Nia Tres Tildes Tres Tildes itibaren Villy-lez-Falaise, France
Little Bee keeps you on your toes. Just when you think you've got a grip on the tropes of noble savage and noble suffering white woman who just wants to save the world and find herself, and those stereotypes seem comfortable (tsk tsk) and you are ready...everything gets messy, complicated, and, well, real. (Though honestly not THAT real when you really consider what happens.) And anytime you might think well of yourself because of a feeling you're having while reading about a character or a situation, Cleave takes that away from you too. As he should. I have rarely encountered a story that is so wonderfully morally ambiguous. You keep wanting to have opinions, to decide, and then you can't. It's not always easy to read--it's a bit too true for anyone's comfort. But that is what makes it good to read as well. Saving everyone's graces are the lovely traces of humor and joy that weave in and out of the story just enough to keep you reading. It keeps the pace and all of a sudden you realize that there are only a few pages left and it seems like there should be more (but there probably shouldn't). Everyone is raving about this book and in some ways I'm glad, they should be, but in other ways I do wonder whether this is the type of book liberal white people will read and pat themselves on the back for reading. Hm.