The Death of Bees Wins Overall Commonwealth Prize

Last night at the Hay Festival, John le Carre presented the overall Commonwealth Prize to Lisa O'Donnell for her debut novel The Death of Bees [Kindle]. Chair of the prize Godfrey Smith said:

“The Death of Bees emerged the overall winner virtually by acclamation. This coming-of-age novel opens – shockingly and ambitiously – with two juvenile sisters, Marnie and Nelly, who bury their parents in their back garden. The daringly ambitious opening is fully realized however. Readers will be mesmerized by the narrative that innovatively unfolds from the alternating perspectives of Marnie, Nelly and their nosy neighbor, Lennie.  It is at once a grim, dark, entertaining story about gnawing emotional neglect in the lives of the young protagonists as they struggle to keep their deadly secret literally from being unearthed. The Death of Bees is effortlessly fresh and original; it is fiction that provokes and shocks; it is innovative in its narrative style and told in a natural convincing voice, maintaining the high standards of the Commonwealth Book Prize.”