The Bee Sting | Paul Murray

Set in post-financial-crash rural Ireland, Paul Murray's The Bee Sting is a tragicomic family saga that takes you on a heart-breaking rollercoaster, perfectly balancing sadness, grief and humour.

The Barnes family is crumbling under the weight of financial ruin and many, deep and dark personal secrets. Dickie, the man of the family, is struggling to hold his family and business together, while finding solace in the forest and preparing for doomsday. His wife, Imelda, is left alone to battle her own ghosts, while trying to desperately hang on to the glamour of her younger years. their teenage daughter, Cass, having recently moved to Dublin to start university, is trying to forge her own way in the world, while feeling lost and disappointed in herself and her friends. PJ, their youngest son, is also battling with the injustice of life and is also trying to make sense of the chaos. 

Masterfully woven by Murray, the rich, layered narrative blends dark humour with heart-breaking realism. The reader is hooked, wanting to know more and more about the secrets each character is hiding, while knowing that disaster awaits at every twist and turn. 

despite being quite a long novel, the story is so engrossing, it never drags. The characters are so real, deeply flawed and extremely human, with the novel exploring themes of love, death, sexuality, the environment and fate. It looks in detail at the small seemingly insignificant events that can completely change the course of a life. If you love literary fiction (like me), then this is a must-read!