Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I read this book after hearing rave reviews from my friends. They were especially excited about me reading it because I am Nigerian, and I'm always one for reading books that deal with or originate from my country. All in all however, I was very disappointed with this story. As a Nigerian, I feel that the book demonstrated little research. Any African country's name could have been inserted into this book and it would not have made a difference. Knowing that the author had lived in Cameroon, I had hoped for something different. In fact, he would have done better to come up with a fictional African country or perhaps just an unidentified one. Aside from the Niger delta crisis backdrop, (which was not fully fleshed out at all) the only indication that this book was dealing with Nigeria was the occasional "wahala" or the author stating it. Many reviewers gushed about how they loved little bee's accent and her use of "Weh", I however was confused. What does Weh mean? I have never heard a Nigerian utter that in my life, and I asked other Nigerians to verify. What I love about reading Nigerian literature is that I can hear the story as well as read it. Ours is an oral culture and authors like Chimamanda Adichie exemplify this by coloring their writing with Nigerian idioms and words which allow you to hear Nigeria as well as read about it. I could not hear Nigeria in this story. I heard a mediocre attempt to sound African, much like the generic deep accents that pass as African in Hollywood. Failing to do research on a country like Nigeria is extremely problematic. Black people and people of color in general already have the unfortunate burden of being represented by one image, so this book serves to reinforce the notion of Africa as a savage jungle. The Nigeria in this story was a country that even I did not want to visit. It was a country where soldiers shot at children for no apparent reason. Or where despite the large level of corruption and poor governance, they would take the time hunt down an inconsequential refugee from Abuja to the delta region (a distance which the author portrayed as merely a few hours). In fact, one of my American friends who recommended this book to me, was baffled as to why I was going to Nigeria on holidays after reading Little Bee. She was genuinely terrified by the barbaric country and that hurt me. But I couldn't blame her. What saddens me is that the Nigeria in stories such as those by Chimamanda Adichie portray a more accurate Nigeria, yet more people will read this story and assume Nigeria is a place to avoid and write off. I cannot stress the importance and responsibility that foreign writers have when it comes to writing about Africa. If you feel the need to do it, make sure you get it right, because that is what the world will believe. There is evil in every country but one must present it in a holistic manner. I encourage everyone to watch Chimamanda Adichie's video on "The dangers of a single story," which deals with the stereotypical representation of primarily African people. If you want to read a book about Africa, she's a great place to start.