The Death of Bees (Commonwealth Book Prize Winner 2013)

Author(s): Lisa O'Donnell

General

Hazlehurst housing estate, Glasgow, Christmas Eve 2010. Fifteen-year-old Marnie and her little sister Nelly have just finished burying their parents in the back garden. Only Marnie and Nelly know how they got there. Lennie, the old guy next door, has taken a sudden interest in his two young neighbours and is keeping a close eye on them. He soon realises that the girls are all alone, and need his help -- or does he need theirs?
As the year ends and another begins, the sisters' friends, their neighbours, and the authorities -- not to mention the local drug dealer, who's been sniffing around for their father -- gradually start to ask questions. And as one lie leads to another, darker secrets about Marnie's family come to light, making things even more complicated.
Written with fierce sympathy and beautiful precision, "The Death of Bees" is an enchanting and grimly comic tale of three lost souls who, unable to answer for themselves, can answer only for each other.


Product Information

SHORTLISTED FOR THE COMMONWEALTH BOOK PRIZE 2013 An enchanting and grimly comic tale about love, loss, family and unlikely friendships

"The sisters and Lennie narrate alternating chapters, moving the story along at a fast clip....The difference between the sisters in terms of personality and maturity puts them at odds despite their shared fear of discovery. But their resilience suggests hope for their blighted lives."--"Publishers Weekly" (boxed review)

Lisa O'Donnell won the Orange Screenwriting Prize in 2000 for her screenplay The Wedding Gift. Recently she took a break from screenwriting when she moved to LA with her two children. The Death of Bees is her first novel.

General Fields

  • : 9780099558422
  • : Cornerstone
  • : Windmill Books
  • : 0.646
  • : October 2012
  • : 198x129mm
  • : United States
  • : March 2013
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Lisa O'Donnell
  • : Paperback
  • : 313
  • : English
  • : 304