During the summer, Cleave painted underpasses, gardened and picked up litter, and hoped to use this experience to write a book.

Further inspiration came from Cleaves's temporary employment while studying experimental psychology at the University of Oxford. Amazon Studios will be distributing the film.Ĭleave spent his early childhood in West Africa, which he credits for having partially inspired The Other Hand. A film adaptation is now in pre-production, and will be produced by and star Julia Roberts. The novel was nominated for the 2008 Costa Book Awards and a 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize. The two protagonists have been juxtaposed, with less sympathy evoked by Surrey-born Sarah than Nigerian-refugee Little Bee. It has been praised for its focus on underlying human decency however, some reviewers felt its events were contrived.

The novel has received mixed reviews from critics. It has also been ranked #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Sales were initially slow, but increased as a result of 'word-of-mouth' publicity, with the book eventually ranking 13th on the 2009 Sunday Times bestseller list. The novel was published by Sceptre, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton. The novel examines the treatment of refugees by the asylum system, as well as issues of British colonialism, globalization, political violence and personal accountability. Cleave, inspired as a university student by his temporary employment in an asylum detention centre, wrote the book in an attempt to humanise the plight of asylum-seekers in Britain. It is a dual narrative story about a Nigerian asylum-seeker and a British magazine editor, who meet during the oil conflict in the Niger Delta, and are re-united in England several years later.

The Other Hand, also known as Little Bee, is a 2008 novel by British author Chris Cleave.

Little Bee by Chris Cleave