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gzofian 's review for:
The Other Hand
by Chris Cleave
This was alright - just. The voice of Little Bee was consistent and the rhythm and texture of her language felt right.However - I was not moved as I should have been, and as I wish I had been, because the subject is important and under discussed. It is, I believe, the subject matter that the publisher wishes to keep a secret when they ask that readers refrain from revealing details. The subject matter does not, sadly, have mass appeal. If the blurb said - this is about illegal immigrants - it would have disappeared without trace, however worthy I might feel the matter to be, but they are being manipulative in failing to disclose this.
Cleave did not fully realise his characters. I am pretty fed up with reading about people with glossy media jobs. Would Sarah really have been so naive and under-researched before her freebie holiday? Would she have placed her oddly disturbed son in such danger? Would the army have made such great efforts to find Little Bee? The individual characters stories were powerful, but the story of the novel failed to deliver.
Cleave did not fully realise his characters. I am pretty fed up with reading about people with glossy media jobs. Would Sarah really have been so naive and under-researched before her freebie holiday? Would she have placed her oddly disturbed son in such danger? Would the army have made such great efforts to find Little Bee? The individual characters stories were powerful, but the story of the novel failed to deliver.