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The Bee Sting

Comedy meets tragedy in this hilarious Booker Prize shortlisted novel

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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

©2023 Paul Murray (P)2023 Penguin Audio

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

Critic reviews

It can't be overstated how purely pleasurable The Bee Sting is to read. Murray's brilliant new novel, about a rural Irish clan, posits the author as Dublin's answer to Jonathan Franzen . . . A 650-page slab of compulsive high-grade entertainment, The Bee Sting oozes pathos while being very funny to boot . . . Murray's observational gifts and A-game phrase-making render almost every page - every line, it sometimes seems - abuzz with fresh and funny insights . . . At its core this is a novel concerned with the ties that bind, secrets and lies, love and loss. They're all here, brought to life with captivating vigour in a first-class performance to cherish
The Bee Sting is the finest novel that Murray has yet written and will surely be one of the books of 2023 . . . It bears comparison to the brilliant comic writer Jonathan Coe... But Murray is his own writer, capable of keeping a multi-faceted and compulsive plot moving along with alacrity and confidence, while seamlessly blending drama, comedy and heartbreak... For 13 years, Paul Murray has been best known as the author of Skippy Dies. That, I suspect, is about to change
Immersive, brilliantly structured, beautifully written, so dense yet so compelling, [and] as laugh-out-loud funny as it is deeply disturbing . . . The Bee Sting is as ambitious as anything that has gone before, but with a focus and shape that grants it great depth as well as breadth. Seriously, all you need is this, your suntan lotion and a few days off work and you're good to go . . . I didn't see the plot twists coming. And they keep on coming, And coming again . . . I began with an ovation. I'll end abruptly, and in awe... Paul Murray, the undisputed reigning champion of epic Irish tragicomedy, has done it again
The most enjoyable new novel I came across this year. A sprawling, Franzen-esque saga about the Barnes family in Ireland recovering from the 2008 financial crisis, it’s an amazing piece of realist fiction, full-bodied, multi-narrative; a huge swing by Murray (Bret Easton Ellis)
A triumph. The Bee Sting deserves all the praise I am heaping on it. It is generous, immersive, sharp-witted and devastating; the sort of novel that becomes a friend for life
All stars
Most relevant
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.

Frustrating

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This is a fantastic novel. Highly recommended. The ending is what it is: like life itself, tragic.

Utter Brilliance

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I rarely leave a review and rarely listen to long books but this one so deserved the booker prize! I enjoyed every single minute of it. It’s amazing how the style radically changes with each narrator. Emotional, intense, full of sadness and gentleness, beautifully written

Beautifully intense

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The gradual revelations and explanations that opened up the story kept me interested from the word go right up to the last second. Though lengthy,I was always waiting to hear what happened next. Some grim actions and descriptions made me wince but they added to the realism. Maintained the tension. Well worth the hours of listening.

So many unexpected twists and turns

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Great book !! Fabulous narration I highly recommend to anybody loves a great story
Thanks you

Loved it

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