The Other Hand (also known as Little Bee) ~ Chris Cleave

Little Bee is a young Nigerian refugee whose life is intertwined with that of a UK journalist and her husband after horrific events bring them together.  I won’t give too much away as the book’s blurb asks you not too J

I was certainly taken in with the hype printed at the beginning of the novel and I could not put it down during the first few chapters.  It was shocking, it was emotional, and it was also very funny.  But then it seemed to lose its impact and I started to not believe in it.  The events that unfolded in England did not ring true and the trip back to Nigeria with Sarah and Charlie (for me) was unbelievable.  No mother would knowingly put her child in danger, and Sarah was well aware of the dangers.

During the reading though, you do start to reflect on your own life, it’s all very well in our safe and secure society to question the cost of accepting refugees, but it is simply because we cannot imagine the atrocities that can be inflicted on fellow human beings and what these people are fleeing from.

The writing style is easy to read and tears did well up during certain scenes, but the lack of believability I felt towards the end dampened its impact and left me feeling disappointed that it wasn’t to be the amazing read that was promised at the beginning. 

Little Bee does, however, show us how fickle our lives can be, and how our domestic problems are not really problems at all.

Maxine