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*A scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived…. Sad words are just another beauty. A sad story means, this storyteller is alive.*
The story of globalization is punctuated with exploitation, poverty and suppression. Chris Cleave’s Little Bee uses the oil conflict in the Niger Delta as a set-up for a poignant story of an unlikely friendship between an illegal Nigerian refugee and a recent widow from suburban London. Their lives inextricably converge on a fateful day on a Nigerian beach. They reunite years later in the UK.
Cleave’s dual first person narration weaves together an emotional rollercoaster ride. The chapters alternate between Little Bee, a Nigerian refugee, and Sarah, an English suburban mom.
Asylum and immigration are overwrought topics not just in the UK but in most countries. In following Little Bee’s account of the dehumanizing treatment meted out at the detention center, we are privy to some harsh truths about the conditions of asylum seekers. I did feel like her back-story, about her life in the African village, was not well fleshed out. I wouldn’t have minded one bit if the entire book was narrated from her perspective.
Sarah’s chapters, on the other hand, seemed a bit out of place for the heavy subject of the book. Maybe the author’s intention was to juxtapose her opulent lifestyle with that of the deprived and conflict-ridden origins of Little Bee .
Overall, the capricious tone of this book resonated with me.
Book Broad 