The Other Hand by Chris Cleave

From the publisher:

From the author of the international bestseller Incendiary comes a haunting, warm and beautiful novel about the tenuous friendship that blooms between two disparate strangers—one an illegal Nigerian refugee; the other a recent widow from suburban London.
 
Published in more than twenty countries, Chris Cleave’s first novel, Incendiary, won a 2006 Somerset Maugham Award and was an Observer Book of the Year and a New York Times Editor’s Choice. Incendiary is also a major feature film, starring Ewan McGregor and Michelle Williams, to be released in 2008.

The Other Hand tells the story of two very different women—a young refugee from the Nigerian delta and a suburban English housewife—whose lives collided years ago on a beach in Africa. Told in alternating voices, with humanity and humour, the story follows the course of their friendship as they struggle to save themselves and each other from the cruelties of life. In the end, their bond will face the ultimate test when each woman must make a devastating decision.

From the author:

Thank you so much for reading The Other Hand, a novel I feel very tenderly about. I hope you enjoy it! You are among the first readers of the novel in the world, and you are certainly the first book club to take it, so this is going to be a critical experience for me in more than one sense. Your reaction to the novel will help me in two direct ways - when I’m answering journalists’ questions about it over the coming months; and when I’m working on my current writing project. I take readers’ feedback to heart – you are the only teachers I have and your engagement is the only way I can make myself better, so I am truly grateful for any comments you have. And if you have any questions, I will be very pleased to answer them in the forum.

Having thanked you for your engagement, I would also like to thank Waterstone’s for their support. Waterstone’s is a unique retailer, run by people who genuinely love books and enjoy working with readers to seek out the best ones. From talking with them I know they make this work because they respect readers as much as writers do, which is all a writer can ask of a bookseller. Thank you.

Chris Cleave, 25th June 2008

Read more about Chris on his author page

Buy the book

Comments

[Lynsay Lambert]

Hey everyone!

I'm quite looking forward to the discussion on this, as the subject matter is definitely one which stirs up a good debate.

I made a start on this last night, and so far, i'm hooked! very well written, with great details. Unlike the last book, i dont think this one will have any problems grabbing (and holding) everyone's attention!!

[Georgina Tranter]

I agree Lynsay! I started it this afternoon and whilst I am only on Chapter 3 I am enjoying it. I must admit the grave scene was totally gripping and realistic. As a parent of a 2 year old and an almost born, I think about my mortality and that of my husband a lot and of how it would affect our children. That scene almost broke my heart.

[Neil Fulwood]

With impeccable timing, my copy of 'The Other Hand' arrived the day I finished reading 'Live and Let Die'; Sebastian Faulk's continuation of the Bond series, 'Devil May Care', had prompted me to revisit Ian Fleming's original novels. 'Live and Let Die' is an average 007 outing at best, and borderline racist. Particularly embarrassing is Fleming's attempts to write in dialect, resulting in such cringing awful lines as "whyn't yuh hush yo' mouff'n let me 'joy mahself" and "Yuh done look okay yoself, honeychile, an' dat's da troof".

So it was a breath of fresh air to read the first chapter of 'The Other Hand' and have Little Bee's voice rise from the page, a rich, homely patois full of warmth, hard-won ironic wit and razor-sharp observations. I was hooked within a few pages. The change of voice (ie. of literary style) in chapter two, narrated by Home Counties born magazine editor Sarah, was a jolt. Little Bee's narrative is an utter joy to read. Sarah's soon becomes tiresome. Still, chapter two effortlessly negotiated that most difficult of mise-en-scene, the juxtaposition of tragedy and dark comedy.

The suicide of Sarah's husband, her extra-marital affair, the bitchy office politics festering behind the scenes of her magazine, her son's Batman fixation, the awful debacle of the funeral - Chris Cleave weaves all of these together with a lightness of touch which never quite makes light of the serious bits nor entirely jettisons the dark humour to wallow in melodrama.

And for almost half of its length, the novel dazzlingly continues this feat. Everything moves towards an extended flashback on an African beach: unanswered questions, hints and clues are scattered throughout the first few chapters. That the scene will prove pivotal is a foregone conclusion. Even the deliberately vague cover blurb spells it out: "It [the book] is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific."

When Cleave delivers, however, at just under the half way mark, the scene actually proves more contrived than horrific. I didn't buy the guard's inaction (he has a semi-automatic weapon, the mercenaries have knives - d'oh, that one's a no-brainer); I didn't buy that Andrew would remain docile throughout (my partner and I were assaulted late last year and even though it meant taking the brunt of the violence, I instinctively put myself between her and our aggressors - nothing heroic in the act, nothing noble, just something I did without thinking because it was what the situation called for); and I don't believe that Sarah would cut her finger off (for no other reason than it makes no sense for the mercenaries to hand their victims a machete - a weapon - that they could, however ineffectively, still try to fight back with).

No, the truly horrific scene, the one I had to force myself to read, the one it'll take me a long time to get out of my system - the scene that, more than anywhere else in the novel, gets the author's point across - is what happens to Little Bee's sister. This is the novel's sucker punch, it's shattering statement on the subject of man's inhumanity to man.

Everything that comes after - Sarah's chronicle of her affair with Lawrence; the emotional Mexican stand-off between Sarah, Lawrence and Little Bee; Charlie's disappearance, the (again) contrived catalyst that leads to Little Bee's repatriation - pales by comparison. The inclusion of Lawrence holds up the narrative. I appreciate that a main theme of the novel is female solidarity, but do the male characters have to be such dicks? Andrew is a pompous miserablist, Lawrence a limp lettuce leaf. Similarly, the central theme - the plight of immigrants - is so well-represented by Little Bee's narrative (she symbolises, humanises and makes understandable the plight of immigrants) that Cleave doesn't need to enforce the point by having one slimy member of officialdom after another pop up and, variously, accept sexual favours to release detainees or come out with dialogue like "you're going back to Um-bongo land".

I have no doubt that immigrants suffer racial epithets as well as physically indignities, but Cleave's depiction of blue collar, tattoo'd, tabloid reading guards is straight-out-of-central-casting cliche. That fact the all the other white characters are middle class and liberal emphasises how facile and simplistic this depiction is.

Still, when Little Bee is in control of the narrative, the novel soars. I raced through it in just a couple of evenings. All told, of all the Waterstones book club choices I've read thus far, it's been the most worthwhile ('Crusaders' I gave up on, 'The Sea Lady' was a chore, 'For One More Day' risibly mawkish, 'Merton Browne' went south after a brilliant first half, and 'Bright Shiny Morning' I remain deeply ambivalent about). If I seem vociferous about the parts of the novel that didn't work for me, it's because the rest of was so immediate, so effective and Little Bee's voice so irrepressible that I resented anything that didn't live up to this high standard of writing.

I realise I've typed about 1,000 words - probably the longest comment I've posted on this forum so far - and there's plenty of aspects of the novel I've not touched on. But enough is enough for the moment. I'll be reading, eagerly, others' comments over the next couple of weeks, and look forward to contributing to an ongoing discussion.

[Lynsay Lambert]

I finished the book last night, and wanted to take a bit of time to think of what i wanted to say about it.

I agree with Neil about the beach scene. There was a lot of buildup about it, and it felt like a kind of anti climax when it happened, the scene describing what happened to Little Bee's sister was worse. I dont know if we're maybe more hardened to this kind of thing from reading a lot, but like Neil something about the character of Andrew didnt ring true for me. I didn't like Lawrence either, he was selfish and didnt really have any redeeming features in my opinion.

Little Bee was the best character, and i think the book really made me think different about things that i would have taken for granted, which was highlighted by the parts when she's talking about how she would describe things to people at home.

Sarah was a strange character to me, i dont really know how i feel about her. i'll probably think about it a bit more and come back and post again as part of the discussion. I feel like i dont like her, but i'm not sure why? she wasnt particularly offensive!

Overall, i think the book was very well written, incredibly described and the details were amazing. i especially liked how the blurb said nothing about the actual story, as it intrigued me, although as i said above, i believe that hyped up the beach scene a bit much!

I'm looking forward to see how this discussion goes - this was a very well written book on a 'hot' topic.

Does anyone think that it was right that Little Bee got sent back home, as she had no papers? Or should she have been allowed to stay, as she had a sponsor and had made such an effort to learn english?

[Clive Wallis]

I'm just over halfway through and have not read the comments posted so far in order to avoid spoilers, so apols if I am off on a tangent, or repeating existing comments!

So far, I'm really, really enjoying it. Of the two protaganists, Little Bee is the more alive to me, and comes off the page fresh, funny and fully-formed. I am struggling a bit more with Sarah, but then I guess she is meant to be less likable, in that she is a portrait (reflection?) of the sleepwalking, uncritical, self-obsessed West, ignoring the slaughter in Africa until it literally lands on our doorsteps.

I'm looking forward to finishing the rest and will then read the other posts and dive into the debate. Thanks again Greg for a great choice.

[Georgina Tranter]

Oh no, have stupidly just read the above comments and now know some of what is going to happen. More fool me!!!!! Still, enjoying this one though so it won't put me off continuing.

[Neil Fulwood]

"Sarah was a strange character to me, I don't really know how I feel about her."

I completely agree with you, Lynsay. Sarah seems to waver between emotional instability (how many times in her narrative does she recount bursting into tears?) and incredible strength of character.

Andrew was definitely a non-character, there to advance the narrative by way of (a) his suicide and (b) his unfinished research on immigrants which Sarah commits to completing towards the end of the book. I wonder if, in real life, even with the memories of what happened in Africa and the knowledge of his wife's affair, Andrew would have taken his own life - particularly with a four-year-old son to think of.

