Anthologies
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Too Much Too Young | 2012 | Buy |
Standalone Novels
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Incendiary | 2005 | Buy |
| Little Bee / The Other Hand | 2008 | Buy |
| Gold | 2012 | Buy |
| Everyone Brave is Forgiven | 2016 | Buy |
Chris Cleave writes novels that place ordinary people inside extraordinary circumstances. His debut, Incendiary (2005), is written as a letter from a woman who lost her husband and son in a terrorist attack on a football stadium in London. It was published on the same day as the July 7, 2005 London bombings, a coincidence that turned the book into headline news.
Little Bee, published in 2008 (titled The Other Hand in the UK), became his breakout book. It follows a Nigerian asylum seeker and a British woman connected by a terrible event on a beach in Nigeria. The publisher famously asked readers not to reveal the plot, and the book spread largely through word of mouth to become an international bestseller. Gold (2012) shifts to the world of competitive cycling, telling the story of two friends and rivals vying for a single spot on the British Olympic team.
Everyone Brave is Forgiven (2016), inspired by the wartime experiences of Cleave’s own grandparents, is set during the London Blitz and the Siege of Malta. It follows a socialite turned schoolteacher and a young education administrator as the war upends their lives. Cleave’s novels tend to pair high-stakes situations with close, character-driven storytelling, and he has a knack for finding dark humor even in grim material.