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*Please note: There are spoilers..

This review is from the NutterMother May Book Club

This is what the backcover of Chris Cleave's novel Little Bee said about its synopsis:

We don’t want to tell you WHAT HAPPENS in this book.

It is a truly SPECIAL STORY and we don’t want to spoil it.

NEVERTHLESS, you need to know enough to buy it, so we will just say this.

_______________________________________

This is the story of two women. Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice, the kind of choice we hope you never have to face. Two years later, they meet again- the story starts there…

Once you have read it, you’ll want to tell your friends about it. When you do, please don’t tell them what happens. The magic is in how the story unfolds.

I am not going to stray far from that request…

Wow… Chris Cleave’s novel Little Bee was a page turner.And I can honestly appreciate an author not wanting to spoil any part of their book. And by adding a description to the back of it to keep people from spoiling it so you can appreciate the journey reading it, is a bit presumptuous. There are so many what ifs. More specifically – What if a person wants to know what the story is about before they buy it?

What I discovered while reading this book was that there is something hugely enjoyable about having no expectations beyond the authors own approval. Not knowing what you’re getting into, knowing what would happen next, or knowing the subject matter or whether you’re even going to like it became exciting.

Through the first few pages of the story, I already had my literary stereotypes ready, where and when this book was about to take place and who it involved based on the cover. I was sure it was an American story, with American issues, and by was I wrong. And I loved it for that. In fact in retrospect, had I only had a back cover to rely on I never would have picked it up, and that would have been a disservice. I really was a great story about two women and an awful decision that brought them together. And yet, it was so much more…

So where do I go from here? How do keep I the integrity of the novel and not ruin it by discussing the content?

There are a few intense conversations with Cleaves novel. All of them are profound moments which change the direction of the course of the novel. And it illustrates how easily life can have a way of controlling our destiny dependant on who we meet and the actions they take and how other people choices and thoughts can affect our own lives. It could be as simple as telling someone yes, or no. And the perception that answer can give another person can alter everything.

The novel is a series of actions and reactions that ultimately launch the story. More specifically it is one major action and the remainder of the novel is a series of reactions based on other reactions – a domino effect if you will. It is intense, dramatic and captivating.

All people are affected by conflict and the people they become as a result of its consequences can be both positive and negative. We learn the human condition is different in every person, some people are strong, some are weak, and some just adapt.

What I have taken away from this novel, made more powerful because I did not know how it was going to unfold, was that people, all people, the people that make choices in government, within families, within peers, these ‘leaders’ need to always be conscious of the others their actions are affecting, whether positive or negative. I sometimes wonder if thelesson of the novel that sometimes ‘leaders’ in trying to help make mistakes, and bad decisions that affect people, may originally come from a good place, but the trail of reactions from person to person, always has the potential to lead down a dark path and we always need to be conscious of that.

Vague, I know… But there is something special about “the unknown” that made this tale readable and captivating. Little Bee is a dramatic story and to unlock its secrets would undoubtedly spoil the dramatic enjoyment of tale. And if I were to spoil it for any person who has not read the novel but is just reading this post, I don’t want to take away from it the message of the novel.

Your thoughts?