Regarding Lynsay's question as to whether Little Bee should have been deported or allowed to stay, I think the novel could have gone into interesting territory if it had documented Sarah's fight to secure Little Bee's citizenship through legal channels.

[Clive Wallis]

OK, finished it this morning! This is clearly a book of the moment. I put it down, picked up this week's Economist and fell over a story about tribal attacks on oil installations in Nigeria. You just couldn't make it up..!

I'm coming from a different angle than some of the posts so far. The beach scene worked for me. I was so gripped that I didn't stop to sort through the logical steps like Neil did. However, what haunted me most was when Little Bee found Andrew. That chilled me. Well done, Chris.

I said in my earlier post, I struggled with Sarah. The first chapter in her office was a bit too close to Bridget Jones territory for me. I understand it was important to set up her life and her work as seemingly important to her, but I think it could have been done with a little more subtlety. I'm afraid I didn't grow any more attached to her as the book progressed. And don't even get me started on Lawrence!

Let me return to Little Bee. She is the stand-out character, a fabulous, funny creation that I cared about and was rooting for from the first line.

I think Chris Cleave has trod a fine line very carefully and has, in the main, succeeded. The Constant Gardener with jokes, anyone?

[Anne Cater]

I'm glad I read Georgina's last comment before I read the rest of the posts - I'm only 4 chapters in and dont want anything to spoil what so far is a perfect read for me.

I'm impressed with how well the two narratives work together. At the end of each chapter I've been left hanging on wondering what will happen and then become hooked on the new narrator's voice.

I'll be back when I've finished it, I darent read the above posts before I've done.

Maybe we should have some sort of SPOILER WARNING at the beginning of posts?

[Neil Fulwood]

"The Constant Gardener with jokes, anyone?"

I can see where you're coming from, Clive, but 'The Other Hand' is an effective work of fiction written in a fairly populist idiom whereas 'The Constant Gardener' is a genre-transcending work of art, a major achievement by a great writer at the height of his powers.

[Clive Wallis]

Ah, Neil, a le Carre fan! He didn't stay at the height of his powers for long. Absolute Friends and the Mission Song were both much weaker.

Anyway, back to Chris Cleave! I listened to the video clip on his website last night in which he talks about the absolute, internal beauty of people and of life itself. The Other Hand clearly celebrates this, and is ultimately life-affirming. This is a different position to le Carre's writing on Africa, and is what I meant by my throwaway comment.

Dare I say, Chris Cleave 'does' real-life better?

[Georgina Tranter]

Well I finished this last night, and did enjoy it. I have to agree with Clive about the beach scene, and the suicide description was quite horrible in that you could clearly picture Andrew hanging there looking at Little Bee.

One part of the book that really moved me (and no one else has commented on this yet) was the ending. When 'Batman' runs across the sand at the end and Little Bee risks her life to go after him rather than see him shot...well I just sobbed and sobbed (as I mentioned before as a mum and mum-to-be my hormones are rife particularly where children are concerned so I'll understand if no one else was particularly touched by this part) and then when he removed his costume and she revealed her real name - pure genius for me.

I loved the detention centre scenes and thought Chris Cleave brought out the characters with his use of description and language incredibly well. I didn't dislike Sarah and thought she was fairly plausible, however I didn't really feel anything for Lawrence, he just seemed like a bit-character really.

Overall this was a good book. Initially I was sceptical when reading the background blurb from Greg that came with the book, but I liked the fact that the back jacket of the book reveals nothing of what is going to happen. I think this will be a book that I recommend.

[Neil Fulwood]

Clive, don't get me started! A discussion on le Carre would be great!

I'll just say that I'm in complete agreement about 'Mission Song' - definitely his weakest offering to date; 'Absolute Friends' makes its point at the end, at makes it powerfully, but takes its sweet time getting there. Still, he had a decent run of great works, from 'Spy Who Came in From the Cold' through to 'The Constant Gardener'.

Don't know if Cleave does 'real life' better than le Carre - he's certainly good at depicting a different kind of life (I can't begin to imagine le Carre writing the scenes in the offices of Sarah's magazine ... just the name Nixie in le Carre novel would be wrong in so many ways). What always struck me about le Carre's Smiley novels was the minutiae of Smiley's fragmenting personal life juxtaposed with his clinically accurate, brilliantly thought-out professional life.

But, yes, back to Chris Cleave. I was interested to read Georgina's comments. Maybe it's because I don't have children, but the scenes with Charlie didn't affect me. The whole Batman idea was terrific and made for some great moments of comedy, but the climatic scene where he finally removes the costume and Little Bee reveals her real name came across, for me, like something out of a lachrymose Hollywood movie - I could almost see the soft focus camerawork and hear the violins swelling on the soundtrack.

[Kathy Clark]

I finished this book two days ago but wanted to mull it over before I posted. I wanted to think about the characters and let their stories sink in.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I read it in two sessions and really wanted to know how it ended.

Interestingly I preferred Sarah’s character to Little Bee. I suppose because it was more ‘real’ to me. Never having been in the position of an asylum seeker I can only assume that the description was accurate. However as a professional working mother I sympathised with Sarah and how her early aspirations at ‘doing something to change the world’ had slowly been compromised until she herself ended up in a suburban prison. In my mind both little bee and Sarah were prisoners of different sorts.

One thing that struck me about the novel was how well Chris Cleve (a man) wrote about his lead characters (women). In my limited experience when I have read male author’s work with a female lead character it never rings true, there is always something that makes me think “oh that’s how he presumes a woman would think”, so credit to Chris for that!

As for the story itself, it left me wondering about asylum seekers, and how we treat them like cattle. It made me very sad and incredibly angry too – strong emotions from a book, so well done again to Chris. Particular moments such as the restrictions of sanitary towels really illustrated the atrocious conditions in which people are detained.

What I didn’t like was the ending, although it was probably inevitable, it was also disappointing. I wanted justice and freedom for Little Bee, I didn’t want her to be recaptured, and presumably killed. I had a bit of a groan really, as I read the last page and thought “he’s left it up to us to imagine how it ends!” But that’s my only real criticism of what I found to be an enjoyable, entertaining and truly enlightening read.

[Lucy Oakes]

I really enjoyed reading this novel – in fact, I devoured it in 24 hours. I was unsure about the subject matter when reading the initial blurb from Greg, half expecting a rant. However, the novel puts across its point without hammering it home too harshly.

I loved the character of Little Bee. As others have said, her personality shone through in every chapter. Her tone of voice was distinctive and engaging. I particularly liked her descriptions of the way we use language as she imagines how she would describe things to her friends at home.

I did struggle with the characters of Sarah and Lawrence. I can’t quite put my finger on what it was about Sarah. There was just a vague feeling of dissatisfaction with her chapters. Lawrence’s character seemed to be simply an additional factor in Andrew’s suicide and to emphasise Little Bee’s plight.

I agree with some of the other comments about the beach scene. I found the build-up of tension preceding the scene more dramatic than the scene itself. Having said that, it was what happened to Little Bee’s sister that was truly horrifying. Little Bee’s matter-of-fact recitation of what happened only reinforces the terror.

Overall, a good read that I will be recommending to others. I had a look at Chris’s website, too, and I highly recommend that others do the same. Some of his columns for the Guardian made me laugh out loud and I loved the ‘How to be a literary writer’ video!

[Clive Wallis]

Chris did invite questions from us and having read all the posts so far, an obvious one would be "Did you make Sarah unlikable on purpose, as a caricature of 'the West' or does she just seem that way by contrast to Little Bee?"

[Anne Cater]

I have gone through so many emotions whilst reading this, from anger, despair, pity and sadness.

I've shed a tear a couple of times - I agree, the scene at the end on the beach where LittleBee saves Charlie was wonderful - I dont have any children and I'm not very cynical so I didnt consider the 'Hollywoodness' of this scene, but looking back I can understand what you mean by this.

The African beach scene was horrific to me - but I agree, the scenes concerning Little Bee's sister were far worse.

I quite liked Sarah too - and of course she cried many times; she'd been threatened with death on an African beach, she'd cut off her own finger, her husband committed suicide, she felt guilty because she was having an affair, her son thinks he is Batman - I'd be crying too.

As for it not being realistic that Andrew would commit suicide - I dont agree with that either. Andrew's character wasnt expanded enough for us to judge whether he would or would not do that. I know of young married men with children that have committed suicide - when people are at that stage there is little that is going to stop them, including children and family.

I particularly enjoyed the way that Little Bee re-told what she saw in Britain as if she were telling it to the girls back home. By doing this Chris Cleave has given an insight into how different the cultures are, without it appearing that Little Bee is constantly amazed and confused.

I struggled with Lawrence's character and dont really know what he added to the novel - well I dont think he added anything really - he wasnt needed.

Yes, I think there may have been some stereotyping going on with the detention centre staff, the escorts, the police etc - but I was interested that the guard who insulted Little Bee at Heathrow was a woman.

In all, I really enjoyed this novel. I learnt from it and it made me consider certain things that I've not thought about before.

As for whether LittleBee should have stayed? I dont really know - it would have been a nice, happy ending, but I dont think that is what Chris Cleave wanted to do.

I'm enjoying the debate about the novel too.

