Little Bee

Little Bee
By Chris Cleave (267 pages)
Published by Simon and Schuster
Bookish rating: 5

Little Bee is another dually narrated book, told by a Nigerian woman and a British woman. All the marketing copy littering the book's back cover warns readers not to spoil to story, as "the magic is in how the story unfolds," and this is largely true. As a result, the reader starts off cold, totally clueless as to what this story is even ABOUT. But you know what? It's a good story.

So, I won't discuss plot. I will say that the characters are fantastically rendered, and the voice of Little Bee in particular is very compelling and believable--you can't HEAR her Nigerian-slash-British accent through the pages. Also remarkable is how the novel is weirdly witty and amusing while also horrific.

Little Bee is one of the best books I've read in quite some time. In fact, it's the first "5" I've given in almost 2 years.