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Little Bee (Paperback)

by Chris Cleave (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 21.95
Price: CDN$ 16.02 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
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  • This item: Little Bee by Chris Cleave

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Product Description

Amazon.ca

Amazon Best of the Month, February 2009: The publishers of Chris Cleave's new novel "don't want to spoil" the story by revealing too much about it, and there's good reason not to tell too much about the plot's pivot point. All you should know going in to Little Bee is that what happens on the beach is brutal, and that it braids the fates of a 16-year-old Nigerian orphan (who calls herself Little Bee) and a well-off British couple--journalists trying to repair their strained marriage with a free holiday--who should have stayed behind their resort's walls. The tide of that event carries Little Bee back to their world, which she claims she couldn't explain to the girls from her village because they'd have no context for its abundance and calm. But she shows us the infinite rifts in a globalized world, where any distance can be crossed in a day--with the right papers--and "no one likes each other, but everyone likes U2." Where you have to give up the safety you'd assumed as your birthright if you decide to save the girl gazing at you through razor wire, left to the wolves of a failing state. --Mari Malcolm --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.


Review

"A very special book indeed. Profound, deeply moving and yet light in touch, it explores the nature of loss, hope, love and identity with atrocity its backdrop. Read it and think deeply."
-The Bookseller (UK)


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Little Bee
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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Harrowing...accomplished...unforgettable., Jan 3 2009
By Schmadrian - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Little Bee (Hardcover)
This novel, told from multiple points of view, sears in at least as many ways, testimony to the author's abilities.

Having lived in the UK, I found myself nodding along with some of the sections, while wincing in others. 'Little Bee' manages to inform without resorting to preaching, and even the heightened drama bits were executed so well as to retain their effectiveness.

Mr. Cleave gets the voices right, gets the characters right, and in the end, gets the story right.

While not an 'easy read', the novel is more than worth the effort required to get through the heartbreaking passages. It reminds us of circumstances most are unfamiliar with, and of our -sometimes lacking- humanity.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating, compelling...., Feb 23 2009
By Luanne Ollivier - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Little Bee (Hardcover)
Wow....this is a book you need to read. Yes - need.

Quoting from the flyleaf of Little Bee:

"We don't want to tell you too much about this book. It is truly special story and we don't want to spoil it. Nevertheless, you need to know something , so we will just say this: This is the story of two women. Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice. Two years later, they meet again. The story starts there. Once you have read it you'll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens. The magic is in how it unfolds."

Okay I was sceptical when I first saw the flyleaf, but then I started to read, and I couldn't put it down. And guess what? - I 'm going to honour the request to not tell you what happens. I know - what kind of review is that? But I think this book is a journey every reader should take on their own. What I will tell you is that author Chris Cleave has created a powerful, moving, exceptional story. The idea was inspired by his childhood in West Africa and by a visit to a British immigration detention centre. The character of Little Bee and her views of the world and life are heartbreaking and compelling. Cleave has created amazing prose, such as:

"Learning the Queen's English is like scrubbing off the bright red varnish from your toenails, the morning after a dance. It takes a long time and there is always a little bit left at the end, a stain of red along the growing edges to remind you of the good time you had."

The narrative moves between Little Bee and Sarah. What is interesting are their differing views on the same events. All of the supporting characters, Sarah's husband, lover and son are all powerfully written, provoking strong reaction and emotion. There is some violence in the book, but it is integral to the story. The ending is heartbreaking, uplifting and gives hope to our future.

Strong stuff? Yes it is - but it's a book you'll be glad you read. As I work with new Canadians every day, I will be recommending this book to co workers. It forces you to see the world through a different set of eyes.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars "A wolf must be wolf and a dog must be a dog", April 23 2009
By Michael Leonard "MikeonAlpha" (Silver Lake, Los Angeles, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Little Bee (Hardcover)
A violent confrontation between an English couple and rebel soldiers lies at the heart of this novel where the moral culpability of the main protagonist, journalist Sarah O'Rourke is bought into question. Meanwhile, the strong-willed Nigerian girl Little Bee flees from cruelty, stowing away on a "on a great steel boat" and then landing in England. Eventually placed in detention at the Essex immigration center, the only connection that she has is Sarah's husband's, Andrew's driver's license in a see through plastic bag left on the beach.

Gifted and sensitive, Little Bee is possessed of a sharp intelligence who dreams of being a British pound coin and of the life she once had with her older sister Nkiruka, The first to confess that she's only alive because she learnt the Queen's English, Little Bee's adventure truly begins as she is released into the bright days of Essex sunshine. Even as she leaves her fellow inmates, Bee is battered by shame and memory, and all through the night is it as though Nkiruka walks beside her. Even as Andrew picks up Bee`s telephone call from the center, he suddenly admits that can't face seeing her again. Five days later Andrew has killed himself by hanging. When Bee arrives on the doorstep of their house in Kingston-upon-Thames, she sees a shattered spirit for Sarah was unable to counteract her husband's long slow slide into depression. After five thousand miles and two years, Little Bee has arrived just in time for his funeral.

The intervening two years has bought on a series of worsening premonitions and indeed the only souvenir that Sarah has of their first meeting is an absence where the middle-finger of her left hand used to be. Still, Sarah's loveable son Charlie constantly filling out his batman costume, is delighted with his new playmate, luxuriating in the brand new intimacies secrets and shared experiences, with Bee's compassion offering a partial solution to the loss of his father. Even as the six suited undertakers lower Andrew's coffin with its thick green silky ropes, Charlie squirms in his mum's arms, asking the question again and again: "Mummy, where's mine daddy exactly now?"

With its developing world of inner-badness and questions of sanctuary and refuge, Little Bee is all about "the forked tongue of grief." Meanwhile, Cleave's emotional novel charts two lives falling apart: Sarah with her house, her job and the grief "all shrinking to a point behind her," along with her dissatisfaction at her affair with Lawrence. The essence of her problem is that she's wracked with guilt that she destroyed her husband and cheated on him with another man. But it is Little Bee, having lost both her parents and her sister, who has the real struggle - that of surviving and she doesn't count on the threats from Laurence to turn her in. In a final struggle, Sarah and Bee, vowing to help each other, return to Nigeria to confront both of their demons and the fear that has ruled their lives. Here a fight is waged between two realities, both a white woman and black girl back on the beach, almost like exiles from reality. As Little Bee's past comes to haunt her, her life in Nigeria, her lost sister, and her whole family once sacrificed at the alter of hard-line oil men, Cleave unfurls a haunting work of human triumph and the perils of globalization where girls like Little Bee are just silhouettes, expendable products in a world that is shifting and changing. Mike Leonard April 09.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars so so good
I heard about this book from Malaprop's (Bookstore in Asheville, NC.) summer flyer recommendations. AND I agree that this is the best book I have read in awhile. Read more
Published 4 months ago by R. S. Fletcher

5.0 out of 5 stars Superbly Written
In my opinion, this is one of the best novels I've read in the past six months. The plot itself is not what makes this such a good book, but its depth, its symbolism, its... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Coach C

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing book
This is my favourite book so far this year. Chris Cleave is a stunning writer and this book took my breath away. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Shhhh

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