We don't want to tell you too much about this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it. Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this: It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific. Once you have read it, you'll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens. The magic is in how it unfolds. A note from the author This terrible place was a removal centre for asylum seekers. We'd been hired to serve canteen meals to people being ...
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We don't want to tell you too much about this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it. Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this: It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific. Once you have read it, you'll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens. The magic is in how it unfolds. A note from the author This terrible place was a removal centre for asylum seekers. We'd been hired to serve canteen meals to people being returned to the murderous regimes they'd fled. These were the people my country had decided it wouldn't help. It was hard to look them in the eye. Everyone ate with plastic spoons. It would have been brave to provide people in their predicament with anything sharper. After detention in heartbreaking conditions, most would be forcibly deported to countries where many would be tortured and killed. Mass deportation continues to this day. It doesn't take a genius to point out the parallel with the Holocaust. It doesn't take a novelist to realise this isn't terribly British. What was remarkable, though, was the stoicism and sheer grace of some of these doomed people. Years later, it was ahumbling experience and a fierce delight to research this novel. The refugees I heard from brought me to unexpected discoveries: the beauty of Nigerian English and Jamaican English, the startling graveyard humour of refugees, and the moral courage of the many citizens who help asylum seekers, in defiance of their authorities. It's an uplifting, thrilling, universal human story, and I just worked to keep it simple. One brave African girl; one brave Western woman. What if one just turned up on the other's doorstep one misty morning and asked, Can you help? And what if that help wasn't just a one-way street?
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Add this copy of Little Bee to cart. $1.99, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Thorndike Press.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. A copy that has been read, but remains in excellent condition. Pages are intact and are not marred by notes or highlighting, but may contain a neat previous owner name. The spine remains undamaged. An ex-library book and may have standard library stamps and/or stickers. At ThriftBooks, our motto is: Read More, Spend Less.
Add this copy of Little Bee to cart. $1.99, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Thorndike Press.
Add this copy of Little Bee to cart. $1.99, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Thorndike Press.
Add this copy of Little Bee to cart. $1.99, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Thorndike Press.
Add this copy of Little Bee to cart. $1.99, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Thorndike Press.
My friends called this a "quick read" but though that is true enough, it proved to be a multilayered tale told in 2 separate voices. Emphasis was on characterization, motivation and control; but the plot was still plausible enough that the book holds the reader's interest. The ending comes sort of like a "shaggy dog story." LOTS of discussion for a book club.
Bonnie E
Mar 24, 2011
Excellent Book
Makes one think about what scarafices one would make?
Bella
Aug 19, 2010
Little Bee
Interesting story told from two perspectives. Beautiful visual descriptions juxtaposed with memories of horrific events. It is definitely a great story for those interested in the relationship between Europe and Africa.
JoniS
Jun 10, 2010
Little Bee was the only character that I felt was developed. The ending seemed unrealistic.
CONNIEM
Apr 22, 2010
Little Bee
Very good book. Should be read by many as it deals with immigration problems.