Photo from Goodreads.com
Let me start by saying that I really enjoyed reading Little Bee. I like Cleave's style, and found his ability to create two different characters and switch between them impressive. Reading multiple first-person viewpoints can either be a treat or absolutely horrid, and I found this example a treat.
More importantly than liking the style, I like how Cleave drew my attention to illegal immigrants -- people I don't often think about, though I probably should. I know there are horrible things going on in the world all the time, but my self-centered brain has trouble viewing the victims of these monstrosities as people. Real people with lives that are ruined faster than you can blink. Little Bee drives that point home by being distressingly defined by the turning point of tragedy in her life, while still remaining complex. I was worried that Cleave would make her two-dimensional, a product of her past with a one-track feel, but he didn't. She feels like a person. Sarah as well.
Speaking of Sarah, I found her interesting as well. All too often, mother characters fall into stereotypical roles of the "perfect" mother, and women who have affairs are painted as terrible people. But she doesn't fall into either of those categories. She is a good mother, but not a perfect mother, which she realizes for herself and has to anguish over. And her affair is a complicated thing that does not replace the love she feels for her husband, even in the worst of times. But neither is it just lust that is unrelated to the love she feels for both Andrew and Lawrence. Very interesting.
I recommend Little Bee to anyone looking for a quick, enjoyable read that still makes you think.
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