[Caroline Gardiner]

I found this a gripping read, and the simple language of the two characters made me want to keep turning the pages. Unusually for me, I read the whole book in a day. I felt very much that I needed to know what happened next at the end of each chapter. Moving between the two women's narratives was a good way of achieving this. I found Little Bee's story very moving, but it did have a fantasy feel about it. Somehow her getting out of the detention centre due to a computer "fraud", and then walking to Kingston on Thames without food or money didn't quite ring true. Things like this may happen in real life, the point is that it didn't quite ring true for me. So it meant I enjoyed the book on a story telling level, but found it hard to engage with Little Bee's story as a reflection of the real problems facing asylum seekers. It didn't feel real. Which is a shame, because at the start of the book, she was such an engaging character, and her situation so poignant, that I felt sure I was going to be challenged in my views about asylum seekers. I wanted that to happen, I wanted to be prompted by the book into thinking about the issues the story raised. Even the kindly though surly farmer offering the women refuge when they first left the detention centre felt like he was in a fairy story, rather than drawn from real life. There's nothing wrong with a fairy tale approach, I really enjoy those kinds of novels, but it seemed to sit a little uneasily with the theme.

[Adele Winston]

Sarah isn't unlikable; she simply isn't predictable. Like most of us, she muddles along, doing her best. She doesn't plan to have a fairly tacky affair with a fairly resistible civil servant; she doesn't foresee rising heroically to the occasion not once, but twice, in defence of Little Bee. Like most of us, I guess, Sarah makes what she can of a not particularly good hand, and no, I certainly do not intend that to be a play on words.

[Denise Powell]

Another excellent book club choice which I really enjoyed. To pick up on some of the points raise above, of course Little Bee is the star of the novel but I have to say I really enjoyed Sarah's chapters too and didn't find her unlikeable at all. She says in one of her chapters that she realised early on that her marriage to Andrew was a mistake (and let's face it he was hard work) so I don't think she should be vilified for having an affair. She obviously loved her son very much and her actions on the beach and later when she takes Little Bee in when she turns up on her doorstep on the day of the funeral, proved to me what a strong character she was.

I agree that the character of Andrew isn't gone into in much depth, but I did understand how he could slide into depression after what he went through on the beach. I found the beach scene itself very powerful and I didn't find it hard to believe that Sarah would cut off her finger - I think it's impossible to predict how one would react when given the chance to save the lives of two people in that way.

I also agree that some of the authority figures are a bit clichéd, that's not to say that such people don't exist. My faith in humanity was restored by the farmer who gave the girls refuge in his barn after they'd escaped from the detention centre - I have to admit that I didn't think his intentions were going to be quite so honourable at first.

And finally I loved the character of Charlie, and found the way he hid from his parents' disintegrating marriage and his father's subsequent death behind his Batman mask very touching. It was nice to read in the Acknowledgements that the "four year old English idioms" in the book came from Chris's own son, 'Batman'.

Is anyone else inspired to read Chris Cleave's first novel, Incendiary? Another controversial subject and again the main protagonist is female - looks very interesting.

[S Jackson]

I enjoyed this book and was engrossed in it from the start.

I have not read any other books on a similar subject, so this was altogether something fresh for me.

I do agree with the comments below and believe that what we read of Little Bee's sister stayed with me more than the beach scene - although I felt this worked well within the story.

Lawrence really didn't seem truly realistic in my view and agree with Neil and Anne that he seemed quite weak.

I would like to hear the reasoning behind Andrew and Lawrence's characters and the authors opinion on our observations of them — that they were not really developed and seemed on the weak side.

I thought the details and descriptions were great and the writing made for a very readable book.

Some laughs, some tears and some very thought provoking instances.

[Helen Nash]

I finished this book sometime past midnight this morning - I just had to finish it! Really interesting comments here - I also had some questions about the plausibilty of the beach scene, but could swallow the guard's failure to use his superior weapon(youth, inexperience etc) and Andrew's paralysis/inability to act.

I loved the character of Little Bee - and also Charlie - and didn't feel the dislike for Sarah that some of you have mentioned - she's flawed, yes, but she learns and grows. Some of the characters did seem rather sterotypical (but then, so do some people I meet...) and I thought the novel worked as a criticsm of the relationship between developed and developing worlds.

I would recommend this book. There's some lovely writing, particularly in Little Bee's narratives. I was gripped by the story and moved, particularly by the ending but I'm not sure I really believed in the characters (apart from Little Bee - I liked her too much not to believe in her!)

[Anne Cater]

Like Denise, I really thought that the farmer had 'other plans' for the girls in his barn and was quite surprised and relieved to be wrong.

I do have Incendiary on my to be read pile and am now really looking forward to it.

[Alison Windle]

All I can say about this book is WOW, I am 3/4 through it and I really cannot put it down. The story is so sad yet makes you laugh too.Little Bee is such a great character. I have never really read anything like this and it makes you ask yourself, what really goes on in these countries. I will post some more once I have finished it.

[A.P.]

Slightly fraught time so have only just read the book! It's hard to come up with anything new to add to the discussion as I agree with some of the main points about the characters in the above posts. My heart did go out to Little Bee and her sister for they had done nothing wrong, except to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. A misfortune that happens to people all over the world for a variety of reasons.Not every asylum seeker is a political or economic refugee, but circumstances have arisen and forced them into that position. I know my friend would love nothing more than to return to her home country of Zimbabwae, which she has not seen for 20 odd years. My question to everyone is do you think that peoples attitudes towards asylum seekers maybe changed by a book like this, rather than some "worthy" report?

[Anne watkinson]

The other hand had me captivated from the opening comment on the sleeve of the book. With brutal honesty and wonderful self-deprecating humour the character of Little Bee materialised from the pages and became a real person, whose interpretation of 'Britishness' was so, so perfect! Little Batman accepted the stranger into his home and life in a way only a child could. Sometimes I forgot that I was reading a work of fiction as the characters became so real and intense to me. I was heartbroken when Little Bee had to decide to summon the police, but I knew that she would, as she was such a brave little thing, but I was also shocked when she was actually deported. I really thought she would be allowed to stay in England. If only I could have rewritten the ending, it would have been happy ever after!! But that is not the truth of the book. Chris took a horrendous topic for his story, and laced it with humour, but it was still about the evil, sickening ways of man, so I guess it therefore had to end the way it did. Brilliant, Chris, it is an excellent book, and one I could not put dowm, and have told EVERYONE that they must read!!! And we all ought to be looking at putting an end to this sort of evil, which sadly is not just in the pages of a fictional story.

[Lynsay Lambert]

I've had another think about it, and i still dont really like Sarah - i feel like she got herself into situations and just wanted to be a victim, rather than trying save herself. Such as realising that her marriage was a mistake, but just staying in it anyway and having an affair.

I do think she was redeeming herself at the end however.

I also believe that this is a fantastic way to approach the subject matter - personally, i probably wouldnt spend the time reading a 'worthy' report, but its definitely made me think a bit more about the topic!

Also, i have never read any le Carre - any recommendations for a first time reader?

[Chris Cleave]

Wow - I've just read all your comments, with my heart in my mouth, and I have to say I couldn't hope for a more intense, engaged and fascinating response to my work. Thank you all so much for reading the book and for thinking so deeply about it. As a writer, this is what I live for.

Your responses have given me much to think about as I write my next book, and your words of encouragement and kindness are so generous. Even when you have found room for improvement, you've expressed it in a way that is very positive and helpful. I really appreciate that. Thank you.

I have a day - Wed 16th July - to respond properly to your comments and questions in this forum, so I really look forward to corresponding with you then.

In the meantime, thanks again for your incredible engagement, and thank you to Greg for picking the book and hosting this discussion.

[Georgina Tranter]

I'll second that request, Lynsay. I have The Constant Gardener to read - is it a good le Carre to choose?

Am looking forward to the discussion on the 16th. I think with some decent promotion this book could be a big hit for the autumn.

[Kathy Clark]

Thanks for posting Chris! I would imagine that it is pretty nerve wracking to have to read reviews from ordinary members of the public, albeit book lovers, as opposed to the professional critics.

Well I would just like to add that your book has been the best one that we have reviewed on the book club, at least since I started. And even with our minor criticisms - it is still a fantastic book.

For me the tell tale sign of a great story is whether or not I can put a book down, and yours was finished in two nights!

And remember - we all look for different things in our reading, so you will never please everyone.

I too have bought Incendiary to read next.

The subject of asylum seekers was never going to be an easy one. My father was an asylum seeker in 1956 when he escaped from Hungary during the uprising. But their treatment then was so different from now. They were welcomed into Britain to work in the steel and coal works as there was a shortage of labour. But he too has some hilarious stories about the language barrier and mistakes made. He once had to report his bike stolen at the local police station, and when they asked what make it was he said "its a trump!"

But as children we were still exposed to some racism, even though I am white, blonde with blue eyes and was born in Yorkshire I had an unusual surname (Zelei) and was told more than once to go back home where I came from, to which I would reply "Where? To Yorkshire?"

So some things have changed and some haven't, but it is and will always remain an emotive topic. So well done again for daring to tackle it!

[Elaine Dingsdale]

I’ve found this absolutely captivating. It transported me from the heights of one emotion, to the depths of its opposite! Exciting, moving, heart-rending - I simply can’t find enough uncliched sounding superlatives to describe this novel.

While on the topic of superlatives, and language, can I say how much I enjoyed the author’s metaphors and similes? It struck me that language for Chris is the metaphor for life:

“I think my ideal man would speak many languages….He could speak with any person, even the soldiers, and if there was violence in their hearts he could change it.”

Favourite characters were without doubt Bee and Batman. I’m rarely moved to tears when reading, but the graveside scene, had me weeping - not just for seeing Batman’s horror, but for the implied contrast between Bee’s childhood, and that of Batman. Sarah’s poignant claim:

“If I am strict, and force myself now to decide upon the precise moment in the whole story when my heart irreparably broke, it was the moment when I saw the weariness and doubt creep into my son…..”

Several pages earlier, I was smiling at the same young boy, giving “thumbs up” in church to the vicar. I feel that transporting the reader so quickly and unexpectedly between two contrasting emotions, is an incredible achievement. Moreover, it’s done here too with humour - astonishing!

