“So many of the bad things that happen in the world come from people pretending to be something they’re not.”
One of the most acclaimed literary fiction books from 2023, The Bee Sting is a candid, witty and thought-provoking book about family, fortune and the struggles of being a good person, even in hard circumstances. The story follows the Barnes family, who are in trouble. Dickie’s car business is on the verge of going under. But, rather than face the consequences, he is spending his days building a bunker in the woods. His wife, Imelda, is selling her jewellery, his daughter, Cass, is set on boozing her way through her exams, whilst his son, PJ, is constructing his plan to run away from home. A dose of bad luck can change everything. And, if the story has already been written – is there still time to find a happy ending? If you loved Paul Murray’s novel, join us at What We Reading for the best books like The Bee Sting!
Skippy Dies – Paul Murray
If you loved The Bee Sting, where better to kick off a list of the best books similar to it than with another of Paul Murray’s most acclaimed works, Skippy Dies? Skippy is a fourteen-year-old boy at Dublin’s venerable Seabrook College who is found dead on the floor at a local doughnut shop. In the wake of his death, a number of suspects emerge. Carl is a drug dealer and borderline psychopath, Ruprecht Van Doren is Skippy’s best friend and determined to open a portal to a parallel universe, and ‘the Automator’ is a ruthless headmaster intent on modernising his school, by any means necessary.
Like The Bee Sting, Skippy Dies is a heartfelt and hilarious demonstration of the pain, joy and occasional beauty that comes with growing up, and of the tragedies that come with a society happy to dispose of its weakest members.
Greenwood – Michael Christie
It’s 1934 and Everett Greenwood is alone in his maple syrup camp when he hears the cries of a small child. He soon finds himself entangled in a deep web of crime that will cling to his family for generations. It’s 1974 and Willow Greenwood is fresh out of prison after her last environmental protest. In 2008, Liam Greenwood has just fallen from a ladder in an empty mansion. 2034, and Jake Greenwood is an over-qualified tour guide in one of the world’s last remaining forests.
Like The Bee Sting, Michael Christie’s Greenwood is a multi-generational tale about the bonds and breaking points of money and love, wood and blood and the hopeful, impossible task of growing toward the light.
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The Spinning Heart – Donal Ryan
In the aftermath of Ireland’s financial collapse, dangerous tensions boil to the surface in an Irish town. As violence flares up, the characters face an intense battle between their public projections and their inner desires. Another one of the best books for fans of The Bee Sting, Donal Ryan’s The Spinning Heart is told through a cast of unique characters, each of whom are struggling to tell their own tale.
Similarly to Murray’s work, The Spinning Heart captures the essence of contemporary Ireland and the wider world. Mixing humour with tragedy, Ryan captures a vulnerability to rural Ireland that is fresh and spirited.
The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen
After almost five decades as a wife and mother, Enid Lambert is ready to have some fun. Unfortunately, her husband, Alfred, is gradually losing his sanity to Parkinson’s disease. Their children have also all left home, embarking on their own series of catastrophes. Gary, their eldest, is trying and failing to convince his wife and himself that he isn’t clinically depressed. The middle child, Chip, has recently lost his secure job and is failing at his new line of work. Denise, the youngest, has escaped a toxic marriage but is now wasting her youth in an affair with a married man.
Nevertheless, Enid has her heart set on an elusive goal: bringing her family together for one final Christmas at home. Another multi-generational book like The Bee Sting, The Corrections is a novel that explores familial discord, personal failures and the pressures of modern life through a mix of dark humour and profound emotional depth.
White Teeth – Zadie Smith
At the centre of Zadie Smith’s acclaimed bestseller White Teeth are two unlikely friends: Samad Iqbal and Archie Jones. Both hapless veterans of World War II, they and their families find themselves in the centre of Britain’s incredible transformation across the second half of the twentieth century.
Set against London’s immense racial and cultural tapestry, taking readers on a tour across the former empire and into the past and it hurtles toward the future, White Teeth offers one of the most vivid portrayals of the complexities of modern life, defying expectations and embracing the absurdity of living every day.
The Family Fang – Kevin Wilson
Performance artists Caleb and Camille Fang dedicated themselves to making unforgettable art. But, when an artist’s work lies in defying normality, it can be difficult to raise well-adjusted children. Buster and Annie Fang are proof of that. For as long as they can remember, they begrudgingly starred in their parents’ pieces. But, now that they have grown up, the chaos of their childhood has made it hard for them to acclimatise to the world outside their parents’ bubble.
When the lives they constructed for themselves come crashing down, the brother and sister have nowhere else to turn other than back to their parents. That’s when they learn that Caleb and Camille are planning one final performance, whether the kids agree to take part or not. Another darkly funny book like The Bee Sting, Kevin Wilson’s The Family Fang is a moving exploration of family, art and identity.
A Fraction Of The Whole – Steve Toltz
For the majority of his life, Jasper Dean couldn’t decide whether to pity, hate, love or murder his paranoid father, Martin. His father was a man who overanalysed anything and everything, imparting all of his self-obtained wisdom to his only son. But, now that Martin is dead, Jasper is able to fully reflect on the crackpot who raised him in intellectual captivity. Nevertheless, he’s surprised to realise that, for all its eccentricities, it was a grand adventure for the pair of them.
As he recounts the events that led up to his father’s demise, Jasper reminisces about his childhood filled with outlandish schemes and shocking discoveries. In a tale that takes the pair and readers from the Australian bush to the cafes of Paris, from the Thai jungle to strip clubs, asylums and criminal lairs, Steve Toltz’s A Fraction of the Whole is a wild rollercoaster ride and a poignant story of the relationship between a father and son.
The Green Road – Anne Enright
Spanning thirty years, Anne Enright’s The Green Road tells the story of Rosaleen, the matriarch of the Madigans, a family teetering on the edge of either coming together or falling apart for good. As they grow up, Rosaleen’s four children leave their nest in the west of Ireland, setting off on lives they could have never envisioned in Dublin, New York and Mali.
In her early old age, the children’s difficult, wonderful mother announces that she is selling the house and dividing the proceeds out. Her children amass for one final Christmas. They arrive with the feeling that their childhoods are being erased and their personal histories bartered and sold. Brimming with spirit, The Green Road is a story about a family’s desperate attempt to recover the relationships they’ve lost and create the ones they’ve never had, making it undoubtedly one of the best reads for anyone who loved The Bee Sting.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
