Tring Book Club - The Other Hand by Chris Cleave

We had a bit of a problem on Tuesday evening. Book Club was arranged for 7.30pm at The Duck Inn, but when I arrived the car park was deserted except for a couple of large vans and Hilary stepping out of her car. The pub was actually closed for refurbishment, but there was no sign of the others. Hilary and I waited for ten minutes and decided that for whatever reason, the rest had either arrived at 7pm (our usual start time) and had moved on or gone home, or not arrived at all.

We guessed that if they had moved on, the most likely venue would have been The Crows Nest just up the road. And whatever happened, we would have our own meeting. There was nobody there, so Hilary and I grabbed a drink and settled down in a quiet corner and talked about The Other Hand.

I thought that the beginning was excellent. We are introduced to Little Bee, a 16 year old refugee from Nigeria waiting to be turned out of a detention centre. The description of the girls in the queue for the telephone was very entertaining, Then we move to Chapter 2 and a funeral for the husband of other main character, Sarah. This section is one of the most poignant and moving pieces that I have read for a long time. "Death of course is a refuge. It's where you go when a new name, (a reference to Little Bee) or a mask and cape, (Sarah's small boy is never out of his Batman costume, not even for the funeral) can no longer hide you from yourself. It's where you run to when none of the principalities of your conscience will grant you asylum."

Unfortunately, the book loses it's way towards the end. There is a requirement to partly suspend belief in the characters in any event, (but not detrimental to my enjoyment) but some later events are so contrived that the ending is a little spoilt. However, on the whole I did like the book. There are some decent bits of writing that I liked. "There are countries of the world, (a reference to a disastrous trip to Nigeria) and regions of one's own mind, where it is unwise to travel.") When two world collide, the consequences in this story keeps the reader interested to the last page.