The Bee Sting
Complex
Layered
Intense

The Bee Sting A Novel

Paul Murray2023
From the author of Skippy Dies, an irresistibly funny, wise , and thought-provoking tour de force about family, fortune, and the struggle to be a good person when the world is falling apart The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie’s once-lucrative car business is going under—but rather than face the music, he’s spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife Imelda is selling off her jewelry on eBay, while their teenage daughter Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge-drink her way through her final exams. And twelve-year-old PJ is putting the final touches to his grand plan to run away from home. Where did it all go wrong? A patch of ice on the tarmac, a casual favor to a charming stranger, a bee caught beneath a bridal veil—can a single moment of bad luck change the direction of a life? And if the story has already been written—is there still time to find a happy ending?
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Reviews

Photo of lucy rosenthal
lucy rosenthal@lucy_ffrr

i…..

Photo of alyssa natoci
alyssa natoci@lysssssie
5 stars
Oct 25, 2024

Will forever be haunted by this book <3

Photo of Laura Gill
Laura Gill@gillybookworm
4.5 stars
Oct 22, 2024

I loved this book so much, each chapter and story unique and intertwined. I felt I was there with all of them. I will read again in the future.

Photo of Lorelei Petcu
Lorelei Petcu@loreleei
4.5 stars
Oct 7, 2024

the best audiobook i’ve ever listened to

Photo of Regan Martin
Regan Martin@regsmartin
4.5 stars
Aug 30, 2024

Aunt Rose must be based on Paul Murray because the only way you could write this is if you're a clairvoyant witch

Photo of Apiecalypse Jen
Apiecalypse Jen@chippedfang
5 stars
Aug 29, 2024

I read this so long ago and I don’t think I have stopped thinking about it yet. The whole story, the construction of the plot, the depth oft he characters, the relationships between the girls, the layers. I honestly feel like I need to read it again all the time now that I know the end to try and work it out more. It’s going to challenge you, it is ambitious, it’s a web and a half, and it’s worth it in my opinion.

Cw: domestic violence, poverty, sexual assault, extortion, conspiracy, death, homophobia, grief, cheating, loss, abuse.

+5
Photo of Margo Koss
Margo Koss@margwrit

There is no book like this book

And if there is

Can someone please tell me about it

So I can read it

Photo of Sarah Erle
Sarah Erle@serle
5 stars
Jan 14, 2024

Beautiful and devastating. I flew through this (despite the page count).

Photo of Anne Keaky
Anne Keaky@annek
4 stars
Jan 31, 2025
+1
Photo of Gemma Copeland
Gemma Copeland@gemcopeland
5 stars
Jan 9, 2025
Photo of Suhaib Habibullah
Suhaib Habibullah@suhaib
4 stars
Dec 21, 2024
Photo of Emma Hak-Kovacs
Emma Hak-Kovacs@18emkova05
4 stars
May 17, 2024
Photo of Andréa Mellalieu
Andréa Mellalieu@dremellalieu
3 stars
Apr 21, 2024
+1
Photo of M M
M M@expandingbookshelves
4.5 stars
Feb 21, 2024
Photo of Yasemin
Yasemin@yerdem
5 stars
Feb 10, 2024
Photo of Tom Koss
Tom Koss@tkoss
5 stars
Feb 4, 2024
Photo of Jorrit Beukers
Jorrit Beukers@jorrit
5 stars
Dec 30, 2023
Photo of Alawander Bouston
Alawander Bouston @vonnebeergut
4.5 stars
Dec 11, 2023
Photo of Diane Calello
Diane Calello@drdianec
2.5 stars
Nov 19, 2023
Photo of Wonko the Sane
Wonko the Sane@wonko
4 stars
Sep 25, 2023
Photo of Liz Prinz
Liz Prinz@prinzy
5 stars
Aug 30, 2023

Highlights

Photo of Alawander Bouston
Alawander Bouston @vonnebeergut

History, the boy scoffed. He waved a hand at the Elizabethan grandeur surrounding them. History's just a pair of knickers. Pull ‘em off and what do you find?

Dickie had no response to this. The boy's eyes, bloated through the thick lenses, gleamed at him gleefully. Nature, he said, answering his own question. Nothing but nature. The repulsively perfect lips smirked with satisfaction, and he added in conclusion, And it's absolutely filthy.

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