Little Bee, Chris Cleave, A novel

This book has received great reviews and the status of New York Times Bestseller. I started reading it the day I got it from the library not knowing what to expect. The picture on the cover shows a girl with curly hair; the book title, "Little Bee", doesn't provide much of a clue to the reader about the story content.

I soon found out that Little Bee is the name of one of the two protagonists, and I am guessing the drawing on the cover is her, although, as I read more about her, I pictured her differently.

Little Bee is a sixteen year old Nigerian refugee, she is the last member of her family. Everyone else is dead. With all she had to witness, one wonders if she is better off dead or alive. She travels thousands of miles to escape death but she is always ready to take her own life when the "men come".

The other protagonist is a well off journalist, Sarah Summers-O'Rourke, who lives in the posh suburbs of Kingston upon Thames, with her husband, Andrew O'Rourke, also a journalist. They have a four year-old Batman-costume-wearing son, Charlie. Sarah although a caring mother but she is an unfaithful wife.

These two strangers whose vastly different lives would make it highly unlikely to cross path are both in search of a new beginning, when a horrific event on a Nigerian beach connect their lives for good.

I think Mr. Chris Cleave's true intention of crafting the story of Sarah and Little Bee is to bring to our attention the murder, torture and unfair treatment of thousands of innocent people living on oil rich lands in Nigeria and the mass exodus of the survivors (of these attacks) who sought refuge from countries such as Britain, only to find themselves in inhuman, harsh and painful situations at the refugee detention centers of these countries.

It's a good read!

A National Bestseller...A New York Times Bestseller...Shortlisted for Costa Novel Award, Commonwealth Writers' prize....Best Book Europe and Asia.	Praise for Little Bee comes from all over!
The Guardian UK calls the Book, "Ambitious and Fearless"	The Globe and Mail Canada refers to it as, "Enthralling"

Olive Kitteridge

Olive Kitteridge is a novel by Elizabeth Strout. The novel takes place in Crosby, Main, where Olive lives with her husband, Henry, and her son, Christopher and teaches math to 7th Grades. In this town there is one church, one supermarket and a hardware store. Strout takes us through the lives of the Crosby residents through mini-stories. It's the presence of Olive in these stories that gives one the feeling of reading a novel.

Strout says, it is through our most intimate relationship that we are revealed. She does a brilliant job in doing just that in this book. It is through her well crafted relationships that each character is introduced to the reader. She is one of those authors that leaves making the conclusion to the reader. Readers' imagination can go wild, to make the ending of some of the characters. I felt the stories ended with ... rather than a . :)

The characters in this book are more middle aged women, and men. Their quest is to adjust to children moving away, to not having to show up to work everyday, to having to spend time with their significant other who may or may not understand them.

Olive's experience is no different than others. Except for her grand presence. She is physically a big woman; and through her actions, she is present through out the book. She is a wife who never realized her husband's true worth, and genuine love for her a mother who loved her only son dearly a feeling that for valid reasons was not mutual, and a teacher who was feared but respected by her students. Sometimes one needs a jolt to realize all the good things she is surrounded with in her life. And for Olive, unfortunately, it had to be Henry's stroke.

There is a lot to be learned about compromise, kindness and forgiveness through the stories in this book.

It's a great book!