The Bee Sting is about the Barnes family, living in a small Irish town. This family’s present is in meltdown, but the causes lie deep in the past.
Dad Dickie, Mum Imelda and the kids, Cass and PJ, take turns being the narrators of each chapter. And because of this, you really get to know each character intimately.
Sometimes I give up on a book if I’m not hooked a few chapters in. This was one of those books! And then a friend asked me if I’d read The Bee Sting and I said I’d started it but then stopped. She said, “But what about PJ?!!” I was intrigued because I hadn’t got up to PJ’s part!
I decided to give this book another go and I’m so glad I did. The more I read, the more I realised how complex and interesting the story becomes – to the point where there is no way I was not finishing this book! Nothing is as it seems. Sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes thrilling. You will remember the characters long after finishing and you will have light bulb moments of how events in the story connect together. 5 stars for me.
-Dominique, Holbrook Library
