Little Bee by Chris Cleave

[katekintailbc]

Little Bee
by Chris Cleave
(Audio)

This is the story of two women--a sixteen-year-old Nigerian girl and a well-off mother & wife from London--whose lives collided one day on a beach in Nigeria. It takes a while in the story to get to what actually happened on that beach, but suffice it to say it was life-changing for them both. But the book actually takes place several years after that moment when Little Bee gets out of a UK immigration detainment center and makes cotnact with the couple she met on the beach (who have a young son named Batman).

The story bounces back and forth between the two women, from different points of view and sometimes overlapping in scenes and times. It's beautifully executed and, in audio, beautifully read. I thought it was written extremely smartly as well. Both women felt genuine and honest and heartfelt. But it was also written with so much character. I adored all the times Little Bee spoke to me, the reader, or told me about how she would have to explain certain things differently if she had been telling this to the girls back in her village. I especially liked the little promises and agreements she made with me, such as how we should consider scars not hiddeous things :-)

The subject matter is surprisingly light and dark at the same time. It's horrific and hilarious. It's terrible and full of hope.

I totally didn't see the ending coming, and I'm still not completely sure how I feel about it. But I'm so glad I was taken on this ride with these characters.