Although Sarah wasn’t as well depicted, she was nonetheless a perfectly valid and interesting character in her own right. To have given her more of a role centre stage would have detracted somewhat from the intensity of Bee character.

Agree that the beach scenes were horrific - but necessary, and were certainly not of the gratuitous type of violence which would have ruined this wonderful novel.

Whilst the ending was perhaps not the conclusion that the humanitarian in us would have wanted, it nonetheless worked well from the point of view of the plot, and as such there felt as if there was an inevitability about it, even from quite early on. How we hope that they will stay and build a happy life here, but….

An excellent book club choice - the best yet. As a mark of how much this has inspired me, I’ve been googling Nigeria, realising as I have that my knowledge is woefully lacking. It’s not many books that inspire me to do that too often!

[Adele Winston]

Le Carre might not thank me, but I really would start with his early books - The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, obviously, but also Call For The Dead, and A Murder of Quality. Can't estimate how often I have read them; they're old friends.

[Anne Whitcombe]

As a latecomer to the discussion- I finally managed to start the book today and at this rate will finish it tomorrow - I have had to discipline myself to not read all the posts in order not to be pre-warned as to what's in store.
My comments so far are that I really like the style of writing - the contrast of one chapter for Little Bee and one for Sarah, leading to the convergence of the stories with the 'African beach scene'. I must be hardened from years of working with and being in contact with differing realities in developing countries, because I did not find this scene as emotionally shocking as the graveyard scene with Batman understanding what was going on.
I'm also quite liking Sarah as a character - so far at least! I think Chris has performed the uncommon feat for a male writer of getting into the female way of thinking, with all its vagaries and inconsistencies - so well done for that. Little Bee is also engaging and well crafted, although possibly slightly too good to be true? I'll ponder this as I read the rest. I loved Yevette - a minor character but one that certainly packs a punch!
As for the men - so far I think both Andrew and Lawrence come over as being overshadowed by the female characters, but maybe what's still to come will give them a little more.
I especially like the way Chris uses language. The opening chapter with Little Bee's idea of wishing to be a British pound, and all that it could do, really brought into focus the contrast between two worlds.
I'm looking forward to finishing the book (and then reading the rest of the discussion!) but certainly a great choice for the book club, so many thanks to Greg for that!

[Karen Sykes]

I missed the arrival of this month’s book by a week or more by the look of all the comments that have been posted already. When I did get to it the summer holidays had started so my reading time was severely curtailed too. I managed to finish it this morning and I have a few minutes free time to write some comments or read everyone else’s comments – I thought I would write now and read comments later since there are so many. I have no doubt that what I have to say will duplicate many previous comments, so apologies in advance.

I thought this was a great book and I enjoyed reading it. The only downside for me was the ending, it felt unfinished and I was disappointed when I got there, but overall that was a minor point. I thought Chris Cleave wrote very well from a female perspective, so well that I made a point of looking him up to check if he was in fact a he and not a she. I liked both Little Bee and Sarah as characters and enjoyed their different viewpoints and the differing writing styles for each of them. I have no experience of the Immigration system in any respect, but I thought Little Bee’s story seemed very plausible and believable. Sarah I could relate to more directly in that I have been a working mother in a professional career and she was totally believable to me as a character.

The males in this story seemed quite limp and without dimension and I thought perhaps Lawrence especially was a bit unnecessary at first. I changed my mind after progressing further through the story; he was needed to enable parts of the story to be told in a realistic way and in the right place. What happened to Little Bees sister, the events leading up to Andrews death, what should happen to Little Bee now she had arrived in Sarah’s life again, needed to be in the form of conversations with someone. These events just would not have the same impact being retold as thoughts of the character and if not Lawrence then someone else – friend, relation, colleague – would have been required.

The serious nature of the story's theme I thought was dealt with very well. There were some horrific scenes, very vividly described, but also some wonderful gentle humorous moments to temper that. The story made me think hard about things that are at times uncomfortable to think about, but remained light enough to also be an enjoyable read.

Probably lots more to say but no more time. I will come back and read everyone else’s comments and then contribute more.

[sharon rowe]

i really enjoyed this book like it seems many of your reviews seem to have. i gave it a couple of days from finishing before commenting because i want to let the characters sink into my mind!
i am still disappointed with the ending, i wanted Sarah to actually take control of her life and actually help Little Bee a bit more, even if she was only able to live freely in her own country!
i think the whole novel was handle in a way that will help people question certain situations that are happening today in the world.
the novel was fantastic in engaging the reader. i think the only character that let it down was Andrew, i felt he could have been a better character if he hadn't commited suicide. Having him alive and showing his deterioration into a depressive state would i feel have worked better,perhaps!
But overall i think this novel has been one of the better book club books we have read of late!!!

[Caroline Watts]

May I first say how privileged I felt when I read Chris Cleaves comment that we are the first book club to take on The Other Hand. To be part of that book club is very exciting, especially when the book is of such interesting subject matter and written as well as this is.
I must say that unfortunately this wasn’t the first book I have read concerning refugees. I think that had it been the first one I would have enjoyed it far more but this is more of a personal thing rather than a criticism of the Chris Cleaves work. Despite it being a subject matter of which I am familiar I still found the book though-provoking and exciting.
Little Bee was an intriguing character and was the main reason for me enjoying the book to the extent that I did. I admired her and enjoyed her narrative. She was exciting and funny despite having the experiences that she has had.
I must agree with the people who had problems with Sarah. Whilst she is a strong and interesting character I felt I never quite gelled with her in the story. I felt the same as Lynsay. I neither was quite sure what my problem was with her she just didn’t work for me. Needless to say I enjoyed her narrative but I just had this nagging problem throughout that yelled something isn’t right. I wished I could have put my finger on it whilst reading the book, however since completing it I think it may have been that Little Bee’s character overshadowed Sarah’s. But if that is the problem, to only be able to criticise one character because another is superb shows how brilliant Chris’ writing and description of Little Bee was.
Laurence I felt was bland! He just seemed this background character that didn’t seem to add to the story other than to point out Sarah’s infidelity. Andrew… I felt I either needed to know much more or far less, he seemed to be half develop which left me with many of unanswered questions.
My main niggle was being told what the worst seen was meant to be before reading the book! In the build up I was desperate to know what the African Beach scene contained and felt a little let down. Had I not known that it was meant to be horrific I think I would have been more shocked than I was! The shock for me came later with Little Bees sister and as that wasn’t highlighted as horrific on the cover it had more impact. I was wondering what Chris’ intention was? Did he mean for the sister scene to be more shocking as it wasn’t highlighted?
I agree with one comment that for a male to have such insight into women characters to the extent that women readers completely believe in them is brilliant.
Overall an excellent book and a subject that will always provoke discussion. I felt the ending was perfect as had she been allowed to stay I think it would have been too easy to forget about the book. As she was sent home it meant that her story would stay in the minds of the reader for far longer and perhaps help people to understand the terrible situation that many refugees are placed in. Her being allowed to stay I feel would have been happier but too convenient. Well done Chris for being so brave as to not chose the easy ending.
Eagerly anticipating Wednesday and will definitely be looking for Incendiary.
Chris: Why did you choose Nigeria as your setting?

[Helen Nash]

I just wanted to add another comment! Having read others' comments on language, I'd just like to say how much I enjoyed Little Bee's voice - her chapters almost seemed to sing, and her voice was so alive (more so than Sarah, perhaps - I liked Sarah but she wasn't as alive as Little Bee to me). The end was unbearably moving - I devoured the last few pages because thay were so tense.

From the comments I can see I'm not alone in my frustration at the lack of humanity/racism shown towards Little Bee by so many characters. This book really reminded me of how little we understand of countries in the developing world - and how much we take. The horror of sending people 'home' to their deaths... It made me want to yell at all those officials and rescue Little Bee. But what do I do to help real people?

Yes Chris - why Nigeria?

[Samantha Huddart]

I have recently finished this book and found it both captivating and intriguing, with a subject matter that really hit the heart. As others have already mentioned I felt very drawn to the character of Little Bee and I enjoyed seeing events unfold through her eyes.

Having only finished this book within the last few days I feel like I'm still digesting the novel as a whole but I will spend some time reading all the other comments and then post again.

[Elaine Dingsdale]

I do wonder if there's actually sufficient ambiguity about the ending-or am I just being an eternal optimist again? Sarah did reiterate that she wouldn't give up on Bee, and I wonder if the final scene could be interpreted as a precusor to that. I like to think that it's at least a possibilty.
I agree with the earlier comments, which suggested that the the graveside scenes were amongst the most disturbing, sharing as we did, a child's anguish and lack of comprehension, rather than the fears experienced by Andrew and Sarah-and likewise the rape scene of Bee's sister.
As to why Nigeria-sadly it could perhaps be seen as typically representative of life in many different countries- a tragic micrcosm of inhumanity on larger scale.
I've been completely enthralled by Chris's alternating narratives and styles :he's a very accomplished linguist (and I'm glad to see that he rates "100 Years of Solitude" amongst his top 5 books!)

[cheryl pasquier]

I've just finished reading this and really enjoyed it. The basic plot was pretty simple and - dare I say it - even slightly predictable, with the only real question mark being, would Little Bee be allowed to stay in the UK or would she finally be deported ? But in some ways, strange as it seems, that wasn't really the most important issue, in my opinion. It was more about an inner voyage, coming to terms (or not) with what life has thrown at you, wherever you end up and whoever you are (black teenage illegal immigrant running from the horrors witnessed in Nigeria and probably feeling guilty for surviving when her sister didn't, well-off white suburban widow feeling guilty about not feeling guilty about her affair now her husband has died and thinking her professional life is too superficial, depressive middle-aged journalist who can't deal with being a coward and not stepping in to protect his wife and two young girls when they were depending on him, Yevette finding the inner strength to do what it takes to get out of her situation whatever the cost, the illegal immigrant with the Green Flash trainers realising that, even if all her paperwork has been meticulously organised and she becomes legal, she can't escape the horrors from home and the ghost of her absent daughter...)

