The Bee Sting

“You feel like you’re caught in a bloody net,” says one of the characters about the fictional Irish Midlands town where they all live. This certainly rings true for the once well-off Barnes family, with everyone gossiping about Dickie, whose car dealership is going down the drain. Dickie himself is hiding out in the woods, where he is building a future-proof bunker. But when confronted with his past he resorts to drastic measures. At the same time, his wife Imelda, a famous beauty from a very different background, tries to save the business and her marriage, but has ghosts of her own to face up to. Meanwhile their daughter Cass (17) is desperately trying to hang on to her superficial and fickle best friend Elaine, but has to make some tough decisions when the two girls move to Dublin for university. Twelve-year-old PJ is afraid he will be sent to boarding school and that his parents are going to get divorced. Although he does his utmost to stay out of his parents’ way, he could do with a little help when he finds himself in a real pickle. All the characters hide their true feelings, both from others and from themselves. But won’t the truth eventually catch up? Using various different voices, Murray has created a hugely gripping family drama which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2023. The reader is drawn into the story and stays captivated right until the final page.