The Bee Sting – Paul Murray

READ FOR BOOKERTHON

An Irish family saga based around Dickie Barnes, his failing auto dealership and his wife and children who are each dealing with huge issues of their own. A 600+ page drama that investigates each character’s plight indepthly.

● I didn’t connect with The Bee Sting in the first few pages, well the first 100 pages. The story felt menial and I just didn’t care about a teenager, her privileged life and her beautiful friends. If it wasn’t a Booker book I would probably have DNF’d it.

However, persevering proved how important and relevant every part of the novel is to the whole story; to the final package. It’s interesting how each character is built to be a part of the family drama but also their own person struggling with their own issues. Their voices are distinct. The story builds and builds and has one of the best endings. Reading through the wordy lives of the individual characters, and accepting some chapters don’t have punctuation (???) is worth it for the ending.

The book covered off a lot of current issues and it feels like a work of this time and place. I think it will have longevity. Though I don’t consider it perfect by any means, I think it could be a contender for the Booker Prize win. – Rachel

Maybe every era has an atrocity woven into its fabric. Maybe every society is complicit in terrible things and only afterwards gets around to pretending they didn’t know.

● This novel began innocuously enough with a bit of light teenage drama and angst. Yes, I thought to myself, I can handle this. However, The Bee Sting gradually builds the tension, and as secrets were revealed I felt increasingly stressed about how each character was going to find a sense of peace and resolution amidst the increasingly complex layers of their existence. The tension of the final pages was nearly unbearable. 

I thoroughly enjoyed The Bee Sting. More than anything it was a ripping yarn and you don’t always get those on a Booker shortlist! – Suzy

Published 2023
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
656 pages