I liked the non-chronological timeframe, with flashbacks gradually explaining other elements of the plot. I agree with some of the other comments though - the height of horror in this novel is portrayed as the finger-chopping episode on the beach (with all the flashbacks, the blurb on the book, leading to that point), but I agree that the rape and murder of Little Bee's sister is much more horrific, and even - for Sarah - the moment of blind panic when she realises that her little boy (at this point the only thing she is living for) is missing, possibly drowned or abducted. This episode seemed subdued to me - as a mum to a 3 and a half year old, I can imagine the sheer terror of that moment and thought it could have been played up a bit more. It seemed to be just a cog in the works, a necessary plot device for getting the police in and Little Bee arrested. I'm sure Sarah would have been much more panic-stricken.

I liked the shifting of voices (between Little Bee's and Sarah's) and of moods (between grim horror and tender hope - which is not to say that one represented England and the other Nigeria, that was more blurred).

Like Neil, I came to this book straight after another one - Lynda La Plante's 'Clean Cut' - which annoyed me with the "blame everything on the voodoo-practising, drug-taking illegal immigrants" mentality of several of the characters, if not the author herself ! So it was refreshing to see a more humanised representation of the illegal immigrants.

If we take Charlie/Batman's view of everyone being goodies or baddies, I wonder who is who in this novel. Sarah is a baddie in the marriage stakes but tries her best to help out Little Bee in the end. Little Bee is the victim but had a moment of selfishness when she came across Andrew hanging himself and didn't immediately call for help. Lawrence seems to be a bit of a pig, thinking only of himself and not getting uncovered by his wife and the Home Office, but he supposedly does want to look out for Sarah and help her too.

As for what everyone else thought :

People seem unsure about Sarah. As Neil says : "Sarah seems to waver between emotional instability ... and incredible strength of character. " I think this is true, and this is why we have a hard time getting to grips with her character, but she is supposed to be a newly bereaved widow going through grief while trying to be solid and strong and hold it all together for her son.

The beach scene - it seemed realistic to me but for another reason. (Sorry if this sounds feminist !!!) Sarah is a mother, so she would be used to putting her needs last. Through pregnancy and childbirth, nothing counts but the safety of the baby - do whatever it takes to keep him/her safe, whatever the risks or the pain involved. So her "it's only a finger after all" attitude rang true to me. Andrew was more rational - "there's no guarantee he won't kill them anyway" - which is supposed to be the traditionally male way of seeing things too, isn't it ?!!

Like Georgina, I thought the final scene was a highpoint too. Emotionally charged but also highly symbolic. Hidden under his Batman costume, Charlie fitted right in with the black children and they played happily. When he finally ripped it off, they were shocked by his whiteness but then they still played together anyway. All throughout the novel, Little Bee makes the "Dogs are dogs and wolves are wolves" statement, but maybe all it needs is a Batman costume to defeat this divide !

Like Karen, I also googled Chris Cleave to see if he was a he or a she because he got so well into the female psyche !!! (Take it as a compliment Chris, honestly !!!)

One little niggle with Little Bee - she seemed much older than her years (though understandable when she has been through so much in her short life) so I had a hard time imagining her as still being a teenager.

Parts of this book - the final impossibility of overcoming the racial divide, despite everyone's best efforts - gave me flashbacks of studying 'A Passage to India' at school too !

(Sorry this is so long but I probably won't have time to log on for the "live" discussion tomorrow ! )

[Anne Whitcombe]

Just clicked a wrong key and lost all I'd written :(
As predicted in my first post I finished this book the day after picking it up,but have been unable to post as I'm on holiday with limited access to computer/internet. This has given me a few days to think about the book though - which in itself is a tribute to the author for having written such a thought-provoking novel.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, both in terms of the subject matter and in terms of the characterisation and style of writing. I think Chris very successfully contrasted two very different realities using the characters of Bee and Sarah and his clever use of narrative highlighted how difficult it is for one world to understand the other, which gives rise to so much prejudice. Bee's descriptions 'to the girls back home' - for example about a coffee table not being made of coffee, and wood being made in machines to go on the floor, rather than being stacked up for firewood - humourously bring across the point as to just how incomprehensible one's reality is to the other. Quite apart from the larger political issues, this lack of understanding on a one-to-one basis, caused by difference in language (although Bee prided herself on her good English she was not sufficiently experienced to always use it correctly), as well as culture and customs is what enables racism to take hold.

As for the larger picture, I did not know much about the problems in the Niger Delta, but coincidentally yesterday read an editorial in the Indpendent (Johann Hari) focusing precisely on the struggle of Mend - Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta - which certainly corroborated the grim reality Chris depicts in the novel. Again coincidentally the same paper ran an article (Robert Verlaik and Chris Green) concerning abuse suffered by asylum seekers at the hands of the authorities and private security companies in the detention centres, again confirming the issues Chris raises.

Regarding the characters, I can't imagine anyone not warming to Bee, although the horrors she goes through would possibly make us feel guilty if we didn't. Her upbringing in the small, previously 'safe' community of her village gives her that ability which is often notable in the women from such small communities to see other people as humans, and needing care and affection, which enabled her to immediately forge a bond with Charley. (Not to say that other women do not have this - but maybe the faster pace of our lives often makes us more selfish, or self-interested).

Personally I also liked Sarah. I think she was a fighter, not wanting to be dictated to in either her personal or professional life, although making mistakes along the way, which we all do. Motherhood was probably the biggest anchor in her life, and I think that seeing the relationship which developed between Bee and Charley was fundamental in motivating Sarah to really want to do something to help Bee to get her papers. Naturally Sarah's responsilbility in the situation where Bee was finally picked up by the police confirmed her option to take the matter further, but this was a cause that she could fight for and in so doing come to feel better about herself and her ability to have a meaningful role in society, and ultimately be an inspiration to her son.

As for the men they definitely take a secondary role and I would agree with a comment that has already been made in that they serve more to round out Sarah's character than to stand on their own. Neither were particularly likeable but they were necessary to fill in the story.

Regarding the end to the story, I think that although as readers we probably all want Bee to be saved, both for her own sake and for Sarah's conscience, reality dictates that to be improbable, if not impossible, so I think Chris chose the right option. Some of the reader's comments show that he has left us with a stone in our shoes, insofar as concerns putting our own problems, or even lives, into perspective.

Sorry this has been longwinded, but I really loved the book and apologise as I will no doubt have repeated points which have already been made, but I'm working against the clock here and will only have time to read all the posts when I get back home.

As I won't be able to take part in the online discussion tomorrow, my questions to Chris would be:

- Why Nigeria?
- Who is Joseph (dedication) - if that's not too personal!
- Which is your favourite character?

[Shirley]

I've just finished the book as unfortunately I have glandular fever at the moment and keep falling asleep.

This isn't a book that I would have picked up in a bookshop but maybe I should in future as I really enjoyed it.

I loved the way in which Little Bee and Sarah both told their version of the story as it gave more of an insight into the story and how two different people can tell the same story.

I was a little disappointed with the ending though as it seemed as though Sarah had given up on Little Bee after specifically telling her that she would be safe with her.

I'd be interested to know if there is going to be a sequel to this book, possibly following what happens to Sarah or Little Bee or even both.

This would also make a great film as while reading it I found myself feeling as if I was really there in the jungle with Little Bee when she found the jeep.

[Caroline Watts]

Whilst I felt that Little Bee being returned home did add to the book, did you at any point consider ending the book with her staying in the UK?

Throughout the book Little Bee’s voice rang of authenticity rarely found where it strikes so true to me. I was just wondering is she based on someone or is she completely fictitious?

Is there a next project and if there is can you give anything away?

[Chris Cleave]

THANK YOU!

Dear Lynsay, Georgina, Neil, Clive, All three Annes, Kathy, Lucy, Caroline, Adele, Denise, S Jackson, Helen, Alison, A.P., Elaine, Karen, Sharon, Samantha, Cheryl, Shirley - thank you so much for your insightful and interesting commentary. I’d like to note again how much I appreciate the kind and constructive way you’ve phrased your comments, even when you’ve had a bone to pick with the text! I have been enjoying your discussion immensely, and learning a great deal from it. Thank you for confirming my belief that there are still immensely gifted readers out there who are more than a match for a challenging text. Listening to you, I know I can write up, not down.

Right, I’m going to answer your questions now…

[Chris Cleave]

WHY NIGERIA?

Caroline, Helen, and Anne Whitcombe all ask why I chose Nigeria. The answer is that Nigeria enjoys the eerie status of being simultaneously plausible both as a tourist destination and as a point of origin for refugees.

Nigeria is a thoroughly modern country with a democratic and federalised structure that works fairly well. Its official language is English. It has lovely golden beaches. It has excellent universities, strong economic growth, and strong trade links with the outside world. The Nigerian community is strong and successful around the world (which has the very pleasant consequence, as a writer, that I have to go no further than London to ask someone what the skyline of Abuja looks like at sunset).

And yet at the same time, the Delta region of Nigeria is riven by tribal conflicts exacerbated by the exploitation of the area’s oil reserves - and Western oil interests are complicit in fuelling these conflicts. To put it simply, it is possible to fly to Nigeria on holiday and to end up fairly close to a conflict caused by the jet fuel you used to get there. Then at the end of your holiday it is possible to return home to where you live, fairly close to an Immigration Removal Centre full of asylum seekers about to be deported to the place you just came back from. As Little Bee might put it, that is a good trick.

