Book Review: Little Bee

To say that I loved Chris Cleave’s “Little Bee” feels like an understatement. Having spent the past few years catching up on all the novels my favorite authors have written, it has been a while since I came across a new author that has caught my fancy. Almost every book I’ve reviewed in the past is incomparable to “Little Bee.”

The whole story is shrouded in mystery. Not much is given to a potential reader when looking at the inside flap. Two women’s lives collide: one makes a difficult choice, a choice that should never have to be made. The story starts when, two years later, they meet again. That’s all I’m going to tell you, because after reading “Little Bee,” I realize how crucial the secrecy is.

As the two women, Little Bee and Sarah O’Rourke, are introduced, I felt like a young child again sitting cross-legged in kindergarten, waiting eagerly for the teacher to tell us a story. This feeling is one of the strongest elements of Cleave’s novel. We’re not outside observers with no connection to the characters. Little Bee is talking to us directly when she tells her story. Cleave uses the first person narrative style to pull the reader in as close as he or she can get. We are now sitting cross-legged in front of Little Bee, hanging on her every word.

Sarah tells her story differently. Unlike Little Bee, she doesn’t talk to us directly, but is more commentating on her past and present. Still using first person, Cleave is more traditional with Sarah’s parts. She never references the reader directly. Instead, she pulls away from herself and the reader. It’s hard not to connect with her; Sarah is a dynamic woman, compelling in her daily life. She’s an average woman I could pass by on the street. It’s only when I take time to know her does she shed that average title.

What struck me as most astounding about “Little Bee,” is that Cleave is a man writing in first person from the persona of two very different women. And he did it extremely well. That’s the mark of a truly great writer.

Readers often glance over little details such as a man writing in a woman’s voice. This skill is taken for granted. My challenge for all who read this is to write a paragraph in the voice of the opposite sex; only through doing it will one be able to understand the great difficulty writing in the other gender’s voice can be.

Cleave’s natural talent for writing clearly shows. The attention to detail in almost every sentence is exquisite. I didn’t notice any clichés. Then again, if they were there, they were heavily embedded in the rest of the prose—that’s the type of writer Cleave is. His word choices are elegant and precise; his sentences have rhythm, flowing naturally into the next. Reading the story gave me a feeling of effortlessness on Cleave’s part. It’s like he simply sat down in front of his keyboard and just typed, start to finish.

“Little Bee” is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Right away, the story catches the reader’s attention. Time is forgotten as the reader delves deeper into the mysteries and magic inherent in the novel. This book is one I will recommend to everyone I meet. I will sing its praises from the rooftops, because that’s the type of story “Little Bee” is.

~Nepenthe