Little Bee

AUTHOR: Chris Cleave
PUBLISHED: 2008
GENRE: Fiction

The back cover of this book begs the reader not to reveal too much about this story, so I won't.  But it will be obvious to anyone who reads just a few pages of this book that there will not be a very happy ending. 

That doesn't mean it's not totally worth it.

Little Bee is a Nigerian refugee who has just been released from a British immigration center, where she has spent the last two years watching the walls.  The only connection she has to England is a driver's license bearing the name Andrew O'Rourke, who lives outside London.  How Little Bee came to London, her connection to Andrew and his wife Sarah, and the effect they will have on each other's lives folds out over time.  The slow reveal works perfectly as layer upon layer build into fully-formed characters. 

The first-person narration switches between Sarah and Little Bee.  Sometimes Little Bee addresses the reader directly, and sometimes she speaks as if she is explaining her story to the girls in her village.  These are the best parts of the story.  Little Bee's voice is natural and effortless.  Cleave's writing makes the poignant story all  the more beautiful.


LENGTH: 266 pages
MAINSTREAM OR NOT: Yes
SO, SHOULD I READ IT OR NOT?: Yes.  It's beautifully written, and the back-and-forth between Little Bee and Sarah easily keeps your attention.