First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

The Barnes family is in trouble

Dickie’s once-lucrative car business is going under – but rather than face the music, he’s spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife, Imelda, is selling off her jewellery on eBay and half-heartedly dodging the attentions of fast-talking cattle farmer Big Mike, while their teenage daughter Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge-drink her way to her final exams. And twelve-year-old PJ, in debt to local sociopath ‘Ears’ Moran, is putting the final touches to his grand plan to run away from home.

The present is in meltdown, but the causes lie deep in the past. If you wanted to change this story, how far back would you have to go? To the car crash twelve months before Cass was born? To the infamous bee sting which ruined Imelda’s wedding day? All the way back to Dickie at ten years old, trembling before his father in the garden, learning how to be a real man?

Is it possible that a single moment of bad luck set in motion everything that came after? And does that mean the fate of the Barnes family is already sealed? They are facing a reckoning. If they can’t change the past, or rewrite the story they have already lived, is it too late for a happy ending?

Happy Friday everyone! Woah! Today is the last Friday of the year. Within three days, we will be welcoming 2024. Who is excited about what the new year holds? I know I am because a new year means new opportunities. I hope that the coming year will be brimming with good news and blessings. But before we could turn on a fresh set of 366 – 2024 is a leap year – blank pages, I hope that 2023 has been kind to everyone. I hope that 2023 has been amazing for everyone. I hope everything you worked hard for during the year has been repaid. I also hope you have achieved everything you wanted to achieve at the start of the year. More importantly, I hope everyone will be healthy, in body, mind, and spirit, during the rest of the year and in the coming year.

I have been saying this in the past few weeks. Reading-wise, 2023 has been a very prolific year. For the second year in a row, I read over 100 books. When I achieved this feat for the first time last year, I thought that I would never be able to replicate it. But lo and behold! Not only was I able to replicate this feat but I also reset my record for most books read in a year; my current read is my 130th book this year. Apart from this, I read my 1,000th (James Joyce’s Ulysses) and my 1,100th (Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain) novel during the year. I have also read more books originally written in other languages compared to previous years. I hope to break more ground in 2024.

I am capping the year with Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting which I have mentioned is my 130th book this year. Prior to this year, I have never heard of the Irish writer nor have I read any of his works. It was midway through the year when I first came across the Irish writer. His latest novel, his first in nearly a decade, was receiving wide acclaim. Literary publications have been singing praises for The Bee Sting. It was more than enough to pique my interest. My curiosity about the book grew further when it was longlisted for the Booker Prize; Murray was previously longlisted in 2010. The book would end up on the shortlist but lost to Murray’s countryman, Paul Lynch, and his novel Prophet Song. This did not hamper my spirit and luckily, I was able to obtain a copy of The Bee Sting, along with two other shortlisted works.

At the heart of the novel is the Barnes family, a well-to-do Irish family living in a small Irish town. The patriarch, Dickie Barnes manages a car showroom, the family’s primary source of income; his retired father used to run the business. The business was once lucrative but it hit a slump due to the financial crash that adversely impacted the motor industry. The decline of their business was a catalyst for the ensuing emotional and existential trouble that would expose the chasms that had long existed among the members of the family. The thin threads that bound the family started to unravel. The patriarch, for instance. retreated into the woods rather than face the problem head-on. Dickie left his family to fend for themselves.

The family’s business crash also exposed the individual struggles of the members of the family which the readers learn through the alternating narratives of the members of the family. The novel commenced with Cassie, Dickie’s firstborn. She was bookish and was in her last year of secondary school, preparing for university. She was the quintessence of a daddy’s girl who looked beyond her father’s flaws; she easily forgave him for his miscues. However, she does not extend the same courtesy to her mother, Imelda, whom she sees as shallow and petty; Imelda is a local beauty. Cass’ cross to bear, it seems, was her friendship with Elaine. Together, they discovered the pleasures of vices: boys and alcohol. The two young women also shared the dream of escaping their small town.

Cassie’s younger brother, PJ was twelve-years-old. He also has his own crosses to bear. For one, fears for his parents’ divorce. He was also afraid of being sent to boarding school. He was bullied at school. He was also sensitive to what was happening around him. He opted to keep wearing a pair of sneakers that were a size smaller. However, none of these reach his parents’ ears. I am currently reading the part of Imelda. Her story takes the readers to the past when she first met Dickie. Her story, related through a stream-of-consciousness bereft of punctuation marks, provided more depth into her persona beyond the impressions created by her daughter. Imelda grew up in squalor and was raised by an abusive father, a part of her life she would rather forget.

Seeing her husband’s failure pushed her to the brink of panic. To hold the fort, Imelda started selling her jewelry and some of the family’s furniture on eBay. At the same time, she asked Dickie to contact his father in Portugal. Secrets loom large in the story. It seems to be a recurring theme. Each member has his or her own secret. Murray does a compelling job of taking the readers into the interiors of his characters. He walks us through each of them; I am looking forward to Dickie’s story because he seems to be a cipher. There is a lot more to Imelda as well. The titular bee sting, from what I understand, pertains to the sting she got on their wedding day. Because of the sting, she refused to remove her veil.

I am nearly midway through the novel. It seems that I have covered a lot of ground but I feel like I have a lot more to cover. There is too much intrigue that is reeling me in. The return of Maurice, Dickie’s father, is also about to stir the pot further. There is a lot to unpack in the story, with the adults’ part transitioning to a more serious tone. I will relish the book and hopefully, I get to finish it before the year ends. How about you fellow reader? What book or books are you taking with you for the weekend? I hope you get to enjoy them. Again, happy weekend everyone!