Little Bee (novel)

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

The back of this book reads:

We don't want to tell you WHAT HAPPENS in this book.

It is a truly SPECIAL STORY and we don't want to spoil it.

NEVERTHELESS, you need to know enough to buy it, so we will just say this:

This is the story of two women. Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice, the kind of choice we hope you never have to face. Two years later, they meet again - the story starts there . . .

Once you have read it, you'll want to tell your friends about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens. The magic is in how the story unfolds.

Huh. Can't beat that for marketing, eh?

Without giving away what happens in the story, I'll just say that it centers around a young Nigerian refugee girl and an upper-middle class English wife and mother. What the story is about is making choices between saving fellow human beings and saving ourselves, and how it is possible to harm even while saving, and to save even while harming. It's a story about dilemmas and following our own moral compasses.

I liked this story, but I was not blown away by it as the front cover claimed I would be. It's a good book, but I don't think it lives up to the hype on the back cover. But maybe I'm just missing something . . . ?

Judge for yourself; it's up for grabs.