Coming of Age

Family Life

Fiction

Genre Fiction

Literary Fiction

Literature & Fiction

Funny

Comedy

Coming of Age Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Funny Comedy

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Beautifully written, beautifully observed, with vivid characterisation, some important themes and great dialogue. Each character has a distinct voice, and the author clearly has an amazing imagination. The narrators all gave very, very good performances.

But goodness me, this should have been edited down a lot. Many chapters are frustratingly and unnecessarily long, over-egging rather than adding nuance, and at the expense of momentum.

More than this, after more than twenty six hours of listening, there is no ending! Perhaps leaving us with a few different possibilities of what MIGHT have happened next was meant as a clever stylistic trick, but I was so angered that I nearly threw my speaker out of the window.