The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
Paul Murray’s novel, The Bee Sting, which won the inaugural Nero Gold Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker prize, is a critically acclaimed tragicomic saga about an Irish family. It is also a book that, according to its author, cannot and should not ignore the climate crisis.
Murray states that while climate worry wasn't the sole motivation for the book, he sees it as the "unavoidable background for being alive in the 21st century". He feels strongly that authors today have a responsibility to address this subject, expressing concern about new books that bypass it entirely. In fact, Murray finds the guilt associated with climate impact, such as simply turning on a light, to be immense, perhaps even more potent than that inspired by religion1.
In The Bee Sting, concern about climate change is woven through the narrative. While the book follows the struggles of an Irish family keeping dangerous secrets, the environmental theme is present. One notable element is the character of Willie, who, although a minor character, delivers a stirring political speech about climate change. As an avid consumer of news articles, books and reviews on climate change, this section struck me as perhaps the best explanation of the climate crisis that I have ever read. I have a bookmarked it in the book and revisit it often for inspiration.
For readers, The Bee Sting offers a compelling example of how the pressing realities of our time can be integrated into popular and literary fiction. It’s a meaty book with a wide array of fascinating characters and a grippingly tense ending. For lovers of fiction, it is one of a number of recent novels that portrays climate worry is an inescapable part of modern life. Excitingly, talks are taking place to make it into a TV series.