The Other Hand
Encyclopedia
The Other Hand, also known as Little Bee, is a 2008 novel by British
author Chris Cleave
. 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. 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. The novel examines the treatment of refugees by the asylum system, as well as issues of British colonialism
, globalization
, political violence and personal accountability.
The novel was published by Sceptre, an imprint
of Hodder & Stoughton
. 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. It has also been ranked #1 the "New York Times" bestseller list. The novel has received mixed reviews from critics. It has been praised for its focus on underlying human decency, however some reviewers felt its events were contrived. The two protagonists have been juxtaposed, with less sympathy evoked by Surrey-born Sarah than Nigerian-refugee Little Bee. The novel was nominated for the 2008 Costa Book Awards
and a 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
. A film adaptation is being developed, and will be produced by and star Nicole Kidman
.
, which he credits for having partially inspired The Other Hand. Further inspiration came from Cleaves's temporary employment while studying experimental psychology
at the University of Oxford
. During the summer, Cleave painted underpasses, gardened and picked up litter, and hoped to use this experience to write a book. His final job was at Campsfield House
in Oxfordshire
, an immigration detention centre. Cleave spent three days serving food to residents from war zones including Somalia
, Eritrea
and the Balkans
. He explained: "I got talking with some of them and said why are you here? Why are you in prison? It's not illegal and yet we concentrate them in these places. It's a text-book definition of a concentration camp. The conditions are appalling. I was shocked enough for that to be the end of my light comedy book of my amusing summers working as a labourer." Cleave believes he would not have written the novel were he not a parent, as he does not wish for his children "to grow up into a world that is callous and stupid."
In 2005, an incident inspired Cleave to write The Other Hand. Four years previously, in 2001, an Angolan
asylum-seeker named Manuel Bravo had arrived in England with his 9-year-old son. After being detained in an immigration centre for four years, officials decided to forcibly deport Bravo and his son back to Angola the next morning. During the night, Bravo committed suicide, aware that his son, who was still a minor, could not be deported unaccompanied. Cleave felt compelled to write about the "dirty secret" that is the British immigration system, and to do so in such a way as to showcase the "unexpected humour" of the refugees wherever possible, in order to make the book "an enjoyable and compelling read" for his audience. Cleave explained:
, the novel tells the stories of Little Bee, a Nigerian
refugee, and Sarah O'Rourke (née Summers), a magazine editor from Surrey
. After spending two years detained in a British immigration detention centre, Little Bee is illegally released after a fellow refugee performs sexual favours for a detention officer. She travels to the home of Sarah and her husband Andrew, whom she met two years previously on a beach in the Niger Delta
. Sarah is initially unaware of Little Bee's presence, until Andrew, haunted by guilt of their shared past, commits suicide. Little Bee reveals herself to Sarah on the day of Andrew's funeral, and helps her to care for her four-year-old son Charlie.
Through a mutual reflection on their past, it is revealed that Sarah and Andrew were on holiday at the time of their meeting with Little Bee. The trip was an attempt to salvage their marriage after Andrew discovered Sarah had been unfaithful to him, embarking on an affair with Home Office
employee Lawrence Osborn. While walking on the beach one morning, they were approached by a then 14-year-old Little Bee, and her older sister Nkiruka. The girls were being pursued by soldiers who had burned down their village and intended for there to be no witnesses left alive. The soldiers arrived and murdered a guard from the O'Rourkes' hotel, but offered to spare the lives of the girls if Andrew would amputate his own middle finger with a machete
. Afraid, and believing the soldiers would murder the girls anyway, Andrew refused, but Sarah complied in his place. The soldiers took both girls away, leaving the couple in doubt as to whether the soldiers would leave one girl alive in response, as they promised.
Little Bee explains that although Nkiruka was gang raped, murdered, and cannibalised by the soldiers, she was allowed to escape, and stowed away in the cargo hold
of a ship bound for England. Sarah allows Little Bee to stay with her, intent on helping her become a legal British citizen. Lawrence, who is still involved with Sarah, disapproves of her actions and contemplates turning Little Bee in to the police. When he informs Little Bee that he is considering this, she responds that allowing her to stay would be what is best for Sarah, so if Lawrence turns her in, Little Bee will get revenge by telling his wife Linda about his affair. The two reach an uneasy truce. After spending several days together, Sarah, Lawrence, Little Bee and Charlie take a trip to the park. Charlie goes missing, and Little Bee calls the police while Sarah searches for him. Although he is quickly found, the police become suspicious of Little Bee, and discover that she is in the country illegally.
Little Bee is detained and quickly deported back to Nigeria, where she believes she will be killed. Lawrence uses his Home Office connections to track Little Bee's deportation details, and Sarah and Charlie are able to accompany her back home. Sarah believes that Little Bee will be safe as long as she is present, and together they begin collecting stories for a book Andrew had begun, and which Sarah intends to finish on his behalf, about the atrocities committed in the Nigerian oil conflict. During a trip to the same beach where they first encountered one another, soldiers arrive to take Little Bee away. Despite being captured, Little Bee is not dispirited, and instead is ultimately hopeful at the sight of Charlie playing happily with a group of Nigerian children.
commenting that Sarah might initially appear "insipid" to readers, and that when juxtaposed with Little Bee, she seems "unsympathetic, even tiresome". Tim Teeman of The Times
deemed Sarah "batty, bizarre and inconsistent, and despite the tragedy she has suffered, unsympathetic", while writing that in contrast: "Goodness peppers every atom of [Little Bee's] being." Other reviewers took an opposite stance. Margot Kaminski of the San Francisco Chronicle found Little Bee's characterisation problematic, writing: "Sometimes she's not convincing, and sometimes she tries too hard to convince. It's too often apparent that Little Bee is not real. This doesn't do justice to her story, and puts the burden back on the author to show that he's representing her, rather than exploiting her." Ed Lake of Daily Telegraph felt that "Bee's arch reasonableness and implausibly picturesque speech mean she often comes off as a too-cute cipher," and ultimately found Sarah the more convincing character.
