Little Bee

I first heard about this novel several months ago when critics and readers across the nation (and world, considering it was first published in the UK) were singing it praises. I didn't jump at the opportunity to read it because sometimes it's just too difficult to work all day with a vulnerable population such as my refugee clients and then to go home and read about refugees, genocide, and persecution throughout the world (regardless if the book is fiction or not). Back at the beginning of the year, I tried to check out Little Bee from the library, but the waiting list was huge (perhaps more evidence of the novel's acclaim), and I was finally able to pick it up from the library yesterday...

And pretty much did not put it down (aside from sleeping, working, and other necessary bodily functions, of course) until I just finished it about twenty minutes ago. This book is phenomenal. Cleave tells the story of two women: Sarah, a British publisher who has a life-altering experience of a beach in Nigeria one summer and Little Bee, a young Nigerian woman who flees to Great Britain because of the war in her country. The two women's lives intersect and overlap, and in the process Cleave addresses the issues of immigration, refugees, and asylum in foreign countries. Even while discussing such 'big issue hot topics', Cleave is able to portray a deeply and hauntingly personal story of courage and redemption.

Here is a short clip of the author discussing the book:



Please, please, please read this book.