I will start by saying that I did not like this book, although I think that goes against popular opinion.
Whenever I get talked into reading a book by a male author I seem to remember why I don’t read them very often. I’m sure this goes against popular opinion as well.

Little Bee by Chris Cleave is a book about a Nigerian girl who has suffered greatly in her short life, and the British woman who happens to meet her on a Nigerian Beach. The book is written from both of their perspectives, and neither voice is convincing to me. I’m always aware that I’m reading a man writing as a woman. The men in this book are not even worth mentioning, they are either savages or morally vacant.
Without a doubt, the story is a page turner-I read it in 2 days-I wanted to know what would happen. However, this doesn’t make it a good novel.

The situation that Cleave brings to light about the plight of refugees is horrifically tragic and all too true. This made the book worth reading for me, although I could have read an article in the New York Times and understood the situation just as well. This is a truly heartbreaking book with little that redeems it.