Me discussing ‘Little Bee’ aka ‘The Other Hand’ on this morning’s Early Show: http://bit.ly/ecbIH
Archive for the “Background to the novels” CategoryThis is a video featuring the Refugee All Stars, from Sierra Leone. More info here. I didn’t make it; I’m just posting it because it’s great.
New audio interview about Little Bee / The Other Hand is here, thanks to Nigel Beale.
After watching this, you’d need a pretty good reason not to immediately order your copy (of this or any other book) from Green Apple Books & Music. Independent booksellers -- putting the “oo” back into books.
Here is my UK publisher’s short film about THE OTHER HAND -- a novel which is published as LITTLE BEE in the USA and Canada.
For the radio broadcast of a live session at the Brisbane Writers’ Festival 2008, featuring Sofie Laguna, Steven Galloway and me, and hosted by the excellent Richard Fidler, do click here. (Photo from left to right: Richard Fidler, Steven Galloway, Sofie Laguna, me). ‘A powerful piece of art… shocking, exciting and deeply affecting…[a] superb novel… Besides sharp, witty dialogue, an emotionally charged plot and the vivid characters’ ethical struggles, THE OTHER HAND delivers a timely challenge to reinvigorate our notions of civilized decency.’ ‘An ambitious and fearless gallop from the jungles of Africa via a shocking encounter on a Nigerian beach to the media offices of London and domesticity in leafy suburbia…Cleave immerses the reader in the worlds of his characters with an unshakable confidence.’
‘Searingly eloquent.’ ‘It’s hard to see how Chris Cleave does it.’ ‘Delightfully observed… it would be hard not to romp through it.’ ‘Warm, witty and beautifully written.’ ‘This is a slow release of dirty secrets, surprises and wonderment. Hooked from the start by Little Bee’s voice, you stay in thrall to the bittersweet end.’ ‘To write with such beauty about such horror is an amazing achievement. This book is compelling and a constant surprise.’ ‘By turns funny, sad and shocking’ ‘In a novel that tackles serious and uncomfortable subject matter, Cleave’s writing makes one laugh and despair in equal measure. (4 stars)’ ‘A better book than Chris Cleave’s THE OTHER HAND may be published this year, but I wouldn’t bet on it. This exquisitely written story of a Nigerian refugee and a British glossy magazine editor is the most powerful novel I’ve read in a long time. . . it’s also a very funny book about brave, funny people who the reader quickly grows to love. . . But the heart of the book is Little Bee; naïve yet insightful and sophisticated, damaged yet capable of great courage and humour, she is an unforgettable character. I finished THE OTHER HAND in tears, and I still can’t get it out of my head. Just read it.’ ‘I felt the same excitement discovering this as I did Marina Lewycka’s A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian and Paul Torday’s Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. There is an urgency here, an inability to put it down and a deep sense of loss once finished. It is a very special book indeed. Profound, deeply moving and yet light in touch, it explores the nature of loss, hope, love and identity with atrocity its backdrop. Read it and think deeply.’ |
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I’m very excited to report that thanks to 
I had a very enjoyable week in Canada! To everyone who makes Canada such a great place to be a reader or a writer, thank you. 
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