The Guardian
Lawrence Norfolk commented that Sarah is a "far from perfect heroine: a semi-neglectful mother and unfaithful wife", but noted that "Cleave does not mock Sarah (and life in Kingston-upon-Thames) any more than he does Little Bee and her experiences in Nigeria." Norfolk felt that: "For all the characters' faults, none of them is presented as inauthentic or standing for something that we are intended to disbelieve. On the disparity in sympathy for Sarah and Little Bee, Cleave assessed: "Sarah inevitably suffers by proximity to Little Bee, who is much easier to like. If Sarah is more twisted, I think it’s because her path through life has necessarily been more convoluted. Little Bee's life is extremely harrowing but it is also very simple – she is swimming very hard against the current, struggling to survive and not to be swept away. Sarah doesn’t have the luxury of knowing in which direction she should swim."
Steve Giergerich of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
felt that Sarah and Little Bee are both "so richly drawn that the supporting characters suffer by comparison." These supporting characters are Andrew, Sarah's husband, Lawrence, her lover, Clarissa her colleague and Charlie, her four-year-old son, who for much of the novel answers only to "Batman
" and dresses only in his Batman costume. Sarah Liss of CBC News
deemed Andrew and Lawrence the two least-likeable characters in the novel, describing Andrew as "an ordinary guy with self-righteous beliefs who comes up slightly short when he's tested by real life" and Lawrence as a "cowardly yes-man". Cleave agreed that for Lawrence, "career and propriety are more important than basic morality. He's gone so far down that road that he can't come back, and he's made more villainous for all the things he could do but doesn't." Charlie is based on Cleave's oldest son, who similarly spent six months aged four answering only to "Batman". He forms the emotional centre of the novel, holding the adult characters together, and is a study in the early formation of identity. Cleave explained: "Little Bee is a novel about where our individuality lies – which layers of identity are us, and which are mere camouflage. So it’s a deliberate choice to use the metaphor of a child who is engaging in his first experiments with identity – in Charlie’s case by taking on the persona of a superhero."
publication entitled "United Kingdom: A Journey to Citizenship". The extract reads: "Britain is proud of its tradition of providing a safe haven for people fleeting (sic) persecution and conflict." Cleave questioned: "If a government can't even successfully proof-read such a fundamental document, how seriously can we take its asylum procedure?" In writing The Other Hand, Cleave hoped to "humanise" the issue for readers. Despite discussions of political violence and British Colonialism
within the novel, Sarah L. Courteau, editor of the Wilson Quarterly
commented: "You're almost entirely unaware of its politics because the book doesn't deal in abstractions but in human beings." For this reason, she deemed The Other Hand "the best kind of political novel". Emma Philip of The Courier-Mail
has opined that while The Other Hand does make political points, readers should not confuse it with a political book, as the "overwhelming beauty" of the relationship between Sarah, Little Bee and Charlie "far outweighs the political message."
The novel also deals with the issue of globalisation. Courteau observed that although Little Bee learns English from newspapers she acquires at the English detention centre, her reference points are still Nigerian, and thus through her narrative voice Cleave "illustrates the forcible dislocations of a globalized world." Cleave chose to explore the issue in The Other Hand as he believes that, although globalisation is frequently discussed, people rarely consider its meaning. He explained: "money can move freely across national borders, but people can't. They're actively prevented from going where the money is. Capital is global, but labour isn't. I believe that's the cause of two major crises that we're involved in as a species – one is a financial crisis and one is a refugee crisis. Imagine a world where money can't move, where capital is stuck in its country of origin, but people can freely move where the work is! That's an alternate interpretation of globalization that would solve a lot of problems." Although Cleave did not intend for the novel to be heavily political, he felt it was important to raise the issue, given the refugee subject matter of The Other Hand.
Marital infidelity features throughout the sections of the novel narrated by Sarah. Cleave discussed: "When you are choosing a lover, you're choosing a philosophy; it's not about sex, it's not about marriage. With Sarah, her unfaithfulness is just one of the symptoms of the fact that she's torn and is going to have to make this strong moral choice." Sarah's storyline also explores her moral culpability following Andrew's suicide. Personal accountability is a central theme of the novel, with Elkins of The New York Times opining that by not focusing on "postcolonial guilt or African angst", Cleave is able to use the novel to challenge readers' conceptions of civility and ethical choice. Margot Kaminski of the San Francisco Chronicle
similarly feels that the book delivered a message of anti-complacency, however believes that is does so by "bemoaning the normality of the First World
in the face of the horrors of the Third
." She deemed The Other Hand essentially a novel about "the borders we draw, and the real damage they inflict".
