First of all, this is not a book about a bee.
Now that I've made THAT perfectly clear, I can tell what it IS about. Little Bee is a young Nigerian girl who has a chance encounter with Sarah, a British magazine editor, who is vacationing on a beach in said Nigeria. (I know, not the smartest travel decision on record.) The events that happen on this beach (NO, I'm not going to tell you! You have to read it.) will forever bind Sarah and Little Bee together.
What made this book so interesting to me is the way in which the story unfolds. Sarah and Little Bee take turns telling their story, a chapter at a time. And small pieces at a time. The two narrators weave together a seamless tale of tragedy and triumph despite the fact that they come from polar opposite life experiences. The prose is beautiful and at times, haunting, as is the subject matter.
One more thing, Batman is out to get the baddies. (Read the book and you'll understand!)
Chris Cleave has written a book that is:
provocative
riveting
frustrating
jaw dropping
endearing
funny
tragic
empowering
Read Little Bee. Let me know what you think!
Mary Kay
Just finished Little Bee. I was in love with it in the beginning for 2 reasons - the beautiful writing especially when in Little Bee's voice and the suspense. I really, really wanted to know what happened.
ReplyDeleteI was not prepared for the ending. Pretty tragic. Think a happy ending could have worked just as well, but maybe not.
Sarah's decision making really bugged me a lot - returning to Nigeria with her child? That was crazy, then taking a trip to the beach that was even more. I don't know.
Something I did not understand was why the NIgerian army was so deadset on finding these Nigerian girls and killing them. What possible harm could the Nigerian girls do?