I chose Nigeria because it highlights the extraordinary contradictions of our world. I chose Nigeria because it enabled me to let the “developed” and the “developing” worlds meet face-to-face and to talk to one another in a common language, simply through Sarah and Andrew being on the wrong side of a chain-link fence in Nigeria, and then again simply through Little Bee being on the right side of a razor-wire fence in England.

Usually we do not see much of the world, even when it is under our noses. The conflict in Nigeria is under-reported, and the existence of Immigration Removal Centres in the UK is unknown to most UK residents. In my writing I do not like to invent reality, I try instead simply to invent a situation in which the characters are forced to experience it.

[Lynsay Lambert]

Thanks Chris - i really appreciate the fact that you're taking time to come and talk to us (and i'm very excited about it!!)

I would like to know how you personally feel about Sarah as a character? Do you feel that she is more of a victim, or a fighter? and did she turn out the way you intended her to?

What is your take on the male characters? In the book they seem fairly weak and ineffective, is this purposely to highlight the female characters and keep the focus on them?

and why do you choose to focus so much on women over men?

I'll keep coming back to see your answers to everyones questions, think this will be really informative!

[Tom Goddard]

Overall this novel was a stimulating read with an engaging story and it raised some interesting issues however I did feel it contained some flaws.

The voice of Little Bee was well-defined and consistent throughout the story. She comes across as a particularly insightful and intelligent sixteen-year old. It was a clever idea to counterpoint this narrative style with the more conventional voice and perspective of Sarah. It kept up a good narrative rhythm within the novel.

The characters of Sarah and Laurence (and Andrew when he did appear) were somewhat unsympathetic though. They seemed to be vessels for white middle-class guilt. Their moral choices (beach) and subsequent redemption did drive the story but you couldn't help but think they were incredibly blinkered and self-absorbed for not realising all of this in the first place rather than having to have it hammered home by the appearance of Little Bee.

On the whole the story was very 'right-on' in a politically correct way - that immigrants are victims and we just need to realise this if we just opened our eyes to their suffering. In this sense the story pulled that off successfully. You did empathise with Little Bee and the problems in her own country. I personally would have preferred something more balanced and a little harsher in its depiction of immigrants. Using a child's innocent perspective is a clever and easy way to manipulate the reader's feelings.

If this was a film it would come close in tone to Dirty Pretty Things by Stephen Frears in how it portrays immigrants and also in how it portrays the Immigration service as a bunch of racists. I think this is probably too polarised and innacurate and therefore weakens the story a little.

I did like the core event of the story - the beach scene where they are forced to make that decision. It did drive the story and until that point I was waiting in anctipation to find out exactly what happened on the beach - this perhaps could have been left until a little later on in the story as the suspense is what made me read on eagerly up to that point. The other part I particularly liked was appearance of Little Bee as a perceived ghost who causes Andrew's suicide. This was chilling and almost could have pushed the story into horror story territory if treated differently.

The story felt a little rushed towards the end with alot being fitted in. 'They-went-to-Nigeria-and-then-they-interviewed-some-people...' and so on. However the overall arc of the story was satisfying - you felt that the characters had moved forward in their various ways and this is perhaps what we ultimately look for in a story - we expect character development.

In short this novel seems to come from and be aimed at a Guardian-reader type.

A question Chris - what made you pick Sarah, Laurence and Andrew as the British characters? I'm presuming you picked Laurence because he worked for the Home Office and was therefore set up in opposition to Little Bee as an illegal immigrant. What about Sarah and Andrew?

[Chris Cleave]

WHY IS SARAH THE WAY SHE IS?

It sounds as if not all of you would volunteer for an evening at the pub with Sarah! Clive sums up this feeling when he asks: “Did you make Sarah unlikable on purpose, as a caricature of 'the West' or does she just seem that way by contrast to Little Bee?" On the other hand (forgive me), Adele suggests that: “Sarah isn't unlikable; she simply isn't predictable. Like most of us, she muddles along, doing her best.” Lynsay asks: “Do you feel that she is more of a victim, or a fighter?” And Kathy in my opinion got to the heart of Sarah’s reason for being in the novel when she “sympathised with Sarah and how her early aspirations at ‘doing something to change the world’ had slowly been compromised until she herself ended up in a suburban prison. In my mind both little bee and Sarah were prisoners of different sorts.”

I have to agree with Clive that Sarah is very hard to love. She reminds me of me, really – she is a labyrinth of minor hypocrisies and major contradictions. By contrast with Little Bee, her character is always going to seem complicated and even unlikable. And yet I feel that the character of the person rhymes with the character of the challenges they face. Life for Little Bee is desperately difficult but it is also blissfully simple. She flees, she survives, she escapes, she is captured: she resists. The world is hell-bent on simply destroying her, and she responds with simple courage. Sarah, though, is faced with forces that are more complex and that will kill her much more slowly than - though just as surely as - the obvious forces of physical destruction with which Little Bee is faced. In the West it is a lack of courage that kills us by a thousand cuts – the lack of courage to stand up and live by our convictions, which leads ultimately to depression. This is what does for Andrew in the novel, and it is the spectre that always hovers before Sarah.

It is hard to be a refugee, but it is also hard to live with courage in the West – especially when you have children (or other dependent relatives) counting on you to provide for them. Sarah’s enemy is not a man with a machete, it is a man with a comfortable paycheque. Sometimes she will win these moral battles, and sometimes she will lose. This is the problem with our comfortable life in the West: it is possible to lose the occasional battle against our mortal enemy and not immediately to die. We can carry on for years making the compromises that slowly kill us. This is a luxury that is not available to Little Bee, and she is arguably a better person for it. But I have a lot of sympathy with Sarah and her struggle to do the right thing – to make her job at the magazine count for something, for example, and to help Little Bee as much as she can. It is important to the novel that Sarah’s predicament is as desperate in its own way as Little Bee’s. I wanted the friendship between the two women to be genuine, and this means Little Bee helping Sarah as much as Sarah helps Little Bee. I think this was an interesting discovery for me while I was writing the novel: that we find out strength in unlikely places, and that when we do finally find our strength, our own actions can sometimes surprise us.

[Suzie Doore]

As Chris's editor, I was interested to read here that most people take the 'horrific' beach scene mentioned in the blurb to be the finger-chopping incident and not the rape and murder of Nkiruka. Both are African beach scenes, but naturally the murder is more shocking. There was deliberate ambiguity in the blurb, partly because both scenes are pivotal and partly because it would have sounded weaker to say 'the African beach sceneS'. But I'd be interested to know why readers assume the reference is to the earlier scene..

[cheryl pasquier]

Interesting comments from Chris. I have to admit to being totally ignorant about the whole situation in Nigeria so it's interesting to find out the facts behind the fiction.

A couple of people have mentioned The Other Hand as a film and I noticed that Incendiary is to be released as a film soon. If you had the chance to turn this novel into a film, would you go for it? And if so, who could you imagine in the lead roles ?!

Also, I was wondering how you researched life an an illegal immigrant in the detention centres. I would imagine you'd come across a lot of closed doors to find information like that but it sounds too well researched to be pure invention.

I'll try to pop back in later to catch up with the latest questions and answers, it's strangely addictive !!!

[Elaine Dingsdale]

I didn't find Sarah unlikeable as much as merely human, with all the failings and fears that brings. Her love for her son was a hugely redeeming feature for her character in my eyes. I was further impressed when she and Batman appeared on Bee's flight to Nigeria- I really didn't see that coming!

Whilst the male characters were less interesting (I wouldn't necesarily class them as "weak", more representative of a type), they were necessary-there wouldn't have been a plot otherwise! I felt the novel benefited from keeping them on the periphery, and focusing in much more depth on the femal characters, and the children.I found the scenes of the children playing together on the beach particularly poignant. This gave huge impact to the final scene, which again, I wasn't expecting-and turned the page eagerly to see what happened next! From carefree children romping on a beach,to violence and intimidation-this was superb writing.

Rather than a question on the novel, can I ask about your writing routine-do you have one? How long did the novel take to write?

And a question for Greg, can we have "Incendiary" next month?!

[Elaine Dingsdale]

Suzie-interesting point-I referred in my original post to scenes" as I did feel the rape was the more horrific of the two.

[Chris Cleave]

FOR TOM GODDARD

Hi Tom, thanks for your commentary on the book. You’ve said some constructive things but you’ve also given me a couple of notes I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t give straight back to you.

You say that “In short this novel seems to come from and be aimed at a Guardian-reader type.” Well, that’s certainly short! In terms of who the novel comes from, I hold my hand up to being a Guardian-reader type, although it is only one of several journals I read. I write a Family column for The Guardian in fact, which I do for no other UK newspaper, and I do it because I am proud for them to publish my work. The reason I like them is because they engage in serious reportage on issues where other newspapers often prefer to push an ideological agenda. For example, I’d challenge anyone to read the work of Caroline Moorhead in The Guardian (e.g. http://tinyurl.com/568smd ) and to claim that it is not carefully researched and factually based. So I don’t see why it is diminishing to be a Guardian reader, or a Guardian writer for that matter, as you seem to imply. Nor can I accept your suggestion that the novel is “aimed at a Guardian-reader type.” I don’t aim a novel at anyone – it is not a gun. It is satisfying work and I do it for myself, and if anyone else is interested then that is wonderful and it makes me happy – I don’t have any preconceptions about who the reader might be. My last novel, for example, was published in twenty countries and read by people who’ve never heard of The Guardian, and I hope this one will find its way too.