, as: "This is a story of two worlds: the developed and the developing, and of the mutual incomprehension that sometimes dooms them to antagonism." He found it technically challenging to write from a female perspective, but felt that it prevented him from unwittingly using his own voice to animate the characters, explaining: "It forces me to listen, to think, and to write more precisely." Kaminski accused Cleave of cultural appropriation
, asking rhetorically: "When a white male author writes as a young Nigerian girl, is it an act of empathy, or identity theft?" Cleave has responded by stating that he sympathises with those who feel he has no right to write from the perspective of a Nigerian girl, but feels that he does it well. He believes that the best mechanism for telling a story about crossing borderlines is to depict both sides. He conducted interviews with actual asylum seekers and illegal immigrants, a psychiatrist specialising in the trauma of child refugees, and members of London's Nigerian community, researching speech patterns to shape the "quirks and cadences" of Little Bee's narrative voice.
A central stylistic feature of the novel is the lack of detail Cleave gives regarding elements of Little Bee's past. "Little Bee" is an assumed name, described as a "mechanism for survival" by Courteau, as the character is forced to discard her true name when pursued by soldiers, through fear it may reveal her tribe and religion. Her real name, Udo, is not revealed until the end of the novel. Courteau also highlights the fact that Little Bee's Nigerian enemies and their motivations are never explicitly described, as the novel is told through the first-person narrative, and Little Bee herself is limited in her understanding of them. Cleave intended for the story as a whole never to be fully explicit, relying instead on readers' interpretation of the characters' dialogue.
Throughout the novel, Little Bee considers how she would explain England to "the girls back home" in Nigeria. Cleave uses the girls as a Greek chorus
, providing a foil to allow the cultural dissonance experienced by Little Bee to be made explicit. He feels the device is more natural than having Little Bee narrate her alarm first hand, allowing the reader to appreciate the cultural gulf, and Little Bee to seem knowing as opposed to tragic. Through Little Bee's narration, Cleave examines human culture from the opposite perspective as science fiction
does, having an extraordinary protagonist explore an ordinary world. This contemporary realism gives a significance to mundane events experienced by Little Bee, while bringing into focus "sad and ignoble" aspects of English culture such as the detention system. Cleave commented: "We have become accustomed to viewing our own actions in soft focus, but the alien narrator has not yet acquired this cultural immunity. She sees us as we can no longer see ourselves."
Courteau compared The Other Hand to Ian McEwan
's Enduring Love
observing that both novels are formed around "a single horrific encounter", and praised Cleave for his "restrained, diamond-hard prose". Philip drew a different comparison, opining that Cleave's writing style—using plain language to describe atrocities— was reminiscent of John Boyne
's The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
.
in the UK. The hardback edition sold just 3,000 copies in 2008, however the publication of a paperback copy, released on 5 February 2009, saw increased sales, with 100,000 paperback copies sold in Britain in March and April 2009, despite no advertising and little marketing for the novel. As of November 2009, 300,000 copies of the novel had been sold. Richard Brooks of The Times
attributed its success to recommendations from readers to family and friends, with Cleave calling it "an example of word-of-mouth success." The novel was published in America
and Canada
by Simon & Schuster
under the alternative title Little Bee. It was released in hardback and eBook format in February 2009, and in paperback in February 2010. Cleave likes both titles, believing that The Other Hand "speaks to the dichotomous nature of the novel, with its two narrators and two worlds", also referencing Sarah's injury, while Little Bee is appropriate as the novel is really the telling of Little Bee's story, and sounds "bright and approachable", in line with his aim to write "an accessible story about a serious subject."
on the book is unusually written, in that it does not name the characters or reveal the plot. It was written by a team at Sceptre led by marketing consultant Damian Horner, and has the approval of Cleave, who described it as "genius". Cleave explained: "I think readers are quite smart and don't really need the whole thing spelt out for them in a plot summary. It's nice to let them discover the book at their own speed. And the technique of the book is to release these dirty secrets gradually." The content of the blurb varies between UK and American editions of the novel, but both begin: "We don't want to tell you too much about this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it." and end: "Once you have read it, you'll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds." James Spackman, Sales and Marketing Director for Sceptre, was initially sceptical of the blurb, particularly disliking the use of "we" for the publisher to address the reader directly. Once the book became a best-seller, however, he revised his stance, and now believes that the reason the blurb works is because it makes a virtue of denying the reader information, with an unusual format and "arrestingly direct" tone. The blurb won Sceptre the "Best Blurb" award at the 2010 Book Marketing Society Awards.
, though lost to The Secret Scripture
by Sebastian Barry
. It was nominated for the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
as the best book originating from Europe and South Asia, but lost to Unaccustomed Earth
by Jhumpa Lahiri
. In 2010, The Other Hand was longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
, nominated by Cleveland Public Library
, Seattle Public Library
and Dunedin Public Libraries
, New Zealand
.
The book has received mixed reviews. Some critics have praised the novel for its focus on underlying human decency. The New York Times Caroline Elkins felt that the pretext of the novel "initially feels contrived", but assessed that "in a world full of turpitude and injustice, it is [Sarah and Little Bee's] bold, impulsive choices that challenge the inevitability of despair, transforming a political novel into an affecting story of human triumph." James Urquhart of The Independent
called the book "a powerful piece of art", writing: "Besides sharp, witty dialogue, an emotionally charged plot and the vivid characters' ethical struggles, The Other Hand delivers a timely challenge to reinvigorate our notions of civilised decency". Equally, Andrew Rosenheim of Publishers Weekly
found the book noteworthy for Cleave's "ability to find a redemptive grace in the midst of almost inconceivable horror." while Jeremy Jehu of The Daily Telegraph
deemed it an "elegant parable" and a "challenge to every cosy, knee-jerk liberal inclined to spout off about our shared humanity and global obligations."
