Book of the Month–February 2012
Little Bee
By: Chris Cleave
Little Bee tells the story of two women who are forever linked by an act of violence.
The novel begins as Little Bee is released after spending two years in a British immigration detention centre. Tormented by memories of her life in Nigeria, she is uncertain how to build a new future in Britain. She turns to the only English citizens she knows for help–Sarah and Andrew O’Rourke.
Sarah is a magazine editor. While vacationing in Nigeria, Sarah and her husband Andrew encounter Little Bee and her sister Nkiruka as the girls flee from the soldiers who have destroyed their village. Although Sarah and Andrew negotiate with the soldiers in an attempt to save the girls’ lives, they leave Nigeria uncertain whether they have been successful. The experience haunts the couple and is particularly traumatic for Andrew whose self-image has been shattered.
Also available as:
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Acknowledgements and Awards
2008: Costa Book Award (finalist)
2009: Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (finalist)
2010: Reference and User Service Association Award
Book Reviews
The Guardian
New York Times
Washington Post
About the Author
Chris Cleave was born in London in 1973. Little Bee was inspired, in part, by his early childhood in West Africa. He studied psychology at Balliol College in Oxford. While a student, Cleave took a summer job at Campsfield House, an immigration detention centre. He was shocked by the treatment of the residents and appalled by the callousness of the British immigration system.
His first novel, Incendiary, is about a terrorist attack in London. By coincidence it was released on July 7, 2005, the day of the London Underground bombings. It won'the 2006 Somerset Maugham Award.
Chris Cleave’s third novel Gold will be released in June 2012.
Read Alikes
If you liked Little Bee, you may also enjoy:
Other Books by Chris Cleave
Incendiary
Other Fiction
Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
In the Sea There are Crocodiles by Fabio Geda
Open City by Teju Cole
Say You’re One of Them by Uwem Akpan
Tiny Sunbirds Far Away by Christie Watson
What is the What by Dave Eggers
Non-Fiction
Citizens of Nowhere: From Refugee Camps to Canadian Campus by Debi Goodwin
God Grew Tired of Us by John Bul Dau
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick
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