Little Bee

I've had Little Bee by Chris Cleave on my "to read" list for a while - I think it was recommended from someone at Malaprop's (a fabulous bookstore in Asheville). It finally came out in paperback a few weeks ago and I read it in just a few days.

Little Bee, a teenager from a small Nigerian village, comes to Britain to find the couple she met on the beach when she was running from the men who had burned her village. Instead, she arrives on the day of the husband's funeral and continues a series of events that were set in motion on that beach.

Cleave rotates narrators between Little Bee and Sarah which brings more dimension to the story. In the end I was left wondering if we do enough as human beings to help others and where our need for self-preservation is outweighed by the need to help someone in more danger.