num_pages: 312
description: A riveting brilliantly written debut novel-a coming-of-age story with the strong voice and powerful resonance of Swamplandia! and The Secret Life of Beesin which two young sisters attempt to hold the world at bay after the mysterious death of their parents.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 are on their own now. Only they know what happened to their parents Izzy and Gene and they arent telling. While life in Glasgows Hazlehurst housing estate isnt grand they do have each other. Besides its only one year until Marnie will be considered an adult and can legally take care of them both.As the new year comes and goes Lennie the old man next door realizes that his young neighbors are alone and need his help. Or does he need theirs? But hes not the only one who suspects something isnt right. Soon the sisters friends their other neighbors the authorities and even Genes nosy drug dealer begin to ask questions. As one lie leads to another dark secrets about the girls family surface creating complications that threaten to tear them apart.Written with fierce sympathy and beautiful precision told in alternating voices The Death of Bees is an enchanting grimly comic tale of three lost souls who unable to answer for themselves can answer only for each other.
language: English
title: The Death of Bees
publisher: Harper