You say that the English characters “seemed to be vessels for white middle-class guilt”. I think you could expand on that. I hope Sarah does. Like “Guardian reader”, I feel that “white middle-class guilt” is a dismissive term that derides something important rather than examining it. Sarah and Little Bee have very different lives. Sarah is privileged to have choices, Little Bee isn’t. Guilt is just one part of Sarah’s response to this state of affairs. Some other parts are empathy, charity and self-sacrifice – with a scattering of selfishness into the bargain.

Next you assert that the story is “very ‘right-on’ in a politically correct way” – and again I feel you are using dismissive epithets that lack substance or specificity. Come on, Tom, you are clearly smarter than that. If the novel jars with your politics, then I am challenging you to raise your game when you explain why.

Finally you state that you “personally would have preferred something more balanced and a little harsher in its depiction of immigrants.” Well, if you want something harsher I guess there are several newspapers that are good for that. As for me, I wanted to write something that gave an asylum seeker back the humanity that the tabloid press seeks to remove from her. I don’t apologise for treating asylum seekers as “victims” who are “suffering” – they are. It is how we respond to their suffering that will define the kind of society that we become.

[Helen Nash]

I've just been sitting in the waiting room of my GP's surgery, re-reading the end of 'the Other Hand' - partly because Tom wrote that he thought it was rushed! I don't agree, sorry - I thought it was one of the most beautiful and moving sections of the book (I didn't cry THIS time I read it!). I loved the part where Little Bee wakes up and isn't sure who/where she is - a beautiful metaphor.

I also really liked the way it ends full circle: on a beach, just as the story began (must have been a deliberate choice Chris?), but this time Sarah can't save LB and LB has to save Sarah and Charlie (I was worried at one point that they were ALL going to die...). Or perhaps LB is saved, in the sense that her story will live on? She certainly saves Sarah and Charlie not just physically but emotionally. The beach is such an important place in the novel: for tourists it represents the perfect holiday but it is a place of work for the locals and a place of horror for LB - a place of great beauty yet vulnerabilty. The beach seems to be where people reveal what they are made of: Sarah steps up, but Richard can't. Little Bee saves Charlie (again - her meeting with the police seals her fate.) I saw Charlie's removal of his Batman costume as an acceptance that we are ordinary, not superheros, but ordinary people can do extraordinary things. It was also a stripping away of externals (maybe Western culture?) to reveal truth - just as LB reveals her true name: Peace.

I also found the depiction of the business of the 'global economy' of forced repatriation distubing: the man who returns people to 'homes' where they face torture and death, yet shows no interest or concern - except for his own problem in finding work because of the 'Polskis'. The novel raises so many questions about our responsibilities, about immigration, about what it means to be British.

Thank you so much for all your comments Chris - it's brilliant getting an insight into your thinking. I loved your comments on Sarah and our battles in the West, our struggles to do the right thing. It's Richard's failure to do this which kills him (I found that so moving). Is this why Richard and Sarah are journalists - people who comment on (and earn their living off!) the tragedies of others, yet here have to get involved? One of my stand-out lines is when Sarah says "until she [LB] is happy and safe, then I don't think we will be either" - a message for all of us to recognise our responsibilty for and relationship with people beyond our immediate circle, or even country?

[Tom Goddard]

In response to Suzie Doore's post, I think that the reason the finger chopping scene hits some readers more than the rape scene is because it directly involves the main characters who we have got into over the course of the story and puts them in a difficult moral position - it is the moral choice they are forced to make which shocks us - they are like us yet what would we do in their situation? Would we have the guts to chop off our fingers to save a life? How could we live with the shame if we didn't? It engages us because it makes us ask questions about ourselves. The rape scene, on the other hand, is horrific, yet because we do not know Nkiruka and know little about her character, it does not carry quite the same impact.

[Helen Nash]

oh no, I've just read the new posts and spotted one by Suzie Doore - so I have to post again (good thing I'm on holiday!)

I thought both scenes were one, really - we just hear about them separately. The horrific rape and murder is made even more effective because we don't see it (because Little Bee can't). I think people wrote more about the finger chopping scene because it raises moral questions - what would you do - and so takes on larger significance. And while we're on beach scenes - the final one is also disturbing in it's own way...

[Suzie Doore]

Tom, that's very interesting. Although the scene where Sarah loses her finger is at the heart of the book, I could never imagine finding it more horrific than the rape scene. I am biased when it comes to Chris's writing, of course, but I think the rape and murder of Nkiruka is one of the most chilling scenes I've ever read and Chris does it brilliantly - it gave me nightmares. For me, the fact that we know so little of Nkiruka and only see her through Bee's memories of her makes her, if anything, more affecting than Sarah or Andrew. I wonder if reaction to the rape scene divides along gender lines? Or am I over-simplifying?

[Chris Cleave]

ANDREW AND LAWRENCE

Several of you have noted that the adult male characters in the novel are feckless and unlikable. I really enjoyed Neil Fulwood’s commentary – both for its even-handedness and for the strength of his writing – and I love it when he asks: “Do the male characters have to be such dicks?” Good point neatly made!

I didn’t intend for this to be a pro-feminist or anti-male novel, although from some of the comments that have been made here, I realise it might be legitimate to read it that way. I really hope that won’t be how it is seen, though!

Sarah and Little Bee are the story in this novel. The male characters are bit-parts, sketched rather than drawn - they fulfil the same role that scenery boards do in a stage play – so I should explain why.

The major characters are women not because of any agenda on my part, but out of necessity. When I was researching the book I was astonished at how many of the women’s and children’s refugee stories began “The men came and they…” Little Bee is a woman by default, because all of the men from her village have been killed or conscripted into militias. And since Little Bee was a woman, the best way for me to give her a plausible friendship with no sexual overtones was with a heterosexual woman – hence Sarah. Additionally, I don’t imagine Little Bee would have been able to trust a man for a long time, after what happened to her sister.

It is true that Andrew and Lawrence are unsympathetic, but this comes from their structural role in providing a counterpoint to Sarah and Little Bee, rather than from their male-ness. If the shoe was on the other foot and I had decided to write about two male lead characters with minor female characters in the supporting roles, then in this case I think the female characters would have been as unsympathetic as Andrew and Lawrence are. I’m not man-bashing. It’s just that to my mind there is only room in this novel for two complex characters striving to do the right thing, and necessity dictated in this case that they be women.

I like men. (Some of my best friends, and all that…) There are some good men in the story – the farmer who takes in the refugees, for example, or the detention officer right at the start of the book. (I don’t think he is a bad person – I think he is finally rather embarrassed about the whole situation and the role he is cast in, and this is why he is moved to wish the women good luck when they leave).

In my next book I promise to write a likable male main character!

[Chris Cleave]

JOHN LE CARRE

Something I’ve really enjoyed on this forum has been the John Le Carré banter. Having my novel likened by Clive to “The Constant Gardner with jokes” was my proudest literary moment! Although it was good (and right) to be taken down a peg by Neil before my head swelled.

I mention this because John Le Carré is a hero and an inspiration to me. I thought ‘The Constant Gardner’ was a superb book. Let’s consider the evidence. It’s accessible yet it respects the intelligence of the reader. It’s painstakingly researched yet it wears its learning lightly. It takes an immensely controversial subject and examines our complicity in the issue, without being preachy. And all this notwithstanding, as a novel, it works brilliantly.

Le Carré proves that it is possible to be socially engaged and artistically interesting at the same time, and if I keep working hard then I hope I will one day write as well as him.

[Chris Cleave]

THE ENDING

The ending seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it moment. Kathy says: “I wanted justice and freedom for Little Bee, I didn’t want her to be recaptured, and presumably killed.” Sharon says: ”I wanted Sarah to actually take control of her life and actually help Little Bee a bit more, even if she was only able to live freely in her own country!” Lynsay asks: “Does anyone think that it was right that Little Bee got sent back home, as she had no papers? Or should she have been allowed to stay, as she had a sponsor and had made such an effort to learn English?” Neil adds: “I think the novel could have gone into interesting territory if it had documented Sarah's fight to secure Little Bee's citizenship through legal channels.”

I can’t tell you how desperately I wanted to write a happy ending to this book. I ended up loving the main characters (including Sarah) and wanting them to live happily together. I literally tried it six different ways of doing it, and one of these days I guess I will put up some of the happy endings on my website, because a part of me really wants them to be the ending. But I examined my conscience and I realised I shouldn’t do it. A happy ending to a story like this would have more to do with wish fulfilment or sales pressure than with realism. And I am fully committed to realism in this novel. Ultimately the best I could do was to make the ending ambiguous. It is possible that Little Bee is imprisoned rather than killed, and that she is eventually released (because she is smart and resourceful), and that she will find the happiness which will save them all. (I certainly think that by the end of the novel, Sarah will never be happy unless Little Bee is happy).

As Elaine says, “Sarah did reiterate that she wouldn't give up on Bee, and I wonder if the final scene could be interpreted as a precursor to that. I like to think that it's at least a possibility.”

I was really struck by something Anne Whitcombe said, that the ending leaves us “with a stone in our shoes”. That’s a wonderful way of putting it. I wish I could claim that it was intentional on my part, but I’m not that smart. I just wrote the ending I thought was most realistic - although I tried to make it beautiful as well as ugly.

[Chris Cleave]

WHERE DOES LITTLE BEE COME FROM?

Caroline asks: “I was just wondering is she based on someone or is she completely fictitious?”

Little Bee is completely fictitious. I had been researching the issue of asylum seekers and thinking very hard – with little success – about how to tell the story without being preachy or boring. It was really driving me crazy. So a friend of mine lent me his cottage and I went off to North Wales for a week on my own, in this really haunting place at the end of a long cinder track on the mountainside, and I woke up in the middle of the night with a huge thunderstorm crashing overhead and the beach scene in my head. I spent three days writing it down in the third person. Little Bee was a character in this scene, but she didn’t have her own voice yet.

