Book #3: Little Bee by Chris Cleave

 

Finding a good book description is a bit difficult with this book.  It is being marketed in a very unusual, highly secretive way.  Most summaries say things about ‘not wanting to Spoil’ the story line and swearing readers to codes of silence, ect … all leading you to believe this story is going to be something fun, or a bit of a crazy, riot adventure. 

That could not be more wrong.

My book club read this book for February, and I think we all came to a bit of a consensus that although the book was intriguing and interesting in its own right, it was being marketed terribly inappropriately.

Little Bee is a story about a 16 year old Nigerian orphan and a well to do British couple that are trying to repair their failing marriage.  Something terribly brutal happens on a beach in Nigeria (I wouldn’t give that part away) and it forever intertwines the characters.  Its really a story about sadness and living in a world that symbiotically shows its vast extremes.  It makes you ask yourself, (given our safety in the world which we assume is our birthright) “Would I do that??”  “Could I do that??”

So overall I would recommend this as a very compelling read, do buy into all the strange, mysterious hype you may read when looking at the publishers summary.  It’s a far more serious affair than it makes it out to be.

Key Issues that are touched upon in the booK:

Oil exploration in the Niger Delta (area which Little Bee is fictionally from). 

The slide show was made by Friends of the Earth to highlight the environmental and human cost of Western oil companies’ exploitation of the region.

Plight of Refugees

And, if you would like to help refugees and asylum seekers, looks liks this is a good site to get involved (link found on authors website) The Asylum & Refugee Protection program at Human Rights First.