Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Incendiary | 2005 | Chris Cleave | Buy |
| 2 | Little Bee / The Other Hand | 2008 | Chris Cleave | Buy |
| 3 | Gold | 2012 | Chris Cleave | Buy |
| 4 | Everyone Brave is Forgiven | 2016 | Chris Cleave | Buy |
Chris Cleave’s four standalone novels cover very different subjects, but they share a commitment to telling stories about people caught up in forces much bigger than themselves. Incendiary (2005) is a raw, first-person letter from a woman dealing with the aftermath of a terrorist attack. Little Bee (2008) alternates between the perspectives of a Nigerian refugee and a London journalist, and became an international word-of-mouth sensation.
Gold (2012) is a departure from Cleave’s more political work, following two elite female cyclists competing for a place on the British Olympic team while one of them cares for a daughter with leukemia. It is a book about friendship and ambition under pressure. Everyone Brave is Forgiven (2016) draws on the real wartime experiences of Cleave’s grandparents to tell a WWII story set between London and Malta, blending romance, humor, and the grinding reality of life during the Blitz.
Cleave writes with a journalist’s eye for detail and a novelist’s ear for voice. His books reward readers who like character-driven literary fiction that doesn’t shy away from political and moral questions.