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Little Bee

Chris Cleave

Discussion: Books Set in Africa

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What Members Thought

Sep 24, 2010 Ra rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, africa

There is a noble premise to this book, to raise awareness about asylum seekers to Britain, and to combat the sentiment of apathy that most people feel towards their plight.
The premise is noble and the character of the Little Bee is sweet and fascinating. The way she superimposes her experience in Britain on remembrances of her Nigerian home is quite endearing.
However, and I cannot quite put my finger on it, the book left me unsatisfied. Like many stories that are written by white people about A There is a noble premise to this book, to raise awareness about asylum seekers to Britain, and to combat the sentiment of apathy that most people feel towards their plight.
The premise is noble and the character of the Little Bee is sweet and fascinating. The way she superimposes her experience in Britain on remembrances of her Nigerian home is quite endearing.
However, and I cannot quite put my finger on it, the book left me unsatisfied. Like many stories that are written by white people about Africa or about African people there is a certain flatness to them.
The Africans are always the helpless people that surrender to their fate, no matter how many radical plans they make to escape it.
Africans are either brutes or victims. Either sub-human monsters or near-saints, but perhaps this is just me. Little Bee comes quite close to a real-life humane and wise African girl, but the others in this book are not quite so engaging.
Of course you will have to read the novel to judge by yourself, it is quite short and easy to finish in one or two sittings.

The book is about Little Bee the Nigerian girl who finds herself a central character in the life of Sarah, a British editor of a funky women magazine, and mother to 4-year-old Charlie. The events of the novel takes place over a few weeks but move backwards to the memory of both women's lives and the fateful events that brought them together. It is narrated in the alternating voices of Sara and Little Bee.

One thing that bothered me as a mother of a small child is the portrayal of the little boy, Charlie, a.k.a Batman. His speech manner is quite irritating and I think it is quite exaggerated because 4-year-olds in my experience are quite capable of uttering grammatical sentences. Sarah has her heart in the right place, but she is also neurotic to say the least, this is perhaps done on purpose to illustrate that sometimes the immigrant is far wiser than the full-blooded British citizen with his or her "values" whatever they are.
Perhaps I would have given the book one extra half star but since the option is not available I am erring on the minus side, simply because the book did not deliver on it hyped up promise. ...more

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Sep 15, 2010 Sera rated it liked it

Shelves: own, literary-fiction

I really enjoyed this book. I thought that the commentary on human nature and how we treat outsiders is spot on. I also liked that the story took place in Britain rather than the US so that I could gain a different perspective on how a country treats its refugees.

The story is told in two voices, Little Bee's and Sarah's, both of whom are awesome characters even though they come from very different backgrounds.

I guess the funny thing about this book is that I enjoyed reading the author's thoughts ...more

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Jul 09, 2011 Andy Plonka rated it it was ok

This is another book that left me cold. I realize a lot of people loved it. I listened to it and relistened to parts thinking I should get something from it, but no dice.

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Jan 20, 2011 Erica rated it it was amazing

The first half of Little Bee was amazing. Narratively brilliant, incredibly disturbing, an entire world to escape into and yet be unendingly assaulted by. I thought the second half lacked the panache and tightness of the first. The conversation the happens between Little Bee and Sarah's man was really over-written, and I thought most of the last half of the book was the same. But some truly amazing, haunting lines up to mid-way. ...more

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Jul 07, 2010 Susan rated it liked it

Good style of writing, unexpected happenings, entertaining.

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Nov 15, 2011 Astrid Lim rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: literature, british, tragedy

I'm not impressed with this book, especially after reading the over the top synopsis at the back of the book. It's a marketing ploy!!! huks. And I don't like most of the characters, except Little Bee. ...more

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