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SYNOPSIS

This is the story of two women.

Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice.

Two years later, they meet again – the story starts there…

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Highlight: On the girl’s brown legs there were many small white scars. I was thinking, Do those scars cover the whole of you, like the stars and the moons on your dress? I thought that would be pretty too, and I ask you right here to agree with me that a scar is never ugly. That is what the scar makers want us to think. But you and I, we must make an agreement to defy them. We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived.

REVIEW

This book was alright, but I felt uneasy reading about the experience of a black Nigerian female immigrant from a white British male author. It’s an interesting choice, since the case that real life case that sparked inspiration to write this was about a man and his son.

I loved Little Bee’s perspective, but her constant suicidal idealization triggered old memories of mine & I had to take multiple breaks. There were so many suicides in this book! It was grim, but realistic. I loved seeing glimpses of different immigrants and their stories. I wish we got to see more of those.

I didn’t like Sarah Summers. The white savior trope is a little outdated.

About the ending: Sarah Summers was too naive. She lost a finger and thought Little Bee died when she first visited Nigeria. Why bring her son along at the end? Why reassure Little Bee she would protect her and nothing would happen with her there, when they both knew that was untrue? Why return to the same beach where they faced violence and take a NAP?

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