Here is the Beehive

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What to expect

Bloomsbury presents Here is the Beehive written and read by Sarah Crossan.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARD

What would you do if you lost someone the world never knew was yours?

For three years, Ana has been consumed by an affair with Connor, a client at her law firm. Their love has been consigned to hotel rooms and dark corners of pubs, keeping their relationship hidden from the world. So the morning that Ana’s company receives a call to say that Connor is dead, her secret grief has nowhere to go. Desperate for an outlet, Ana seeks out the shadowy figure who has always stood just beyond her reach – Connor's wife Rebecca…

'Utterly gripping' RODDY DOYLE
'A triumph – crackling with psychological and sexual ambiguity' JULIE MYERSON, OBSERVER
'This book is just sublime… I loved every page’ CAITRIONA BALFE
'Unmissable ... Incredible' STYLIST
‘Amazing ... I read it in one sitting, completely swept up in Ana’s fragmented narrative' EMMA HEALEY
'Dark, riveting, powerful' ELIZABETH DAY

Critics Review

Amazing … I absolutely love the form, which breathes new life into a familiar story making it both more elegant and more brutal. I read it in one sitting, completely swept up in Ana’s fragmented narrative

EMMA HEALEY

My god, it’s stunning … Sarah is such a magnificent writer

CECELIA AHERN

An evocative portrait of marriage and adultery, Crossan’s adult fiction debut explores the singular agony of losing someone the world can never know was yours’

WATERSTONES, Best Books of 2020: Debut Fiction

A gutsy, modern, deeply entertaining and, at times, faintly subversive-feeling piece of work. It’s also entirely and likably original in its execution, quite unlike anything I’ve read before … the writing is so bright and alive and the novel is a triumph – crackling with psychological and sexual ambiguity

OBSERVER

Brilliant … An adult tale of love, betrayal and loss

GUARDIAN, Biggest Books of the Autumn

Excellent … An eviscerating account of modern marriage

INDEPENDENT.CO.UK

Sex, work and motherhood all come under the microscope in this vivid portrait of the agony of being “the other woman”

DAILY MAIL

This lyrical account of an adulterous affair and its brutal aftermath is all the more effective and affecting for the spare, sparse style and I expect it to win as many awards as Sarah Crossan’s YA fiction has done

RED

A riveting tale of infidelity and obsession, told in verse form. Perfect for the staycation sunlounger

YOU

Composed in free verse, psychologically acute and laced with complicated emotions, this is a gripping, gorgeously written exploration of what it means to be in an obsessive, destructive relationship

S MAGAZINE

A gripping, voyeuristic read that gallops along

IRISH TIMES

I absolutely gobbled it up: dark, riveting, powerful … Delivers on a whole new level

ELIZABETH DAY

A stunner

GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

Raw, emotional and wistful

WOMAN & HOME

I read this stunning book standing up in two hours. An eviscerating take on marriage and adultery

ERIN KELLY

A beautifully crafted sucker punch of a read. Sarah Crossan has always had an exquisite way with words and in this she uses poetic prose to craft an honest and oftentimes gritty exploration of two intertwined marriages, slowly unravelling. Painfully believable, passionate and occasionally heartbreaking, Here is the Beehive provides further proof that Sarah Crossan is an infinitely gifted writer. We’re lucky to have her

JAN CARSON

We can’t recommend this enough

TAKE A BREAK

A searing portrait of addictive love and grief and the devastation human beings can wreak on each other … It is an addictive read, painful, unsettling, full of uncomfortable truths, yet the work itself resounds with its own unique bleak beauty

LISA HARDING

Devastatingly honest, heartbreaking and tender … This is the most extraordinary novel I have read in years in form, ambition and scope – an incredible achievement and an instant classic. I will read it again and again

JANE CASEY

Here is the Beehive is an unflinching take on the destructive power of obsessive love. It is also a highly original study of the grief that dare not speak its name – the grief of the other woman

CHRISTINE DWYER HICKEY

Raw and emotional, it reminds us what it is to be human and imperfect

WOMAN'S WAY

I couldn’t put it down. I just loved it. The prose is clean yet rich, her dialogue ear-perfect

LOUISE KENNEDY

How does she get so much emotion into so few words? Sarah Crossan is a miracle worker … Utterly meaningful, original and accomplished

SINEAD CROWLEY

This devastating novel looks at how secrecy and desire can compel us to do the unthinkable, and the shattering pain of hidden heartache

IRISH COUNTRY MAGAZINE

PRAISE FOR SARAH CROSSAN: ‘One of our most original writers. Sarah has almost created an entirely new form of writing in her novels that is hers and hers alone

JOHN BOYNE

Compelling and beautifully wrought

SUNDAY TIMES

The princess of pacing … Crossan always finds humour and humanity in the darkness; it’s impossible not to read it in a single gulp

THE TIMES

Truly remarkable

IRISH TIMES

There are familiar flavours and notes and moments of powerful sweetness, but she complicates them with such power and subtlety, in a way that doesn’t alienate the reader. The tang of fire is in there, always, leaving a unique aftertaste. You wouldn’t mistake it for any other writer, and you won’t soon forget it

DEIRDRE SULLIVAN

Utterly sublime

CECELIA AHERN

An intense and intimate story

IRISH EXAMINER

Replete with humour, love, heartbreak and jealousy. The story draws on universal experiences with an admirable honesty about how difficult relationships can be

RTE GUIDE

Infuriating, barbed and bleakly funny … a distorted love poem as well as the story of a woman finally confronting herself

IRISH INDEPENDENT

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