Little Bee
By Chris Cleave
(Simon & Schuster)



Chris Cleave's story begins lyrically, metaphorically, "Most days I wish I was a British pound coin instead of an African girl. Everyone would be pleased to see me coming."

This is the thought of Little Bee, who has escaped the men who murdered her fellow villagers in Nigeria - the men wanting to kill all witnesses to the brutalities felt necessary to free the property to be drilled for oil. But she has now been in an immigration detention center in Great Britain for two years.

She has learned that she can best get by with her looks or her manner of speaking, and she swiftly decides how to survive this ordeal. She wears baggy clothes and steel-tipped boots to ensure that she will not tempt any man around her. But she has found a little bottle of red nail varnish at the bottom of a charity box, and once a week she paints her toenails ... just so she can feel alive underneath all the ugliness with which she covered herself to survive this place.

She has been learning the Queen's English from newspapers. Once free, she sees that the Queen's English is suited best to Queen Elizabeth II, so she must tone hers down to manage on the streets.

As we navigate through the novel, we do find out where she ends up, the lives in which she has an effect, and what happened on that beach in Nigeria before she escaped. We come into it through the fine writing of Chris Cleave, who provides history, insight, information, and above all, the warmth of closure.

You can request a copy of this book at your library or your local independent bookseller. Please support them so that they can be there for you the next time you need them. Comments or suggestions are welcome at [email protected].