One of the reviews quoted on the back of this book says: “a powerful piece of art . . . shocking, exciting and deeply affecting” (The Independent). Yes, it is all those thngs, and I would add “funny.”
But I can’t help seeing the “white woman saving the African girl but really saving herself” trope through it. In this story Sarah from London almost saves Little Bee. Yet she remains selfish in her refusal or inability to give up a lover who clearly doesn’t share her commitment to Bee. By the end of the book we are not sure whether she will return to Lawrence. However, she has made the strong and risky decision to leave her magazine and write a book about Nigeria, and we have to hope that will happen.
Little Bee, on the other hand, is a strong and wise character. After witnessing horrible atrocities in her home village culminating in a ghastly scene on a beach where she meets Sarah and Andrew, she makes her way to England. She is held in a detention center for two years and constantly fears that “the men” will come for her. Her adoption of the English language is impressive and gives the book some of its finest moments. Likewise her astute perspective on British culture. She frequently imagines describing England to her friends in the village and their bewildered, incredulous reactions. She works magic with Sarah’s son Charlie, calming his fears when his mother seems incapable. Charlie, by the way, wears his Batman outfit throughout the book and is treated lovingly by the author whose own son is also Batman.
