[image width=”170″ height=”253″ frame=”simple” align=”left”]http://www.startsateight.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/0429_littlebee-chris-cleave-book-cover_170x253.jpg[/image]
Title: Little Bee

Author: Chris Cleave

Copyright Date: 2008

Brief Character List: Sarah – a British magazine editor, her husband – Andrew, their son – Charlie, better known as Batman, Little Bee – a Nigerian refugee, Lawrence – the man Sarah has been having an affair with

Summary in my Words: Little Bee is a Nigerian woman who escaped to England after mercenaries decimate her village at the behest of an oil company.  You meet her at an Immigration Detention center where she tells about how she has learned “the Queen’s English” as her way of fitting in.  We take a journey that flips between Little Bee’s perspective and the perspective of Sarah, the woman who met her on the beach in Nigeria, the woman who saved her life in an unusual way, the woman whose husband committed suicide over what they all experienced together. You follow the two through a short period of time in terms of actual days, but learn a story that has spanned 2 years and in 2 different countries.

What I Thought: Would I run about telling everyone this is a must read? Probably not. There is a disturbing scene on the beach in Nigeria that might not be for everyone, and in my opinion a rather ambiguous ending. I guess I am more of a clearly cut, obvious closure to the story kind of reader. However, I was hooked on the style of writing from the very beginning. Chris Cleave gives a great voice and means of story telling to Little Bee. He easily moves from Sarah to Little Bee to fill in the pieces of the story.

Author’s Website: http://www.chriscleave.com/little-bee/

Other books by Chris Cleave: Incendiary