Imagine the Library you want! Join the
discussion from May 15 to June 15, 2013. Little Bee
- set item rating to 0.5 out of 5.
- set item rating to 1 out of 5.
- set item rating to 1.5 out of 5.
- set item rating to 2 out of 5.
- set item rating to 2.5 out of 5.
- set item rating to 3 out of 5.
- set item rating to 3.5 out of 5.
- set item rating to 4 out of 5.
- set item rating to 4.5 out of 5.
- set item rating to 5 out of 5.
Add a Comment
Add Tags
Add More
Save to a List
-
Save to a Shared List
Print
Item Details
- Description
- Full Record
- Author Notes
- Contents
- Excerpts
- Reviews
- Summary
- A\V Summary
- Preview
Searching for more content…
Sarah Summers is enjoying a holiday on a Nigerian beach when a young girl named Little Bee crashes irrevocably into her life. All it takes is a brief and horrifying moment of crisis -- a terrifying scene that no reader will forget. Afterwards, Sarah and Little Bee might expect never to see each other
… More »Sarah Summers is enjoying a holiday on a Nigerian beach when a young girl named Little Bee crashes irrevocably into her life. All it takes is a brief and horrifying moment of crisis -- a terrifying scene that no reader will forget. Afterwards, Sarah and Little Bee might expect never to see each other again. But Little Bee finds Sarah's husband's wallet in the sand, and smuggles herself on board a cargo vessel with his address in mind. She spends two years in detention in England before making her way to Sarah's house, with what will prove to be devastating timing. Chapter by chapter, alternating between Little Bee's voice and Sarah's, Chris Cleavewholly and caringly portrays two very different women trying to cope with events they'd never imagined. Little Bee is experiencing all the fullness and emptiness of the rich world for the first time, and her observations are hopeful, charming and piercing: "Most days I wish I was a British pound coin instead of an African girl," she says: "Everyone would be pleased to see me coming." Sarah is more cynical and disheartened, a successful magazine editor trying to find meaning in the face of turmoil at home and work. As the story develops, however, we learn about what matters most to her, including her fierce, protective love for her funny little son ("From the Spring of 2007 until the end of that long summer when Little Bee came to live with us," Sarah says, "my son removed his Batman costume only at bathtimes."). Sarah is trying to find herself as much as Little Bee is -- and, unexpectedly, each character discovers a ray of hope in the other. What follows when Little Bee comes back into Sarah's life is a powerful story of reconciliation and healing, but it is mixed in with a generous helping of satire about the daily difficulties of modern life. This is a novel about important issues, from refugee policy to the devastating effects of violence, but more than that, it does something only great fiction can: Little Bee teaches us what it is like to live through experiences most of us think of only as far off disasters in the news. As ever, the author says it best: "It's an uplifting, thrilling, universal human story, and I just worked to keep it simple. One brave African girl; one brave Western woman. What if one just turned up on the other's doorstep one misty morning and asked, Can you help? And what if that help wasn't just a one-way street?" From the Hardcover edition.
« LessPublished outside North America under title: The other hand.
Community Activity
Quotes
Add a QuoteIf the men come suddenly, I will be ready to kill myself. Do you feel sorry for me, for thinking always in this way? If the men come and they find you not ready, then it will be me who is feeling sorry for you.
I ask you right here please to agree with me that a scar is never ugly. That is what the scar makers want us to think. But you and I, we must make an agreement to defy them. We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived.
How I would love to be a British pound. A pound is free to travel to safety, and we are free to watch it go. This is the human triumph. This is called, globalization. A girl like me gets stopped at immigration, but a pound can leap the turnstiles, and dodge the tackles of those big men with their uniform caps, and jump straight into a waiting airport taxi. Where to, sir? Western Civilization, my good man, and make it snappy.
Videos
Add a Video
Meet Chris Cleave
Discover London with Chris Cleave, whose breathtaking new novel, Little Bee, explores the relationship between a spirited Nigerian girl and a restless English wife.
Please keep in mind that some of the content that we make available to you through this application comes from Amazon Web Services. All such content is provided to you "as is". This content and your use of it are subject to change and/or removal at any time.
Comment
Add a CommentI think I read too many reviews that said this book was excellent and in the end I think my expectations were a little too high. The story was going along just fine until the end and it just seemed to run out of steam. The plot was unlike any I have read before. I must admit the characters were believable and the writting style was easy to read. I liked how the author managed to show us a different perspective from the two main characters. Overall it is a good book; worth the read.
Lots going on in this "little" book! It speaks to the unspeakable acts of the oil industry reps in Nigeria and their widespread attack on the Nigerians in their villages. Little Bee and her sister, victims of such attacks, meet two vacationing Londoners on the beach and Little Bee's life is connected to them until the end of the story. Loyalty and trust of others and understanding of one's self are demonstrated over and over. The characters are all well-developed and their characteristics are demonstrated through their various acts. A very good read. A sobering look at internment of illegals in England and the impact of terrorism on people within their own country of Nigeria.
What an excellent book! We read this as a book club and it did not disappoint. It was educational, well-written and at times harrowing. It is an inspiring account of two women's lives and how they can grow and change following very different tragedies, and affect one another out of such different cultures and experiences. A must read!
Interesting, sad book.
It was easy to connect to these characters.
I had heard so much about this book, and I think it just got too hyped for me before I read it. I didn't think there was enough character development, and I just thought it ended too quickly. I didn't care enough for the characters by the time the end of the book came.
I thought this was a great book, even though it didn't really have the happy ending I was looking for it was probably more realistic because it didn't. I liked the going back and forth and getting the different perspective of the two main characters to the same situations. This book dealt with a lot of issues, none of which were really resolved but that is how life really is. Again, a great book.
As an interpreter and cultural competency trainer I would highly recommend this book to students interested in the refugee experience. Interesting plot and point-of-view aspects. Well-fleshed out characters. Felt authentic.
Well written. Funny and sad at times.
i was drawn in by the authentic voice of the central character and her story. not as interested in the boy......he was somewhat tiresome. the story unfolds gradually and reader understands more as the book proceeds. on the whole a great read. i will read more by this author.