Readers' Guide: Little Bee by Chris Cleve

Little Bee


by: Chris Cleve


Category: FICTION
Guide Created By: Andy and Traude
Discussion Leader(s): Andy and Traude (Guest)
Read our discussion of this book

Book Description Book cover for Little Bee
Little Bee, or The Other Hand, as it was called when it was published in Great Britain in 2008, has captured the attention of millions of readers and elicited a wide range of reactions from shock and outrage to praise for the portrayal of the two main characters, whose personal lives become inextricably intertwined.

Background about the Book

Nigerian Blood and Oil

Relevant Links

Oil Crimes
Nigerian Storytelling
Nigerian Travel

Questions Used

What are your impressions of:
* The alternating narrative voices and their effect on the reader
* The flashbacks in both narratives and their effects - distracting or ...?
* Can we draw tentative conclusions about the character of the two dissimilar women?
* In the main the story features two women. Should we also consider the men in the story ?

Deeper questions emerged during the discussion and covered a wide range of issues and societal concerns, immigration- legal and illegal- and how to contain it; policies of detention and deportation of illegals; personal accountability and conscience versus bureaucratic indifference; globalization, profit and exploitation; ultimately readers' conception of civility and ethical choice. And the emotionally charged challenge of what we would have done, what could we have done?