A separate Daily Telegraph review, this by critic Ed Lake, took a dissimilar stance, opining that that book is "pervaded by a vaguely distasteful glossiness", and that "if Cleave is writing from great depths of feeling, he hides it well." Lake deemed the book "faultlessly relevant, but ultimately cloying." Another Publishers Weekly review was also less positive, calling the book "beautifully staged" but "haphazardly plotted", and noting: "Cleave has a sharp cinematic eye, but the plot is undermined by weak motivations and coincidences." Teeman of The Times felt that the book was overwritten, and wished "twistedly" that it had a less positive conclusion, commenting: "With every motive and action explicitly drawn, fleshed out and explained, there is no room for mystery, ambiguity or even tension."
Following the novel's paperback release, six offers were made from companies interested in producing a film adaptation. BBC Films
acquired the rights, and are potentially set to begin filming in late-2010 or early-2011, once a director has been contracted. The film will star Nicole Kidman
, and will be produced by Kidman, Gail Mutrux and Per Saari through Mutrux's production company Pretty Picture, and Kidman's, Blossom Films. Shawn Slovo
will write the script, and Christine Langan
will be the executive producer. Kidman had already read the novel before Mutrux contacted her about producing the film, on a flight between Los Angeles
and Australia
. The Times
reported that she was "so eager" to play Sarah that she personally competed with several film studios in order to secure the rights to the book.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
author Chris Cleave
Chris Cleave
-Biography:Cleave was born in London in 1973, brought up in Cameroon and Buckinghamshire, and educated at Balliol College, Oxford where he studied Psychology. He lives in the United Kingdom with his wife and three children.-Writing:...
. It is a dual narrative
Dual Narrative
A dual narrative is a form of narrative that tells a story in two different perspectives. Sometimes by two different people like in the book "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher Also dual narrative is an effective technique that can be used to tell a story in first person narrative although in past...
story about a Nigerian
Demographics of Nigeria
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Nigeria, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....
asylum-seeker and a British magazine editor, who meet during the oil conflict in the Niger Delta
Conflict in the Niger Delta
The current conflict in the Niger Delta arose in the early 1990s over tensions between the foreign oil corporations and a number of the Niger Delta's minority ethnic groups who felt they were being exploited, particularly the Ogoni and the Ijaw...
, and are re-united in England several years later. 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. The novel examines the treatment of refugees by the asylum system, as well as issues of British colonialism
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
, political violence and personal accountability.
The novel was published by Sceptre, an imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
of Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.-History:The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged fourteen, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher for the Congregational Union...
. 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. It has also been ranked #1 the "New York Times" bestseller list. The novel has received mixed reviews from critics. It has been praised for its focus on underlying human decency, however some reviewers felt its events were contrived. The two protagonists have been juxtaposed, with less sympathy evoked by Surrey-born Sarah than Nigerian-refugee Little Bee. The novel was nominated for the 2008 Costa Book Awards
2008 Costa Book Awards
The shortlists were announced on 18 November 2008. The winners in each category were announced on 5 January 2009, and the overall winner for Book of the Year was announced on 27 January 2009.-First Novel:Winner:*Sadie Jones, The OutcastShortlist:...
and a 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Writers is an initiative by the Commonwealth Foundation to unearth, develop and promote the best new fiction from across the Commonwealth. It's flagship are two literary awards and a website...
. A film adaptation is being developed, and will be produced by and star Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
.
Background
Cleave spent his early childhood in West AfricaWest Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
, which he credits for having partially inspired The Other Hand. Further inspiration came from Cleaves's temporary employment while studying experimental psychology
Experimental psychology
Experimental psychology is a methodological approach, rather than a subject, and encompasses varied fields within psychology. Experimental psychologists have traditionally conducted research, published articles, and taught classes on neuroscience, developmental psychology, sensation, perception,...
at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. During the summer, Cleave painted underpasses, gardened and picked up litter, and hoped to use this experience to write a book. His final job was at Campsfield House
Campsfield House
Campsfield House is a privately run Immigration detention Centre near Oxford, England. It has been the site of a number of protests from human rights campaigners and has seen a number of hunger strikes and one suicide. The former Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons condemned conditions at...
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, an immigration detention centre. Cleave spent three days serving food to residents from war zones including Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
, Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
and the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. He explained: "I got talking with some of them and said why are you here? Why are you in prison? It's not illegal and yet we concentrate them in these places. It's a text-book definition of a concentration camp. The conditions are appalling. I was shocked enough for that to be the end of my light comedy book of my amusing summers working as a labourer." Cleave believes he would not have written the novel were he not a parent, as he does not wish for his children "to grow up into a world that is callous and stupid."
In 2005, an incident inspired Cleave to write The Other Hand. Four years previously, in 2001, an Angolan
Demographics of Angola
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Angola, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....
asylum-seeker named Manuel Bravo had arrived in England with his 9-year-old son. After being detained in an immigration centre for four years, officials decided to forcibly deport Bravo and his son back to Angola the next morning. During the night, Bravo committed suicide, aware that his son, who was still a minor, could not be deported unaccompanied. Cleave felt compelled to write about the "dirty secret" that is the British immigration system, and to do so in such a way as to showcase the "unexpected humour" of the refugees wherever possible, in order to make the book "an enjoyable and compelling read" for his audience. Cleave explained:
Plot
Using alternating first-person perspectivesFirst-person narrative
First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
, the novel tells the stories of Little Bee, a Nigerian
Demographics of Nigeria
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Nigeria, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....
refugee, and Sarah O'Rourke (née Summers), a magazine editor from Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. After spending two years detained in a British immigration detention centre, Little Bee is illegally released after a fellow refugee performs sexual favours for a detention officer. She travels to the home of Sarah and her husband Andrew, whom she met two years previously on a beach in the Niger Delta
Niger Delta
The Niger Delta, the delta of the Niger River in Nigeria, is a densely populated region sometimes called the Oil Rivers because it was once a major producer of palm oil...
