Philippa May reviews Chris Cleave's 'The Other Hand' (From Hereford Times)

Philippa May reviews Chris Cleave's 'The Other Hand'

7:00am Saturday 9th January 2010 in Leisure By Philippa May

WHEN 16-year-old Little Bee is inexplicably released from the Black Hill Immigration Removal Centre after two years, all she has to help her navigate her way through freedom is her hard-won command of the Queen’s English – “to survive you must look good or talk good. I decided that talking would be safer for me” – and an Englishman’s driving licence and phone number.

But the Englishman she met on a beach in Nigeria is dead, unable to live with the consequences of what happened on that beach to his wife, Sarah, to Little Bee and to Little Bee’s sister, Nkiruka.

Two years later, Sarah and Little Bee are forced to confront the past and attempt to find a new way to live, their futures inextricably intertwined, fused by what happened half a world, and what feels like a lifetime, away.

Utterly compelling, unputdownable, sad and surprisingly funny, The Other Hand has won widespread acclaim – “shocking, exciting and deeply affecting”, said The Independent; “Makes one laugh and despair in equal measure”, said Time Out.

■ WIN A WATERSTONE’S GIFT CARD Let us know what you think about The Other Hand and you could win a £10 Waterstone’s gift card. Email your review to leisure@herefordtimes.com or post it to HT Book Group, Hereford Times, Holmer Road, Hereford HR4 9UJ, with your name, address and contact details. Usual competition rules apply. Deadline is midnight on Monday, February 1.

■ HOW TO ORDER The Other Hand, £7.99 offer price, £7.50, post and packing free. Call the Hereford Times Bookshop on 08430 6000399 or send your cheque or postal order made payable to Hereford Times Bookshop to: Hereford Times Bookshop, PO Box 60, Helston, TR13 0TP. Allow seven to 10 working days for delivery.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chris Cleave has been a barman, a long-distance sailor, a teacher of marine navigation, an internet pioneer and a journalist, although he now writes fiction and a regular family column for The Guardian. His first novel, Incendiary, a controversial open letter to Osama bin Laden, gained notoriety for the macabre coincidence of its UK publication on July 7, 2005, the day of the London terrorist bombings. It went on to become an international bestseller published in 20 countries to awards and critical acclaim. His second novel, The Other Hand, which was shortlisted for the 2008 Costa Novel Award, was inspired by his early childhood in West Africa. Chris lives in London with his French wife and two children.