The Death of Bees
Published on 7. March 2013
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-0-09-955842-2 (ISBN)
Description
WINNER OF THE COMMONWEALTH BOOK PRIZE 2013
Today is Christmas Eve. Today is my birthday. Today I am fifteen. Today I buried my parents in the backyard. Neither of them were beloved.
Marnie and her little sister Nelly have always been different. Marnie leads a life of smoking, drinking and drugs; Nelly enjoys playing the violin, eating cornflakes with Coke and reading Harry Potter. But on Christmas Eve, the sisters have to join forces and put their differences aside. And when Lennie, the old guy next door, starts to get suspicious, it's only a matter of time before their terrible secret is discovered.
Today is Christmas Eve. Today is my birthday. Today I am fifteen. Today I buried my parents in the backyard. Neither of them were beloved.
Marnie and her little sister Nelly have always been different. Marnie leads a life of smoking, drinking and drugs; Nelly enjoys playing the violin, eating cornflakes with Coke and reading Harry Potter. But on Christmas Eve, the sisters have to join forces and put their differences aside. And when Lennie, the old guy next door, starts to get suspicious, it's only a matter of time before their terrible secret is discovered.
Reviews / Votes
This vibrantly imagined novel, by turns hilarious and appalling, is hard to resist. * Daily Mail * A black comedy, mixing The Ladykillers with Irvine Welsh's The Acid House...O'Donnell adeptly balances caustic humour and compassion. * Guardian * Compelling piece of work... O'Donnell brings a freshness to her narrative, thanks to the brilliantly evoked voices of her two young female protagonists.... Warm without being cosy, explicit without being shocking, and emotive without being schmaltzy, this is a powerful coming-of-age tale with a clear eye for the travails of 21st-century deprived living. * The Scotsman * The Death Of Bees is compelling stuff, engaging the emotions from the first page and quickly becoming almost impossible to put down. * Herald * A dark, fierce first novel that is a page-turner and a fairy tale turned inside out. I can't wait to read what she writes next. -- Alice Hoffman * New York Times * Channelling the spirit of Joe Orton...O'Donnell cuts black comedy with a big dollop of sentiment...The Death of Bees steadily draws you into its characters' lives. -- Adrian Turpin * Financial Times * A wonderful dark comic first novel -- Alice HoffmanMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Cornerstone
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
367 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-09-955842-2 (9780099558422)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Lisa O'Donnell
The Death of Bees
E-Book
03/2012
1st Edition
Cornerstone Digital
€8.99
Available for download
Person
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.