. Sarah is initially unaware of Little Bee's presence, until Andrew, haunted by guilt of their shared past, commits suicide. Little Bee reveals herself to Sarah on the day of Andrew's funeral, and helps her to care for her four-year-old son Charlie.
Through a mutual reflection on their past, it is revealed that Sarah and Andrew were on holiday at the time of their meeting with Little Bee. The trip was an attempt to salvage their marriage after Andrew discovered Sarah had been unfaithful to him, embarking on an affair with Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
employee Lawrence Osborn. While walking on the beach one morning, they were approached by a then 14-year-old Little Bee, and her older sister Nkiruka. The girls were being pursued by soldiers who had burned down their village and intended for there to be no witnesses left alive. The soldiers arrived and murdered a guard from the O'Rourkes' hotel, but offered to spare the lives of the girls if Andrew would amputate his own middle finger with a machete
Machete
The machete is a large cleaver-like cutting tool. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the English language, an equivalent term is matchet, though it is less commonly known...
. Afraid, and believing the soldiers would murder the girls anyway, Andrew refused, but Sarah complied in his place. The soldiers took both girls away, leaving the couple in doubt as to whether the soldiers would leave one girl alive in response, as they promised.
Little Bee explains that although Nkiruka was gang raped, murdered, and cannibalised by the soldiers, she was allowed to escape, and stowed away in the cargo hold
Hold (ship)
thumb|right|120px|View of the hold of a container shipA ship's hold is a space for carrying cargo. Cargo in holds may be either packaged in crates, bales, etc., or unpackaged . Access to holds is by a large hatch at the top...
of a ship bound for England. Sarah allows Little Bee to stay with her, intent on helping her become a legal British citizen. Lawrence, who is still involved with Sarah, disapproves of her actions and contemplates turning Little Bee in to the police. When he informs Little Bee that he is considering this, she responds that allowing her to stay would be what is best for Sarah, so if Lawrence turns her in, Little Bee will get revenge by telling his wife Linda about his affair. The two reach an uneasy truce. After spending several days together, Sarah, Lawrence, Little Bee and Charlie take a trip to the park. Charlie goes missing, and Little Bee calls the police while Sarah searches for him. Although he is quickly found, the police become suspicious of Little Bee, and discover that she is in the country illegally.
Little Bee is detained and quickly deported back to Nigeria, where she believes she will be killed. Lawrence uses his Home Office connections to track Little Bee's deportation details, and Sarah and Charlie are able to accompany her back home. Sarah believes that Little Bee will be safe as long as she is present, and together they begin collecting stories for a book Andrew had begun, and which Sarah intends to finish on his behalf, about the atrocities committed in the Nigerian oil conflict. During a trip to the same beach where they first encountered one another, soldiers arrive to take Little Bee away. Despite being captured, Little Bee is not dispirited, and instead is ultimately hopeful at the sight of Charlie playing happily with a group of Nigerian children.
Characters
The primary characters in The Other Hand are Little Bee, a Nigerian refugee, and Sarah, a middle-class Englishwoman. Critics have focused on the contrast between the two, with Caroline Elkins of The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
commenting that Sarah might initially appear "insipid" to readers, and that when juxtaposed with Little Bee, she seems "unsympathetic, even tiresome". Tim Teeman of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
deemed Sarah "batty, bizarre and inconsistent, and despite the tragedy she has suffered, unsympathetic", while writing that in contrast: "Goodness peppers every atom of [Little Bee's] being." Other reviewers took an opposite stance. Margot Kaminski of the San Francisco Chronicle found Little Bee's characterisation problematic, writing: "Sometimes she's not convincing, and sometimes she tries too hard to convince. It's too often apparent that Little Bee is not real. This doesn't do justice to her story, and puts the burden back on the author to show that he's representing her, rather than exploiting her." Ed Lake of Daily Telegraph felt that "Bee's arch reasonableness and implausibly picturesque speech mean she often comes off as a too-cute cipher," and ultimately found Sarah the more convincing character.
The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
Lawrence Norfolk commented that Sarah is a "far from perfect heroine: a semi-neglectful mother and unfaithful wife", but noted that "Cleave does not mock Sarah (and life in Kingston-upon-Thames) any more than he does Little Bee and her experiences in Nigeria." Norfolk felt that: "For all the characters' faults, none of them is presented as inauthentic or standing for something that we are intended to disbelieve. On the disparity in sympathy for Sarah and Little Bee, Cleave assessed: "Sarah inevitably suffers by proximity to Little Bee, who is much easier to like. If Sarah is more twisted, I think it’s because her path through life has necessarily been more convoluted. Little Bee's life is extremely harrowing but it is also very simple – she is swimming very hard against the current, struggling to survive and not to be swept away. Sarah doesn’t have the luxury of knowing in which direction she should swim."
