Lisa O’Donnell, author of The Death of Bees, on tour January 2013

About The Death of Bees

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harper (January 2, 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, are on their own now. Only they know what happened to their parents, Izzy and Gene, and they aren’t telling. While life in Glasgow’s Maryhill housing estate isn’t grand, the girls do have each other. Besides, it’s only a 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? Lennie takes them in—feeds them, clothes them, protects them—and something like a family forms. But soon enough, the sisters’ friends, their teachers, and the authorities start asking tougher 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 one another.

About Lisa O’Donnell

Lisa O’Donnell won the Orange Screenwriting Prize in 2000 for The Wedding Gift and, in the same year, was nominated for the Dennis Potter New Screenwriters Award. A native of Scotland, she is now a full-time writer and lives in Los Angeles with her two children. The Death of Bees is her first novel.

Connect with Lisa on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Lisa’s Tour Stops

Wednesday, January 2nd: Sweet Tidbits

Friday, January 4th: Literary Feline

Monday, January 7th: Mrs. Q: Book Addict

Tuesday, January 8th: Tiffany’s Bookshelf

Wednesday, January 9th: Broken Teepee

Monday, January 14th: A Patchwork of Books

Wednesday, January 16th: Walking With Nora

Thursday, January 17th: Kritters Ramblings

Monday, January 21st: Unabridged Chick

Tuesday, January 22nd: JulzReads

Wednesday, January 23rd: a novel toybox

Thursday, January 24th: A Reader of Fictions

Thursday, January 24th: Reflections of a Bookaholic

Monday, January 28th: A Bookworm’s World

Wednesday, January 30th: Silver’s Reviews

Friday, February 1st: Sweet Southern Home

Monday, February 4th: My Bookshelf