The other hand / Chris Cleave

The Other Hand by Chris Cleave deals with the reverberations of a violent incident that took place on a Nigerian beach two years previous. It begins with a 16-year-old Ibo girl from Nigeria, who calls herself Little Bee, escaping from a British detention centre where she has been incarcerated for the last two years. She ends up paperless and illegal on the O’Rourke Family’s doorstep in Kingston-upon-Thames and thus the mystery of their connection unfolds. We are aware that something consequential has happened between Little Bee and the O’Rourke family. Most of the action has already taken place when Little Bee and Sarah reunite in Kingston-upon-Thames. We learn from Sarah that her relationship with Little Bee began on a lonely beach in Nigeria. Finally, with prodding from Sarah, Little Bee reveals what happened after she met the O’Rourkes on the beach in Nigeria. Although this is a dramatic and key point in the novel, perhaps questioning what we might do in a similar circumstance, the plot is more sophisticated than that. All of the characters in the novel face moral choices and ultimately no one person is revealed as better or worse than the other. The Other Hand explores difficult subjects: the inhumane treatment of refugees; the impact of globalisation; and the role of personal accountability but does it in an accessible, even humane way.

English