Steve Giergerich of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the Midwestern United States, and is available and read as far west as Kansas City, Missouri, as far south as...
felt that Sarah and Little Bee are both "so richly drawn that the supporting characters suffer by comparison." These supporting characters are Andrew, Sarah's husband, Lawrence, her lover, Clarissa her colleague and Charlie, her four-year-old son, who for much of the novel answers only to "Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
" and dresses only in his Batman costume. Sarah Liss of CBC News
CBC News
CBC News is the department within the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on CBC television, radio and online services...
deemed Andrew and Lawrence the two least-likeable characters in the novel, describing Andrew as "an ordinary guy with self-righteous beliefs who comes up slightly short when he's tested by real life" and Lawrence as a "cowardly yes-man". Cleave agreed that for Lawrence, "career and propriety are more important than basic morality. He's gone so far down that road that he can't come back, and he's made more villainous for all the things he could do but doesn't." Charlie is based on Cleave's oldest son, who similarly spent six months aged four answering only to "Batman". He forms the emotional centre of the novel, holding the adult characters together, and is a study in the early formation of identity. Cleave explained: "Little Bee is a novel about where our individuality lies – which layers of identity are us, and which are mere camouflage. So it’s a deliberate choice to use the metaphor of a child who is engaging in his first experiments with identity – in Charlie’s case by taking on the persona of a superhero."
Themes
The Other Hand presents a critique of the British asylum system and attitude towards asylum-seekers. Cleave feels there exists a "general lethargy" about the way asylum-seekers are treated in Britain, and though he believes he is not a political writer, the book begins with an extract from a 2005 UK Home OfficeHome Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
publication entitled "United Kingdom: A Journey to Citizenship". The extract reads: "Britain is proud of its tradition of providing a safe haven for people fleeting (sic) persecution and conflict." Cleave questioned: "If a government can't even successfully proof-read such a fundamental document, how seriously can we take its asylum procedure?" In writing The Other Hand, Cleave hoped to "humanise" the issue for readers. Despite discussions of political violence and British Colonialism
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
within the novel, Sarah L. Courteau, editor of the Wilson Quarterly
Wilson Quarterly
The Wilson Quarterly is a magazine published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. The magazine was founded in 1976 by Peter Braestrup and James H. Billington. The Quarterly is noted for its nonpartisan, nonideological approach to current issues, with articles...
commented: "You're almost entirely unaware of its politics because the book doesn't deal in abstractions but in human beings." For this reason, she deemed The Other Hand "the best kind of political novel". Emma Philip of The Courier-Mail
The Courier-Mail
The Courier-Mail is a daily newspaper published in Brisbane, Australia. Owned by News Limited, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northern suburbs, and it is printed at Murarrie, in Brisbane's...
has opined that while The Other Hand does make political points, readers should not confuse it with a political book, as the "overwhelming beauty" of the relationship between Sarah, Little Bee and Charlie "far outweighs the political message."
The novel also deals with the issue of globalisation. Courteau observed that although Little Bee learns English from newspapers she acquires at the English detention centre, her reference points are still Nigerian, and thus through her narrative voice Cleave "illustrates the forcible dislocations of a globalized world." Cleave chose to explore the issue in The Other Hand as he believes that, although globalisation is frequently discussed, people rarely consider its meaning. He explained: "money can move freely across national borders, but people can't. They're actively prevented from going where the money is. Capital is global, but labour isn't. I believe that's the cause of two major crises that we're involved in as a species – one is a financial crisis and one is a refugee crisis. Imagine a world where money can't move, where capital is stuck in its country of origin, but people can freely move where the work is! That's an alternate interpretation of globalization that would solve a lot of problems." Although Cleave did not intend for the novel to be heavily political, he felt it was important to raise the issue, given the refugee subject matter of The Other Hand.
Marital infidelity features throughout the sections of the novel narrated by Sarah. Cleave discussed: "When you are choosing a lover, you're choosing a philosophy; it's not about sex, it's not about marriage. With Sarah, her unfaithfulness is just one of the symptoms of the fact that she's torn and is going to have to make this strong moral choice." Sarah's storyline also explores her moral culpability following Andrew's suicide. Personal accountability is a central theme of the novel, with Elkins of The New York Times opining that by not focusing on "postcolonial guilt or African angst", Cleave is able to use the novel to challenge readers' conceptions of civility and ethical choice. Margot Kaminski of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
similarly feels that the book delivered a message of anti-complacency, however believes that is does so by "bemoaning the normality of the First World
First World
The concept of the First World first originated during the Cold War, where it was used to describe countries that were aligned with the United States. These countries were democratic and capitalistic. After the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the term "First World" took on a...
in the face of the horrors of the Third
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
." She deemed The Other Hand essentially a novel about "the borders we draw, and the real damage they inflict".
Style
Having spent almost two years working on the novel, Cleave decided upon using the dual narrativeDual Narrative
A dual narrative is a form of narrative that tells a story in two different perspectives. Sometimes by two different people like in the book "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher Also dual narrative is an effective technique that can be used to tell a story in first person narrative although in past...
, as: "This is a story of two worlds: the developed and the developing, and of the mutual incomprehension that sometimes dooms them to antagonism." He found it technically challenging to write from a female perspective, but felt that it prevented him from unwittingly using his own voice to animate the characters, explaining: "It forces me to listen, to think, and to write more precisely." Kaminski accused Cleave of cultural appropriation
Cultural appropriation
Cultural appropriation is the adoption of some specific elements of one culture by a different cultural group. It describes acculturation or assimilation, but can imply a negative view towards acculturation from a minority culture by a dominant culture. It can include the introduction of forms of...
, asking rhetorically: "When a white male author writes as a young Nigerian girl, is it an act of empathy, or identity theft?" Cleave has responded by stating that he sympathises with those who feel he has no right to write from the perspective of a Nigerian girl, but feels that he does it well. He believes that the best mechanism for telling a story about crossing borderlines is to depict both sides. He conducted interviews with actual asylum seekers and illegal immigrants, a psychiatrist specialising in the trauma of child refugees, and members of London's Nigerian community, researching speech patterns to shape the "quirks and cadences" of Little Bee's narrative voice.
