Little Bee fled Nigeria at age 14 after men came and shot her people and burned her village. She spent two years in a United Kingdom detention Center before being released albeit without papers. She learned to speak English from reading newspapers. Unlike the girls with whom she leaves the facility, she had the driver's license of a man she met on a Nigerian beach two years ago during her flight from the men.

Her call to alert Andrew O'Rourke of her impending arrival sent him into a tailspin that ended in his suicide, leaving behind his wife, Sarah (also on the beach two years ago) and his son, Charlie. Little Bee arrived on Sarah's doorstep two hours before the funeral which she attends along with Sarah and serves as a strong support for her.

The story moves forward from this point as the two women forge a bond but also looks back to the incident in Nigeria from both perspectives and farther back to give readers an idea of where their lives began. Chris Cleave has written a story that shows how the lives of two women with very different backgrounds intertwine and interconnect. In many places his writing is brilliant, and I like the premise of the story. Cleave sheds light on the important issue of refugees and their treatment, and he uses people to tell his tale rather than politics and policies.

That said, my problem with the novel is with the three adult characters: Sarah; her husband, Andrew; and her lover, Lawrence. Sarah runs a posh women's magazine in London but naively believes she can help Little Bee to stay in England when she can't manage the details of her own life and taking care of her child. In fact, she depends often times more on Little Bee for support than the other way around. Andrew, too, may want to make a difference, but he appears even weaker than Sarah. And, Lawrence spends far too much time focused on his own self- interest although he claims he cares for Sarah. Little Bee, who seemed the most realistic of the bunch, shows some naiveté in her belief that she will actually be able to stay.

I liked Little Bee and rooted for her. Perhaps, it's just that I wished she had help from stronger people. Many have loved this story and had strong, emotional reactions to it. I'm open to the possibility that my ability to put the book down more easily than pick it up lies with me and not with the book. I make a point not to judge an author by one story alone and plan to read Cleave's previous novel, Incendiary.

Book Summary

WE DON'T WANT TO TELL YOU TOO MUCH ABOUT THIS BOOK.

It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it.

Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this:

It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific.

The story starts there, but the book doesn't.

And it's what happens afterward that is most important.

Once you have read it, you'll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds.

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