My first attempt at the novel grew outwards from the beach scene, and it had five different first-person narrators who told the story from their own points of view. Sarah was one of the narrators but Little Bee wasn’t, although she was a character in the book. The point I was trying to make was that everyone has a point of view on refugees, but refugees themselves don’t get much of a voice. I submitted this novel, which was called ‘Saturday Night in Western Civilisation’, and it was rejected by most of my publishers. I think it was too angry in tone, and it didn’t have coherence as a novel.

At that point I was feeling quite distressed, because I was compelled to tell the story but I didn’t know how to do it. It was my Canadian publisher, Maya Mavjee, who called me to suggest that I write Little Bee’s voice in the first person. I though she was crazy, but then I thought about it for a few days and realised that she was right, and that if I worked very hard to study the speech patterns, I could do it. I’m incredibly grateful to Maya, because this nove would not exist without her. I just worked on the speech patterns and the sense of humour until Little Bee started to appear on the page. After a month of work she started to say and do things that surprised me, which is a good indication for me that one of my characters has acquired a life of their own. After that I sat down and wrote the story from the beginning. Little Bee is a really strong force and sometimes it felt I was just taking dictation. Sarah felt more like work to write, although I enjoyed that too.

It’s weird to look back on how Little Bee came to life. I remember the exact moment she got her name. It was in Wales and I was stumbling around in a daze, as I do sometimes, and I was watching a bee collecting honey at some rather nondescript flower. It was during a break in the rain, and there was a bright ray of sunlight on the flower, just for a second, and the bee flew away, and I noticed the flower for the first time and I realised that it was beautiful.

[Lynsay Lambert]

I agree Suzie, part of what makes the rape chilling is because LB cant see it, its all about what you hear. I'd like to point people towards Funny Games, if they havent already seen it, which is one of the most tense chilling films i've ever seen - all without showing any violence on screen!

i think the first beach scene is also the one referred to most, as i for one, was anticipating the beach scene from the blurb, so when there was a scene taking place on the beach, that was assumed to be it (by me)

I also like Chris's points for Tom. I have stated before that i'm not particularly interested in politics et al, but i find it interesting how someone can use the type of paper someone reads as a kind of derogatory term. At the end of the day, we're all reading these books, and debating them, which i think says more about us!

I think the way the book is displayed is fantastic as well (i have a degree in marketing lol) the blurb is a teaser, which doesnt give anything away. In all honesty, if i had known what the book was about from the blurb, i very much doubt that i would have bought it, and i bet i'm not the only one who would say this!

[Chris Cleave]

NEXT PROJECT

Caroline asks: Is there a next project and if there is can you give anything away?

Yes there is a next project and I’m loving it! I’m under contract to write a second novel for my wonderful editor at Sceptre, Suzie Dooré. This one is set in Central London and it is a deeply transgressive love story. I am trying to look at the state of romantic love with fresh eyes. Imagine if it happened to you and you had no idea what it was!

[Chris Cleave]

SIGNING OFF

Dear Waterstone's Book Club

Thank you for your amazing level of engagement with the text. You have been a real inspiration and an encouragement to me, and I’m really pleased that most of you seem to have enjoyed the book!

It’s 2pm now which means I have to go and put on my other hat as the dad of two kids, but I want to say that it has been an honour to join in your book club, which is the best one I have encountered. Many thanks to you and to Greg for inviting me.

Sorry to all of you whose questions I haven’t been able to answer directly, but I will always be pleased to hear from you – there are contact details on my website at www.chriscleave.com

Please can a I leave you with a recommendation for a future book club pick? I’ve just finished reading ‘One Morning Like A Bird’ by Andrew Miller, and it is the most sublime and humane novel I have read for a long time. I was very moved by it. It’s out in September.

[Georgina Tranter]

Wow! This has all made such interesting reading. I didn't dislike Sarah as a character, I just think that the strength and 'likeability' of Little Bee maybe makes her a second choice character in comparison. My favourite was 'Batman'.

With response to Suzie's comment about the beach scene, I thought it was the finger chopping incident primarily because we read that first but I found all three scenes equally horrific in their own ways - in fact the last one was probably the worst for me as that was the one that left me in tears.

Chris, I think you have written a fantastic book that I have already recommended to people at my book group. From the information we were sent through from Greg (no offence here Greg!) I certainly didn't think I would be interested in this book, but from the opening chapter I was hooked and devoured it very quickly (and I don't read the Guardian!!!!).

I loved the characters, and particularly the way that Little Bee explains everything, especially how she would describe things to the girl back home, or what it would be like to become an English pound.

Fantastic - well done and thank you.

[Tom Goddard]

In response to Chris's post:

Hi Chris, I do not intend to diminish being a Guardian reader, being middle class or for feeling guilty about having privileges. I think it is a brave and idealistic position to hold and expound within a work of fiction, particularly if you can manage to make this work of fiction a good gripping story as well, which you succeed in doing.

I do think, however, that a liberal perspective can make issues black and white just as much as a right-wing perspective can and that can be dangerous. It is innaccurate to portray all asylum seekers and illegal immigrants as victims - the majority are perhaps victims of repressive regimes who deserve sanctuary but similarly there are many who come here primarily not to flee but purely to build a better life for themselves (and who can blame them?). Obviously within the scope of a single novel you have to make a choice to select a certain type of character to focus on and in this case you focus on Little Bee.

It might sound cynical but I think all people have ulterior interests when interacting with others despite their primary interests. In Little Bee's case, her primary interest is personal survival. I would have liked to have seen more ulterior interests exposed as I think this would have made her a more rounded character. As it stands she has suffered more than the British characters in the story so she holds a higher moral ground over them. She comes across as good and pure - in essence she is a walking conscience. Perhaps she is too good and pure.

Right-on / politically correct: you're right, I shouldn't have said this without backing it up. It's hard to quantify - it's the general tone of the story, the nature of the British characters and how they behave towards Little Bee and how the story ultimately resolved. In a nutshell, I don't think it provoked as deeply as it could have on a political level. With a touchy subject matter like immigration you have the chance to throw up some really controversial stuff that can get people's backs up, just so long as you can handle it and balance it. Morally, however, the story does provoke - with the choices the characters are forced to make and their consequences - this is what I found to be the truly engaging aspect of the novel and its strength.

[Greg Eden]

Dear all

I just wanted to say a big thank you to Chris and Hodder & Stoughton and to all the readers who have taken the trouble to join in the discussion today.

Strangely enough the next bookclub will be One Morning Like A Bird - although I think there's plenty of life in this discussion yet.

If there's sufficient demand, perhaps we can get Chris back for another "live" discussion.

Thanks again to everyone who took part.

Greg

[Helen Nash]

Thanks for posting all those comments so rapidly Greg - it made it feel really 'live'! I so enjoyed reading all the comments - and thank you to Chris for his measured and thoughtful responses.

Can't wait for One Morning Like a Bird now....

[S Jackson]

Thank you to Greg for organising this, and to Chris for taking part!

I've loved reading through the questions and answers.

The one question I pondered in my earlier comments was the reasoning behind the behaviours of Andrew and Lawrence, so thanks for expanding on that. I know a lot of us were intrigued by them!

Your next novel sounds great and I am really looking forward to reading it, you are definitely an author I will be following from now on.

[Lucy Oakes]

I've really enjoyed reading Chris's responses to the comments we've made. It's always nice to get feedback on your feedback!

In response to Suzie's question - I assumed that the scene referenced in the blurb was the first beach scene to appear. I have to admit that I found it a little anti-climactic after the build-up of tension to that point. I think that then reinforced the horror of Nkiruka's rape. By that stage, you think you've read the worst bit, so what happens afterwards is even more shocking.

I'd like to thank Chris for taking the time to answer our questions today and, as others have noted, I'm planning to read Incendiary in the near future!

[Clive Wallis]

Chris - you can use my John Le Carre comment on the front of the paperback as long as in return you introduce me to your editor and agent! (Yes, I am an aspiring writer..)

[Suzie Doore]

I disagree with Tom about Bee's character - yes, she is fundamentally good and pure, but the fact that her primary motive must be her own survival leads her to some actions - or at least to some failures to act - which make it impossible to see her as being ‘a walking conscience’. She walks away from Yevette, and from the vulnerable girl in the yellow sari, because she has her plan and to try to help them might compromise it. She doesn't do all she could to stop Andrew's suicide. She blackmails Lawrence. She doesn’t have the white middle-class liberal guilt complex Chris mentioned earlier, because she is a teenaged African girl; she IS innocent, as innocent as she can be given what she has seen and experienced in the last two years, but she is not uncomplicated and I certainly don’t think she’s as hollow a character as you make her sound. I think Lawrence’s reaction to her in the book is very interesting and has parallels with your reaction to her as a reader. “You’re the brave little refugee girl”, he tells her bitterly, seeing in her only the cliché of the immigrant as innocent victim - until she blackmails him and tells him about Andrew’s suicide. She does have her shades of grey, but her essence IS good and pure and I don't think that is a failure on Chris's part. Nor do I think it diminishes her impact as a character. In fact, reading most of the comments on here it seems clear that she's had quite a profound effect on a lot of you, and as someone who felt like she lived inside my head for the months I spent working on this with Chris, I'm delighted.

[Anne Cater]

Thanks to Chris for his comments and to Greg for arranging this. I'm just sorry I wasnt able to join in, but Chris's comments have answered most of my questions.

Unfortunately, due to a current lack of internet access at work (strict monitoring and all that), I was unable to take part in the "live" discussion, and have only just finished reading through the comments.

First of all, 71 comments must be a record for the book club - something for both Chris and Gre