A central stylistic feature of the novel is the lack of detail Cleave gives regarding elements of Little Bee's past. "Little Bee" is an assumed name, described as a "mechanism for survival" by Courteau, as the character is forced to discard her true name when pursued by soldiers, through fear it may reveal her tribe and religion. Her real name, Udo, is not revealed until the end of the novel. Courteau also highlights the fact that Little Bee's Nigerian enemies and their motivations are never explicitly described, as the novel is told through the first-person narrative, and Little Bee herself is limited in her understanding of them. Cleave intended for the story as a whole never to be fully explicit, relying instead on readers' interpretation of the characters' dialogue.
Throughout the novel, Little Bee considers how she would explain England to "the girls back home" in Nigeria. Cleave uses the girls as a Greek chorus
Greek chorus
A Greek chorus is a homogenous, non-individualised group of performers in the plays of classical Greece, who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action....
, providing a foil to allow the cultural dissonance experienced by Little Bee to be made explicit. He feels the device is more natural than having Little Bee narrate her alarm first hand, allowing the reader to appreciate the cultural gulf, and Little Bee to seem knowing as opposed to tragic. Through Little Bee's narration, Cleave examines human culture from the opposite perspective as science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
does, having an extraordinary protagonist explore an ordinary world. This contemporary realism gives a significance to mundane events experienced by Little Bee, while bringing into focus "sad and ignoble" aspects of English culture such as the detention system. Cleave commented: "We have become accustomed to viewing our own actions in soft focus, but the alien narrator has not yet acquired this cultural immunity. She sees us as we can no longer see ourselves."
Courteau compared The Other Hand to Ian McEwan
Ian McEwan
Ian Russell McEwan CBE, FRSA, FRSL is a British novelist and screenwriter, and one of Britain's most highly regarded writers. In 2008, The Times named him among their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945"....
's Enduring Love
Enduring Love
Enduring Love is a 2004 British film directed by Roger Michell with screenwriter Joe Penhall, based on a novel by Ian McEwan. The story is about two strangers who become dangerously close after witnessing a deadly accident. It stars Daniel Craig, Rhys Ifans and Samantha Morton with Bill Nighy,...
observing that both novels are formed around "a single horrific encounter", and praised Cleave for his "restrained, diamond-hard prose". Philip drew a different comparison, opining that Cleave's writing style—using plain language to describe atrocities— was reminiscent of John Boyne
John Boyne
John Boyne is an Irish novelist.- Biography :He was educated at Terenure College, before heading to trinity college, dublin, and studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, where he won the Curtis Brown prize. But it was during his time at Trinity that he began to get published...
's The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a 2006 novel from the point of view of an innocent young boy, written by Irish novelist John Boyne. Unlike the months of planning Boyne devoted to his other books, he said that he wrote the entire first draft of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in two and a half...
.
Publication history
The novel was first published on 7 August 2008, released in hardback by SceptreHodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.-History:The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged fourteen, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher for the Congregational Union...
in the UK. The hardback edition sold just 3,000 copies in 2008, however the publication of a paperback copy, released on 5 February 2009, saw increased sales, with 100,000 paperback copies sold in Britain in March and April 2009, despite no advertising and little marketing for the novel. As of November 2009, 300,000 copies of the novel had been sold. Richard Brooks of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
attributed its success to recommendations from readers to family and friends, with Cleave calling it "an example of word-of-mouth success." The novel was published in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
by Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
under the alternative title Little Bee. It was released in hardback and eBook format in February 2009, and in paperback in February 2010. Cleave likes both titles, believing that The Other Hand "speaks to the dichotomous nature of the novel, with its two narrators and two worlds", also referencing Sarah's injury, while Little Bee is appropriate as the novel is really the telling of Little Bee's story, and sounds "bright and approachable", in line with his aim to write "an accessible story about a serious subject."
Blurb
Mirroring the deliberately vague detail within the novel, the blurbBlurb
A blurb is a short summary or some words of praise accompanying a creative work, usually used on books without giving away any details, that is usually referring to the words on the back of the book jacket but also commonly seen on DVD and video cases, web portals, and news websites.- History :The...
on the book is unusually written, in that it does not name the characters or reveal the plot. It was written by a team at Sceptre led by marketing consultant Damian Horner, and has the approval of Cleave, who described it as "genius". Cleave explained: "I think readers are quite smart and don't really need the whole thing spelt out for them in a plot summary. It's nice to let them discover the book at their own speed. And the technique of the book is to release these dirty secrets gradually." The content of the blurb varies between UK and American editions of the novel, but both begin: "We don't want to tell you too much about this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it." and end: "Once you have read it, you'll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds." James Spackman, Sales and Marketing Director for Sceptre, was initially sceptical of the blurb, particularly disliking the use of "we" for the publisher to address the reader directly. Once the book became a best-seller, however, he revised his stance, and now believes that the reason the blurb works is because it makes a virtue of denying the reader information, with an unusual format and "arrestingly direct" tone. The blurb won Sceptre the "Best Blurb" award at the 2010 Book Marketing Society Awards.
