The Bee Sting: Comedy meets tragedy in this hilarious Booker Prize shortlisted novel

Paul Murray

Jun 2023 · Penguin · Narrated by Heather O’Sullivan, Barry Fitzgerald, Beau Holland, Ciaran O'Brien, and Lisa Caruccio Came

8 reviews

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26 hr 10 min

Unabridged

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About this audiobook

THE MULTI AWARD-WINNING NOVEL FROM ONE OF OUR GREATEST LIVING COMEDIC WRITERS

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

©2023 Paul Murray (P)2023 Penguin Audio

THE MULTI AWARD-WINNING NOVEL FROM ONE OF OUR GREATEST LIVING COMEDIC WRITERS 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 h...

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Ratings and reviews

8 reviews

Caroline Keohane

November 21, 2023

brilliant book, superbly written.....disappointing ending. please let there be a sequel!!

George Maalouf

December 27, 2023

So good, I didn't want it to end.

Will Morris

April 9, 2024

bored

About the author

Paul Murray was born in Dublin in 1975 and is the author of An Evening of Long Goodbyes, Skippy Dies, The Mark and the Void and The Bee Sting. An Evening of Long Goodbyes was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and nominated for the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award. Skippy Dies was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and longlisted for the Booker Prize. The Mark and the Void won the Everyman Wodehouse Prize. The Bee Sting won the Nero Book of the Year Award and the An Post Irish Book of the Year, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the Writers’ Prize for Fiction and the Kirkus Prize for Fiction. Paul Murray lives in Dublin.

Paul Murray was born in Dublin in 1975 and is the author of An Evening of Long Goodbyes, Skippy Dies, The Mark and the Void and The Bee Sting. An Evening of Long Goodbyes was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and nominated for the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award. Skippy Dies was sho...

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