The highly imaginitive imparting of Little Bee, an immigrant’s brief attempt to flee the
Nigerian oil producing delta region
violence that resulted in the deaths of her entire family binds the reader to the illuminating end.
The fictitious: Black Hill Immigration Removal Centre, High Easter, Chelmsford, Essex. U.K. grim but functional detention centre did not cater for the highly sensitive and articulate Little Bee and her precocious temporary friend
Yevette the Jamaican.
Somehow a favour given by Yevette to a detention centre officer secured the unexpected release from the centre by four ‘cleaners’ who wanted to travel to Kingston-upon Thames. Yevette thought she was going home to Kingston, Jamaica!
Tragedy followed Little Bee wherever she went. Her companion, the woman with no name, hanged herself. Little Bee fearful of the police, fled. Sarah and Andrew travelled to Nigeria to recharge their struggling marriage and happened upon the fleeing Little Bee (Udo-Peace) and her older sister Happiness (Nkiruka) on that same beach. The incident with the machete and the middle finger, who’s middle finger? This was a bizarre episode which highlighted the happenstance nature of the book. The entire plot of the book hinged on this highly controversial incident. Why not an arm? The time lines do not add up with the ten days between Little Bee leaving the site of the suicide and turning up at Sarah’s house on the day of Andrew’s funeral unexplained until related to Lawrence, Sarah’s paramour.
How could Little Bee hide in a back garden without being detected for these few missing days and then incidentally haunt Andrew who went over the edge and hanged himself.
The pace and essence of this book depends on two strong women one a 16 year old immigrant with nothing and the other a 32 year old magazine editor who is prepared to give up everything in order to make a difference to the world. A 4 year old Batman features largely as a catalyst in the book. Batman (Charlie) wants his daddy out of the box at his Daddy’s funeral, the mourners were aghast at his jumping into the grave to get his Daddy out. Little Bee jumped down to rescue Batman from the grave, the only one to take action.
The racist attitudes of the British nationals dealing with immigrants is cutting and revealing. The British feel they are being swamped, they feel besieged by the Third World seeking refuge in their beleaguered country. They arrest and deport. Little Bee was put upon to call the police when Batman went missing in Richmond Park, resulting in her arrest and eventual deportation. Batman was the catalyst as per usual.
Sarah Summers, a widow quit her job as magazine editor and followed Little Bee, the deportee, with Batman on the same plane to Nigeria. This is highly unlikely. Who would do this? Who would bring their 4 year old to a country in turmoil? Sarah used Little Bee as a willing researcher to interview people fleeing the oil company thugs who killed any remaining witnesses to their clearing and burning their villages. Sarah was continuing er late husband’s research which she hoped to turn into a book.
The
Nigerian Army found Sarah, Batman and Little Bee on a Nigerian beach. Little Bee was overcome with grief. What could she have become in a welcoming Britain? Could she have fulfilled her potential?