Little Bee: A Novel
2 journalers for this copy...
This is a flawed book, but I loved it anyway. The project was ambitious -- an effort to write about the British detention centers for asylum seekers and other immigrants; an effort by a white man to capture the voices of two women (one a Nigerian immigrant and one a white British native). It didn't always work. But certain passages were so compelling that I was willing to forgive the flaws. And the plot of the story carried it through at a quick and compelling pace.
Neither Little Bee, the Nigerian girl who makes her way to the UK, nor Sarah, the UK resident on whose doorstep Little Bee appears, are flawless. The characters make annoying and stupid choices, their motivations are complicated, and they are, generally, believable and interesting characters.
Their lives are linked by an encounter two years before the start of the book on a beach in Nigeria. The book carefully circles around this history before finally revealing the details. The suspense and build up worked beautifully to help hold what is otherwise mostly a character-building story together.
A good read.
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From Bookmarks Magazine
Chris Cleave's Little Bee works because the unflinching, brutal story balances an outwardly political motive with rich, deep character development (and even some welcome humor), focusing narrowly on events before broadening to reveal some larger truths. Cleave's firm grasp of human nature and his unsparing disdain for injustice allow him to articulate lives as different as those of Little Bee and the less-likeable Sarah; both characters, though, are unforgettable. Comparisons between Cleave and fellow Brits Ian McEwan and John Banville are apt. The only dissent came from the San Francisco Chronicle, which took issue with the narrative voices and the rushed pace of the story. All others agreed, however, that Cleave's sophomore effort is, as the Chicago Sun-Times succinctly put it, "a loud shout of talent."
Neither Little Bee, the Nigerian girl who makes her way to the UK, nor Sarah, the UK resident on whose doorstep Little Bee appears, are flawless. The characters make annoying and stupid choices, their motivations are complicated, and they are, generally, believable and interesting characters.
Their lives are linked by an encounter two years before the start of the book on a beach in Nigeria. The book carefully circles around this history before finally revealing the details. The suspense and build up worked beautifully to help hold what is otherwise mostly a character-building story together.
A good read.
-------------------
From Bookmarks Magazine
Chris Cleave's Little Bee works because the unflinching, brutal story balances an outwardly political motive with rich, deep character development (and even some welcome humor), focusing narrowly on events before broadening to reveal some larger truths. Cleave's firm grasp of human nature and his unsparing disdain for injustice allow him to articulate lives as different as those of Little Bee and the less-likeable Sarah; both characters, though, are unforgettable. Comparisons between Cleave and fellow Brits Ian McEwan and John Banville are apt. The only dissent came from the San Francisco Chronicle, which took issue with the narrative voices and the rushed pace of the story. All others agreed, however, that Cleave's sophomore effort is, as the Chicago Sun-Times succinctly put it, "a loud shout of talent."
Journal Entry 2 by msjoanna at BookObsessed.com, A book trading site -- Controlled Releases on Monday, January 11, 2010
Received for swap! Anxious to read this soon!
