the other hand was shortlisted for the COSTA novel award. Chris Cleave’s novel is moving and very powerful.

We meet Little Bee as she is unexpectedly released after two years in an immigration detention centre. She makes her way to the home of the O’Rourkes, the only people she knows in England.

At the time of her arrival at the O’Rourkes’ home, Andrew, the clinically depressed husband, kills himself. We  learn that his marriage has failed since he learned of his wife’s affair with Lawrence, who is a press officer connected with immigration. Sarah O’Rourke’s missing middle finger is a key to the story of the O’Rourkes’ first meeting with Little Bee in Nigeria.

As we relive the experiences of Nigeria, two years earlier, we are awakened to the true horror of the refugee situation and to the way it has moved into the lives of Sarah and Andrew. Lawrence is torn between his professional duty to denounce a paper-less immigrant and his desire to retain his relationship with Sarah. Little Batman, Sarah’s son, disappears one day and Little Bee, an illegal immigrant without papers, calls the police. Deportation naturally follows – but we follow the deportee.

The entire story is gripping and, despite its frightening and disturbing topic, at times searingly comical – a first-rate read!

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