The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
From the author of Skippy Dies comes a dazzlingly intricate and poignant tragicomedy about family, fortune, and the struggle to be a good man at the end of the world
The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie's car business is going under, but instead of doing anything about it, he's out in the woods preparing for the actual end of the world. Meanwhile his wife Imelda is selling off her jewellery on eBay and half-heartedly dodging the attentions of fast-talking local wrongun Big Mike. Their teenage daughter Cass, usually top of her class, seems determined to drink her way through the whole thing. And twelve year old PJ is spending more and more time on video game forums, where he's met a friendly boy named Ethan who never turns his camera on and wants PJ to run away from home.
Digging down through layers of family history, the roots of this crisis stretch deep into the past. Meanwhile in the present, the fault lines keep spreading, ghosts slipping in through the cracks, and every step brings the Barneses closer to a fatal precipice. When the moment of reckoning finally arrives, all four of them must decide how far they're willing to go to save the family, and whether - if the story's already been written - there's still time to give it a happy ending...
About the Author
Paul Murray was born in Dublin in 1975 and is the author of An Evening of Long Goodbyes, Skippy Dies, The Mark and the Void and The Bee Sting. An Evening of Long Goodbyes was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and nominated for the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award. Skippy Dies was shortlisted for the Costa Novel award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and longlisted for the Booker Prize. The Mark and the Void won the Everyman Wodehouse Prize 2016. Paul Murray lives in Dublin.
Format: Paperback | 656 pages
Dimensions (cm): 23.4 x 15.3 x 3.9 | 668g
Publication Date: 08 Aug 2023
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Imprint: Hamish Hamilton
Publication City/Country: London, United Kingdom
Language: English
ISBN10: 0241353963
ISBN13: 9780241353967
Condition: Good
A book that has been read but is in good condition. Some damage to the cover including scuff marks and creasing, but no holes or tears. The majority of pages are undamaged with minimal creasing, and tiny tearing off the top-corners of page 109-113. No pencil underlining of text, no highlighting of text and no writing in margins. No missing pages.