The Bee Sting

'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

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 . . .

'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