The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
A brilliant, compelling family saga that will make you laugh and cry
The character I love most in this epic Irish drama is Imelda – the beautiful, frazzled mother of the falling-apart Barnes family is the most authentic, engaging and believable. And she’s so funny. Coming from the wrong side of the tracks in this small town, from a rough home ruled by an ex-fighter where in her childhood there was nothing to eat for days, she has “an accent that can strip paint” and a great line in sardonic put-downs.
Her daughter Cass is packing for her first term at college in Dublin, and has assembled a huge pile of stuff to take. “But these are ski boots Imelda says You’re hardly going to be skiing in Trinity College It’s not built on a slope as far as I recall”. With her gang of nearing-40-year-old girlfriends, and with herself, in her inner thoughts, she wields a tangy self-deprecation that belies her tragic story.
It's Imelda’s story that is central to the novel: it links every character in this tight-knit community – the setting for some incredible events, plot twists, personal revelations and sheer, gripping drama. Sulky teenage daughter Cass, confused son PJ and hopeless father Dickie are the main protagonists but Murray so skilfully weaves in everybody else, like the shoots and branches of a tree, to form a wonderful, rich world of people and stories.
Rose, the single aunt who reads tea-leaves; Mike, the rival businessman on the make; boyfriend Frank, the embodiment of charm; Ryszard, the handsome, troubling mechanic, Maurice, the suave father-in-law: these are just a few who take part in the epic saga. They take the reader hurling forward and backward in their personal lives and loves to a place where, gradually, the separate plot lines start to knit together. Only one character, Victor, is initially difficult to get a handle on but once the story gains its almost absurd momentum in the final section, he comes into his own – like Rooster’s sidekick Ginger in the play Jerusalem, riddled with conspiracy theories and a pathological fear of the future.
Talk of the punctuation, or lack of it (no speech marks; often no capital letters; think Ulysses chain of thought) has provoked much commentary but personally I didn’t notice it and there was nothing to distract from the story-telling. You just get into it; it’s no problem. Saves a lot of paper, I suppose.
There’s so much to enjoy, savour and wonder at in this book. It blends anxiety, comedy, tragedy and destiny in a completely contemporary way and is just a fantastic read. Despite its 642 pages I couldn’t put it down, and I’ve already re-read sections because Murray’s writing is just so compelling. Highly recommended.