"Little Bee" is the most powerful and absorbing novel I've read this summer. Pick up a copy and you'll be caught up in the story of a young African refugee named Little Bee struggling to survive in England, and trying to re-connect with a British woman who may hold the key to her survival. The story alternates between Little Bee's viewpoint, and Sarah's, a British woman who met Little Bee years earlier during a tragedy in her native Nigeria.
Sarah has her own personal sadness, and the last thing she needs is an illegal Nigerian teenager landing on her doorstep. But Little Bee turns out to be exactly what Sarah does require. She and the girl form a strong alliance and find a bridge to healing despite the immense difficulty of their circumstances.
Written by Chris Cleave, Little Bee is a page-turner graced with wit, intelligence and compassion. From the beginning, you'll be hooked by Little Bee's wry self-awareness. She says: "Most days I wish I was a British pound coin instead of an African girl....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 an airport taxi. Where to, sir? Western civilization, my good man, and make it snappy." And that's just what you should do, make haste to read this beautiful story.-- Posted by Erin
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