You may or may not be surprised (probably not) to learn that I am a huge dork. A really huge book-devouring dork. I used to keep a flashlight under my pillow to read in the dark after my parents made me turn my lights out. I used to save my allowance and blow it ALL at the book fair. I was once grounded from reading for 2 days and I CRIED and blamed my mom for ruining my life.
Yeah. Really dorky.
My dorkiness for books has stayed with me as an adult too. I still love to read. I keep a book in my car in case I have to wait in line too long at the ATM. While I have gotten braver about going to eat at restaurants alone, I always bring a book with me… which makes me even more lame than people who just go to eat alone. And yes, I have been miserable at work before because I stayed up way too late reading a book that I just couldn’t put down. I really need to grow up.
Sometimes I go to bookstores and just… wander around. I pick up something that looks interesting and read the first few pages. If I get into it, I’ll commit…
The last book I took a chance on was Little Bee by Chris Cleave. The liner notes really got me; the author says he doesn’t want to tell you what the book is about for fear of giving too much away but that it is a story of 2 women’s lives that intersect in an unexpected series of events. Got me. Hook, line, and sinker.
I’m torn between telling you more about the book and honoring the author’s wishes to keep it a secret until it unfolds to you in the story, but there are a few qualities about this book that I think are relevant in case you’re considering reading it. And I think you SHOULD consider reading it, because it's really quite good.
First, it’s a quick read. Really quick. What kept me engaged was the fact that the narrative is told from the viewpoints of the two women in alternating chapters. That alone kept the story moving and the prose active. Reading about the same event from two perspectives is always interesting, but when one viewpoint is a 16-year old Nigerian girl and one is a 30-something British magazine editor with a husband and son, the juxtaposition (SAT word!) is very entertaining. Strangely, the author (a male) does a fantastic job of creating the voice of these two extremely different women. I’m fascinated by how he would be able to construct the characters with as much honesty and genuineness… but he does it. And what I really love about the book is that it makes a political statement about the absolutely real issues of asylum and refugee policies without being a political novel. I finished the book wondering what I could do to learn more about the real-world implications of the story… and that’s what you really want in a story, right? To be affected in some kind of real way?
Which reminds me of another book… The Wind in the Willows. It was not about refugees (though maybe fugitives) or women, but about little animals and their experiences trying to corral their friend Mr. Toad and going through human emotions… I didn’t get any political call-to-action from that book, but it did affect me in a very meaningful way. I was devastated when I finished that book. For no reason other than I was sad that the story was over and I would never have more to read or know any more about the Mole and Mr. Toad and Ratty and Mr. Badger.
So like I said, I’m a huge dork.
XOXO
jam
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