Chris Cleave

(b.1973)

Chris Cleave is a novelist and is currently moonlighting as columnist for The Guardian newspaper in London.

His debut novel Incendiary was an international bestseller published in 20 countries to awards and critical acclaim. A controversial open letter to Osama bin Laden,Incendiary gained notoriety for the macabre coincidence of its UK publication on 7th July 2005, the day of the London terrorist bombings.

Inspired by his early childhood in West Africa and by an accidental visit to a British concentration camp, Cleave’s second novel is entitled The Other Hand in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It is entitled Little Bee in the US and Canada.

Genres: Historical, General Fiction

Novels

   Incendiary (2005)
   The Other Hand (2008)
     aka Little Bee
   Gold (2012)
   Everyone Brave is Forgiven (2016)

Omnibus editions show

Books containing stories by Chris Cleave

A Love Letter to Europe (2019)
An outpouring of sadness and hope

Too Much Too Young (2012)
(Book Slam Annual, book 2)
edited by
Patrick Neate

Awards

2017 Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award : Everyone Brave is Forgiven

Award nominations

2008 Costa Book Award for Best Novel (nominee) : The Other Hand

Chris Cleave recommends

Cecily (2021)
Annie Garthwaite
"Masterful and majestic, here is England's unspoken history told by one brilliant woman through the life of another. This important novel blazes on every page from its brutal first scene to its glittering final act. Immense."

The Nine-Chambered Heart (2017)
Janice Pariat
"Superb. She had me at page one."

Harmless Like You (2016)
Rowan Hisayo Buchanan
"Sublime - calm, profound, beautifully controlled and with startling splashes of colour."