Those pesky baddies....

Hello ladies!

I am not sure if you will get a notification once I post this, but consider this to be your spoiler alert. Odds are I will ruin parts of the book for you if you read this before you are finished! Let me start off by saying that this is the book I voted for and one I have been looking forward to reading for quite some time.

That being said, it was definitely different than what I expected it to be; mostly in a good way. I read it in the span of three days so I obviously found it engaging and easy to read. I enjoyed the way the book was written from the perspectives of both women. I am always surprised when male authors are able to accurately and realistically portray the female perspective. I found his writing style engaging and thought provoking. Especially the way that he made Little Bee's experience as a refugee seem more universal. I think that as a society we like to "Otherize" the people whose lifestyles and experiences are foreign to ours. This barrier is one that harms both sides and I appreciated how Cleave successfully turned that separation on its head and made it appear as foolish as it actually is.

One of my favorite parts in the book was when he talked about scars and they way that they are beautiful instead of shameful. The part where Little Bee has to turn away from the beauty of the scar on the neck of the girl in the sari nearly took my breath away. It was such a strong and powerful image, one I am sure will stay with me and I am grateful for that. I think that by starting out the story with this perspective, Cleave made the more difficult portions easier to get through. It effectively created a new lens through which to view struggles.

As is evidenced in the title of this post, I also fell in love with the character of Charlie. Cleave used this young character beautifully to shed light onto some of the more nuanced and poignant messages of the book (how difficult it is to tell right from wrong no matter how badly you want to, how we all want and strive for protection; a mask to hide behind).

I appreciated how this struggle is also reflected in the adult characters as well. How Little Bee is shown to be complicated and possessing of both good and bad sides. The same being true for Sarah and her willingness to cut off her own finger to save a stranger but her unwillingness to do the same to save her own husband.

One of my least favorite parts about the book was the ending. After all that had come before I really found it hard to believe that the police would have been called so soon, that Little Bee would have been the one to receive them, and that she really would have been so unable to come up with a lie to save herself (after she had been so crafty with Lawrence) I also really felt as though Sarah and Charlie being in Nigeria with Little Bee fell into the cliche for me. I also disliked how they ended up on the same beach but this time with a different ending. I thought that it was attempting to be too metaphorical and it rang false instead. Perhaps I am missing a bigger message or failing to grasp something...if any of you disagree with my assessment please let me know!

All in all I feel as though this book was a great start to this book club. I look forward to hearing what you all thought of the book and the characters that Cleave created.

Happy new year!