Narrated by Anne Flosnik.Audiobook published by Tantor Media, Inc., 2009.
Formats available: print, ebook, MP3 audiobook, CD audiobook.
Story:
Reading:
Before reading Little Bee, my experiences with Nigeria had been limited to the novels of Chinua Achebe and the "Nigerian prince" who likes to spam my email every so often by asking me to send him money. Little Bee took me to Nigeria and reminded me that the world is full of things that I know nothing about.
We meet Little Bee, our eponymous protagonist, in the immigration detention center she has found herself in after attempting to illegally immigrate to the UK. By twist of fate she is released along with three other women though she has no papers and is in the country illegally. She has no one to turn to except a couple, Sarah and Andrew, who she met briefly on a beach in Nigeria two years before. Although she does not know Sarah and Andrew, she feels a bond with them as a result of the traumatic experience they shared on the beach.
Ultimately this story is about how much of ourselves we're willing to give others. What do we give and how much do we keep back? This book is not a light-hearted read but it is a powerful one. Although I can't say that I "loved" it, I do highly recommend it. I give the story 4 out of 5 stars partly because I don't feel like Chris Cleave gets the voice of 4-year-old Charlie, Sarah and Andrew's son, quite right. If you're not the mother of a 4-year-old boy (as I happen to be) you probably won't notice. I also felt that the book ended rather abruptly. It left me feeling as if I'd missed something important.
I do especially recommend the audiobook. Anne Flosnik does a stunning job bringing the voice of Little Bee to life. I can't give her 5 stars simply because she struggled with Andrew's Irish accent and has trouble at times transitioning between Little Bee's Nigerian accent and Sarah's British one.
On the whole I thought this was a brilliant book read very, very well.