Reception
The Other Hand reached number 13 on the 2009 Sunday Times bestseller list, and was the only literary title on the list without a Richard and Judy Book Club recommendation, a literary award or a film adaptation. It also topped The New York Times Best Seller list for paperback trade fiction in 2010. The novel was nominated at the 2008 Costa Book Awards2008 Costa Book Awards
The shortlists were announced on 18 November 2008. The winners in each category were announced on 5 January 2009, and the overall winner for Book of the Year was announced on 27 January 2009.-First Novel:Winner:*Sadie Jones, The OutcastShortlist:...
, though lost to The Secret Scripture
The Secret Scripture
The Secret Scripture is a 2008 novel written by Irish playwright Sebastian Barry.-Plot summary:The main character is a one-hundred year old woman, Roseanne McNulty, who now resides in the Roscommon Regional Mental Hospital. Having been a patient for some fifty years or more, Roseanne decides to...
by Sebastian Barry
Sebastian Barry
Sebastian Barry is an Irish playwright, novelist, and poet. He has been shortlisted twice for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction and has won the 2008 Costa Book of the Year....
. It was nominated for the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Writers is an initiative by the Commonwealth Foundation to unearth, develop and promote the best new fiction from across the Commonwealth. It's flagship are two literary awards and a website...
as the best book originating from Europe and South Asia, but lost to Unaccustomed Earth
Unaccustomed Earth
Unaccustomed Earth is the latest book from Pulitzer Prize winning author Jhumpa Lahiri. After Interpreter of Maladies, the Pulitzer Prize winning book, this is her second collection of short stories. Just like her other books, Unaccustomed Earth is also a reflection of life with two separate...
by Jhumpa Lahiri
Jhumpa Lahiri
Jhumpa Lahiri is a Bengali American author. Lahiri's debut short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies , won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and her first novel, The Namesake , was adapted into the popular film of the same name. She was born Nilanjana Sudeshna, which she says are both...
. In 2010, The Other Hand was longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is an international literary award for a work of fiction, jointly sponsored by the city of Dublin, Ireland and the company IMPAC. At €100,000 it is one of the richest literary prizes in the world...
, nominated by Cleveland Public Library
Cleveland Public Library
The Cleveland Public Library was founded in 1869 and is located in Cleveland, Ohio. It operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 28 branches throughout the city, a mobile library, a Public Administration Library in City Hall, and a library for the blind and physically...
, Seattle Public Library
Seattle Public Library
The Seattle Public Library is the public library system serving Seattle, Washington, USA. It was officially established by the city in 1890, though there had been efforts to start a Seattle library as early as 1868. There are 26 branches in the system, most of them named after the neighborhoods in...
and Dunedin Public Libraries
Dunedin Public Libraries
Dunedin Public Libraries is a network of five libraries and two bookbuses in Dunedin, New Zealand, owned and operated by the Dunedin City Council. The libraries collection includes over 700,000 items, and around 30,000 books and audiovisual items plus 15,000 magazines are added each year...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
The book has received mixed reviews. Some critics have praised the novel for its focus on underlying human decency. The New York Times Caroline Elkins felt that the pretext of the novel "initially feels contrived", but assessed that "in a world full of turpitude and injustice, it is [Sarah and Little Bee's] bold, impulsive choices that challenge the inevitability of despair, transforming a political novel into an affecting story of human triumph." James Urquhart of The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
called the book "a powerful piece of art", writing: "Besides sharp, witty dialogue, an emotionally charged plot and the vivid characters' ethical struggles, The Other Hand delivers a timely challenge to reinvigorate our notions of civilised decency". Equally, Andrew Rosenheim of Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
found the book noteworthy for Cleave's "ability to find a redemptive grace in the midst of almost inconceivable horror." while Jeremy Jehu of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
deemed it an "elegant parable" and a "challenge to every cosy, knee-jerk liberal inclined to spout off about our shared humanity and global obligations."
A separate Daily Telegraph review, this by critic Ed Lake, took a dissimilar stance, opining that that book is "pervaded by a vaguely distasteful glossiness", and that "if Cleave is writing from great depths of feeling, he hides it well." Lake deemed the book "faultlessly relevant, but ultimately cloying." Another Publishers Weekly review was also less positive, calling the book "beautifully staged" but "haphazardly plotted", and noting: "Cleave has a sharp cinematic eye, but the plot is undermined by weak motivations and coincidences." Teeman of The Times felt that the book was overwritten, and wished "twistedly" that it had a less positive conclusion, commenting: "With every motive and action explicitly drawn, fleshed out and explained, there is no room for mystery, ambiguity or even tension."
Film adaptation
BBC Films
BBC Films is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including An Education, StreetDance 3D, Fish Tank, Stage Beauty, A Cock and Bull Story, Nativity! and Match Point.It aims to make strong British films with...
acquired the rights, and are potentially set to begin filming in late-2010 or early-2011, once a director has been contracted. The film will star Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
, and will be produced by Kidman, Gail Mutrux and Per Saari through Mutrux's production company Pretty Picture, and Kidman's, Blossom Films. Shawn Slovo
Shawn Slovo
Shawn Slovo is a screenwriter, best known for the film A World Apart, based on her childhood in South Africa under the apartheid. She is the daughter of the late South African Communist Party leaders Joe Slovo and Ruth First...
will write the script, and Christine Langan
Christine Langan
Christine Langan is an English film producer who has been Creative Director of BBC Films since April 2009.After graduating from Cambridge University in 1987 and working in advertising for three years, Langan joined Granada Television's drama serials department where she script edited daytime soap...
will be the executive producer. Kidman had already read the novel before Mutrux contacted her about producing the film, on a flight between Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
reported that she was "so eager" to play Sarah that she personally competed with several film studios in order to secure the rights to the book.