Little Bee

Today, June 20, is World Refugee Day. First observed in 2001, it is dedicated to raising awareness of the plight of refugees all across the world. African Refugee Day had been observed in some countries prior to the UN declaring it World Refugee Day, but the Organization of African Unity agreed to have the two days coincide.

To honor World Refugee Day, today I'm going to talk about Little Bee. Little Bee is a Nigerian refugee in the United Kingdom. She and her sister witnessed the destruction of their village by an oil company's thugs, and were hunted down to eliminate the witnesses. In a chance encounter on a Nigerian beach, she met Sarah and Andrew, a couple from London trying to save their marriage by going on an exotic holiday. The encounter changes the lives of all three of them, and when Little Bee makes it to the United Kingdom, they are the only people she knows. She arrives at their home on the day of Andrew's funeral, and Sarah takes her in.

The book switches between the viewpoints of Sarah and Little Bee, and it does suffer from that, a bit. I couldn't wait for Sarah's chapters to be done so I could get back to Little Bee. Her viewpoint - her voice - was enthralling. Some first-person views are just the person thinking to themselves, while some first-person views are the person talking to the reader. Sarah was the first type, and Little Bee the second. Reading her explanations of the differences between her old life and her new life, and how the girls from her village wouldn't understand things, was amazing. I was hooked within the first ten pages of the book, specifically her note about scars:

I ask you right here please to agree with me that a scar is never ugly. That is what the scar makers want us to think. But you and I, we must make an agreement to defy them. We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived.

The events Little Bee talks about having witnessed are horrifying. And she recognizes that. She could be bitter, she could be depressed, she could be insane, but she is not. She manages to have hope, and even joy. She sees other refugees around her commit suicide, and in fact always has a plan for how to kill herself “if the men come.” Because the stories of refugees always begin with “the men came and they...” and she'd rather kill herself than let herself be taken. Despite this, she has hope for a future. Or perhaps she simply takes joy in the present.

The book is not a happy one. Like Sing, Unburied, Sing, it's an important book but not exactly an enjoyable one. There are enjoyable parts. But there are very hard parts, too. (I should note, here, a TRIGGER WARNING for a graphic description of rape, when Little Bee tells Sarah what happened to Little Bee's older sister.) It did not end the way I wanted it to, though it ended in an unexpected way. I suppose it was too much to hope for a Happy Ever After when the vast majority of refugees don't get one.

For all that there were very tough scenes to get through in this book, I'm still putting it on my Best of 2018 list. Little Bee's voice and viewpoint is amazing, the story is well researched, and the plot absorbing. This is a book I'd like to have on my shelf.

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

I HATE it when teenage characters are given the wisdom of 40-year-olds and we are expected to believe it. I've been a teenager, and I work with teenagers, and that is just not how their brains work. Little Bee's ability to read other people and make really selfless decisions is more fitting for an adult, and whenever it was brought to my attention that she is in fact only 16 it would take me out of the plot as I struggled with the dissonance.

With that being said, I was really into this book the entire time. Wanting to find out how Sarah and Little Bee were connected, and then to find out the full story of their encounter, kept me on edge in a good way. The ending left me with mixed emotions, but ultimately I understand why it played out the way it did.

Overall a very good read (minus the “wise teenager” syndrome”).

This was entirely not what I expected, but I LOVED it!

I liked this book. Even the ending, though not what I would have liked to have happen was fitting. That's why only the three stars.

To say that the book blurb on this novel is misleading would probably be an understatement. I'm not entirely sure what the publishers were thinking, but “magic” this book is not. Intriguing? Certainly. Thought-provoking? Definitely. Magic? No.

While the writing was lovely - and it was. There were places I re-read simply for the beauty of the language - the story itself was only average. I never quite believed in Sarah's voice - I'm not sure if it was an issue of a male writer not fully inhabiting his female character, or just that Sarah herself didn't buy her own BS - and since half of the novel was written from her perspective, it made those sections difficult.

I found the time-shifting of the narrative a bit confusing at times, not really understanding where each character was in relation to the other. Once we all caught up on the secret “event”, it became easier, but there were still places throughout the novel where I felt like I had missed something, somewhere. I felt like the author had some interesting ideas about the different ways people can save each other, but the story ended so abruptly that it didn't seem like he had a chance to flesh these out.

Overall, it was just okay for me. Certain parts were lovely, but in other places I felt like I was really forcing myself to keep slogging on, and that's never a good sign.

This one has been sitting on the ‘to read' shelf for a few years. Had purchased it after some family members commented how much they enjoyed it, but indicated it was ‘heavy'. The first bit got me to buy it, the latter bit is what had me passing over it to read something else. So, with a sigh, I finally decided to dive in. Much to my surprise, I really enjoyed it. Was pleasantly surprised with the humorous insights of Little Bee which helped balance what is ultimately a pretty weighty topic. I'll say no more on that. This one is excellent book club fodder - there's lots to talk about.

This was beautiful.