Little Bee: A Novel

Little Bee is a story both sad and hopeful, horrific and funny. It's told in the voices of two women: Little Bee, a 16-year old from Nigeria who, after two years, finds herself "unofficially" discharged from an immigration detention center in southern England; and Sarah O'Rourke, magazine editor, mother, reporter's wife. Among Little Bee's few belongings are Andrew O'Rourke's driver's license and business card. Not knowing anyone in the UK, she decides to head for the address on the driver's license. And thus begins a journey for both women.

If you've seen Little Bee in print, you know that the dust jacket warns that there are many surprises to come, that the publisher won't spoil them by telling you much, and that you shouldn't tell anyone else either. I didn't see what all the secrecy was about, beyond a marketing ploy. The book is no more "surprising" than many others. Still, Cleave has a wonderfully lyrical style, especially in the character of Little Bee.

As to the reader, the unvarying cheerfulness apparently intended to represent Little Bee's accent did get a bit monotonous and annoying at times. While that lilting African accent is charming, I doubt that Africans use exactly the same tone and pacing for every emotion they verbally express. Still, overall, this was an engaging book with some important messages.

I was surprised by this book; it is original, full of suspense and astute psychological insight. "Little bee," the tile, sounds so innocent, but it deals with very adult topics and is not for the faint of heart! I thought the reading by Anne Flosnik was very well done. When I first heard the Nigerain accent, I thought: "oh, no!" but I quicky got used to it and thought the reader did a great job sustaining the characters throughout the novel. Another reviewer said the ending left you hanging, but I beg to differ!

A very mult-layered story - with intrigue, sadness, alarm, heart pounding situations; incredibly written and narrated - you would never think that it is a male author -- it is written through the minds of the women, the main characters -- so realistically. Also, you can never guess where the story is going, even in the end there are different interpretations one can have. It is a book, after being read, where you want to do research on the subject, which I plan on as I see some of the other reviewers have done and that is about the oil situation in Nigeria and the UK immigration situation; pretty hideous sounding. How the author was able to get this Little Bee story on paper and get the message through so clearly and loudly, yet in a loving manner, is a real tribute to his writing. Highly recommend.

At first, I didn't think I'd like this book if it was going to be filled with lengthy metaphors as in the description of the British pound, but somehow by the time I was asked to agree to view a scar as a thing of beauty, I was hooked. The scenes in this book are so poignant and heart wrenching that I came to see them as beautiful as well. Yes, I cried through much of the book and yes, it might have been nice to have everything tied up with a bow on it at the end of the story but then, I might have felt duped if it had. The writing is lyrical and I enjoyed the narration tremendously. I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone with a heart.

I had no idea what I was getting into when I began listening to this book. I was quickly engaged in the story, which is very well-written,with a highly interesting subject matter and fully developed characters. I didn't care for the narrator at first but I soon became used to her style and ended up liking it quite a bit.Definitely recommended!

Little Bee is a page turner; the story is unique, moving, and riveting; the narrators are eloquent. An audiobook is the perfect way to experience the power of this novel.

I was not able to "get into" the book in the beginning; however,as I read further,I began to recognize how much thatI should appreciate our freedoms, rights, and privileges. The more I read, the more I appreciated my life and saw truthsof the hardships that Little Bee and other characters in the book endured. Although a work of fiction, the reality of life elsewhere was portrayed. I wish it could have ended on a happier note.

I loved the book but had some problems with the narration. At times, the narrator sounded like she had spittle in the front of her mouth and this was annoying. On the positive side, her ability to pull off all the accents was amazingly good. I give the book a '5' and the narration a '4'

I have never been so mad at an author before in my life. The book was interesting but nothing great. The author though decided to end the book at the climax instead of finishing writing it. I don't know if he got bored or just thought it should be the readers job to finish the book. I will not be reading another book by this author.

I thought Little Bee was really beautifully written. There were so many touching and thought provoking analogies and insights. And the story was compelling and powerful. I do think that it was a little bit uneven... some parts left me a little cold and then some parts did seem really unrealistic. ** spoiler alert ** For example, the whole idea of Sarah and Andrew going to Nigeria in the first place and THEN going out on that beach and ignoring the hotel guard who tried to help them? That seemed totally false. And THEN how Sarah goes back at the end of the book and keeps traveling around getting the "stories" and bribing people for protection? Again, I don't think so. A woman who had undergone what she had years before would have learned her lesson! and then the ending! Actually, the whole deportation idea was unnecessary... from then on I thought it spiraled out of control. However, again, the writing saved it AND I did think there were lots of story elements that were really exciting ...more I thought Little Bee was really beautifully written. There were so many touching and thought provoking analogies and insights. And the story was compelling and powerful. I do think that it was a little bit uneven... some parts left me a little cold and then some parts did seem really unrealistic. For example, the whole idea of Sarah and Andrew going to Nigeria in the first place and THEN going out on that beach and ignoring the hotel guard who tried to help them? That seemed totally false. And THEN how Sarah goes back at the end of the book and keeps traveling around getting the "stories" and bribing people for protection? Again, I don't think so. A woman who had undergone what she had years before would have learned her lesson! and then the ending! Actually, the whole deportation idea was unnecessary... from then on I thought it spiraled out of control. However, again, the writing saved it AND I did think there were lots of story elements that were really exciting and it wa