The Book Circle - The Other Hand

Welcome to the Book Circle - our brand new book club.

We're launching with Chris Cleave's The Other Hand, join in our discussion below to share your views on this emotional read.

About the book:

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.

"This is truly an amazing, heart-wrenching book. I'm speechless at its beauty and cruelty and can't bring myself to write or say anything about the actual storyline for fear of not doing it any justice or giving anything away. What I will say is that Chris Cleave has captured the fear and single-mindedness of being alone, vulnerable and terrified, and has blown me away with this book."
Nicola Golding - Waterstone's Bookseller

Read more about Chris on his author page

Buy the book

Comments

[Liz J]

I enjoyed The Other Hand because it challenged what the British people hold dear, their "values", and this was quite striking in the part where the deportation staff told Little Bee she would have to "hold" the values of the people before she could be granted citizenship.Yet they treated her with such disdain and judgement like she wanted a 'free ride' from the government, a "drain on resources". Reading about the 'other side of the story' was quite enlightening as we very often dont hear about the "real people" behind the label 'refugee'. Well written and quite thought provoking. Enjoyed it very much.

[muffy]

Loved this book - in fact leant it to my daughter who has worked with refugees. Some scenes I couldn't bear to look and yet wanted to read it so found myself like a child watching Dr Who behind the sofa. Felt the female characters were very strong in comparison to the men. Had to then read his other book 'Incendiary' which I found almost as gripping and again felt his female characters more complex and interesting than his men.

[Tina O'Reilly]

The Other Hand just didn't flow like other books, which was a disappointment. The mysterious blurb indicated more that the book gave. The narrative skipped from one person to another inconsistently. Primarily the viewpoint of the main female characters, there was little depth to the husband, yet the conclusion to his character left the reader wanting to know more about his personal views of the event on the beach. The subject matter was interesting though, with an insight into the other side of Nigeria, and the way Britain treats refugees. The end of this book seemed hurried, but this part was most poignant and left it's mark with me.

[RS]

Read this book over Christmas and missed a couple of meals and visiting relations as a result. A great read: the voices ring completely true, and the story is page-turningly gripping. Mixes the familiar with the foreign with complete ease, and gives insight into a world we think we know about (immigration/asylum) without being remotely worthy.

[Joe T]

When I heard about the book I was really keen to read it as I thought that the story seemed quite interesting compared to a lot of the literature out there. However half way through reading it, I had to put it down for a while as I was really disapointed. Being part Nigerian, it was very clear that Cleave did not do enough cultural reseach to make it believable. I have been to Nigeria a few times and the Delta region only once and can safely say that his discription of the villages were extremely simplistic. Even the very smaller villages and towns have exposure to technology ie TV's, mobiles and motorbikes, cars etc. His description of watching a movie on a white sheet made me cringe. There were many other references of the country/village life that did not add up.

I can understand how hard it can be to write about another culture, but even through my own limited knowledge and experience of West Africa, it's clear that Chris really got that aspect wrong. Some parts of the book was so unrealistic that I found it hard to believe the rest of the story after that.

[ch]

This stands out as one of my all-time favourites, I read it so quickly and was gripped by the simplicity and intrigue. It was one of those books that kept me awake long after I had finished it.

[Georgina Tranter]

Laura, Glad you liked the book. I am part of the Book Circle panel, so am slightly responsible for this month's choice!

I did enjoy this book. I thought it was different from a lot of the literature out at the moment, and that it had some strong characters and moments in it.

[Laura S]

I'm often stuck on what to read next so Waterstone's launching its own book club is a great idea. So - taking their advice, I tried this title out and I'm glad I did.

Although probably sugar-coated, it gave me a better understanding of UK immigration and the different circumstances that force people to come here. Sarah's point of view and her superficial worries were embarrassing to read, but I guess that's what the author was trying to achieve! I'll look forward to next month's pick...

[SS]

Stewart has an interesting point about its dripping sentimentality - but one of its strengths, I thought, was the matter-of-fact way in which Cleave tells what is inherently an emotional story. I wasn't a big fan of Khaled Hosseini and Thousand Splended Suns failed to stick in my mind, but this book was there months later. As for the 'true voice of a teenage Nigerian', I confess I don't know any teenage Nigerians, but I didn't have any disbelief to suspend when it came to imagining how an early life like Little Bee's might make her much older than her years, if you see what I mean. People can do amazing things, with determination.

That's not to say this is my favourite book of all time - I just didn't think it deserved such a set-down. I was mildly disappointed by the ending, which felt like a cop-out. There are some elements which are fine to leave hanging, but others should have been finished. Perhaps that's just my preference in closed stories.

I guess this is all about opinions. Mine is - good book!

[Stewart]

It's been a few months since I read The Other Hand and while some of the content has slipped from memory, the lingering thought is that out of over seventy books that I read last year, this was the worst.

Sure, Cleave is able enough to string a sentence or two together and there was a certain charm to Little Bee's voice, but I couldn't help feel that the voice wasn't authentic.

With the reliance of Little Bee's voice on 'your newspapers' to form its tone (thus distracting us from the fact the voice doesn't ring true to a teenage Nigerian, and meaning Cleave doesn't have to bother with such ventriloquism) and in the way Sarah drops hints and holds back on the truth for the sake of stretching out the story, all the writing, competent on a sentence by sentence level, loses any sense of narrative integrity.

I fully expect it will do well, what with the force of promotion behind it and the sentimental glaze that drips from it. It's probably one for those who like to drop in the old cliché about how they need a box of hankies for a Khaled Hosseini book.

[Meg F]

I really enjoyed the book too. At times it was some tough reading but it was really insightful into something I didn't know much about - the UK immigration system.

[Danielle Simmonds]

I have just finished this book... what a great read. It made me both laugh and cry.

I really liked the character of Little Bee, and the way she discussed how she would explain the Western world to her friends back in her village in Nigeria.

The book has made me feel uncomfortable about how we in the UK (or the developed world in generally) can live our lives in a bubble, often denying any connection with people in other countries and their troubles. It has definitely made me think about, and question, my own attitude towards asylum seekers.