This unforgettable novel puts human faces on the Syrian war with the immigrant story of a beekeeper, his wife, and the triumph of spirit when the world becomes unrecognizable. “A beautifully crafted novel of international significance that has the capacity to have us open our eyes and see.”—Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of AuschwitzWINNER OF THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE • FINALIST FOR … THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE • FINALIST FOR THE DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY REAL SIMPLE
Nuri is a beekeeper and Afra, his wife, is an artist. Mornings, Nuri rises early to hear the call to prayer before driving to his hives in the countryside. On weekends, Afra sells her colorful landscape paintings at the open-air market. They live a simple life, rich in family and friends, in the hills of the beautiful Syrian city of Aleppo—until the unthinkable happens. When all they love is destroyed by war, Nuri knows they have no choice except to leave their home. But escaping Syria will be no easy task: Afra has lost her sight, leaving Nuri to navigate her grief as well as a perilous journey through Turkey and Greece toward an uncertain future in Britain.
Nuri is sustained only by the knowledge that waiting for them is his cousin Mustafa, who has started an apiary in Yorkshire and is teaching fellow refugees beekeeping. As Nuri and Afra travel through a broken world, they must confront not only the pain of their own unspeakable loss but dangers that would overwhelm even the bravest souls. Above all, they must make the difficult journey back to each other, a path once so familiar yet rendered foreign by the heartache of displacement.
Moving, intimate, and beautifully written, The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a book for our times: a novel that at once reminds us that the most peaceful and ordinary lives can be utterly upended in unimaginable ways and brings a journey in faraway lands close to home, never to be forgotten.
Praise for The Beekeeper of Aleppo
“This book dips below the deafening headlines, and tells a true story with subtlety and power.”—Esther Freud, author of Mr. Mac and Me
“This compelling tale had me gripped with its compassion, its sensual style, and its onward and lively urge for resolution.”—Daljit Nagra, author of British Museum
“This novel speaks to so much that is happening in the world today. It’s intelligent, thoughtful, and relevant, but very importantly it is accessible. I’m recommending this book to everyone I care about.”—Benjamin Zephaniah, author of Refugee Boy
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This is the heartbreaking story of Syrian refugees Nuri, Afra and their son Sami. This well written, gripping novel follows this family as they weather the horrors of war in their country and ultimately decide to leave. Nuri is a successful beekeeper with his cousin Mustafa. Afra is an artist and when she witnesses her son Sami’s death, she is blinded by the trauma. Nuri and Mustafa’s beehives are deliberately burned and destroyed, resulting in Mustafa’s decision to leave for Europe with his family. Nuri and Afra stay behind for awhile and then they too join the difficult and dangerous exodus out of Syria, winding up in Greece before they arrive in England where Nuri hopes to join Mustafa in a new beekeeping business.
Ms. Lefteri has produced a book which will make you very grateful for the food in your home, the roof over your head and the safety of your neighborhood. Nuri and Afra’s story will stay with you long after you have finished this book. It is truly unforgettable and I am very glad I was able to read it.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author Christy Lefteri, and the publisher Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for the wonderful experience of reading this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Christy Lefteri has written this book to heal from her sadness.She tells us of Dr.Ryad Alous a refugee living in England who taught her about how the bees he worked with are a symbol of vulnerability .life and hope ,Nuri, the protagonist once a proud father and beekeeper finds himself on a journey from Syria to England after he has lost his son and beekeeping business.The author tells us It is only when Nuri and his wife allow themselves to see, to feel the presence and love of each other ,they can make their journey toward survival and renewal.What an essential reminder the author provides us with love and hope can make us forge onward in the face of tragedy and chaos
I received a free electronic ARC copy of this novel on August 28, 2019, from Netgalley, Christy Lefteri, and Random House – Ballentine Books. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this book of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest personal opinion of this work. I am very pleased to recommend this novel to friends and family. This is a book to read and savor, more than once. There are passages from this novel that keep drumming in my heart as I picture them in my head.
Nuri, with his cousin Mustafa, is a beekeeper in the hills overlooking beautiful Aleppo, Syria. Nuri handles anything to do with the bees and apiaries, and Mustafa researches and manufactures items using the honey and manages their retail business – though the started from scratch, at this point in time they are producing ten tons of honey a year. Nuri had to break his father’s heart to become a knowledgable beekeeper, learning the business from his Uncle – Mustafa’s father and their common grandfather were beekeepers. It is a lifestyle, a calling that Nuri felt in his heart far stronger than those nudges from his conscious urging him to join his father in his family business, shut up all day in a store selling fabric and notions to the masses. Nuri’s wife Afra is a successful artist. Nuri and Afra have a beautiful, contented outdoor life and an eight-year-old son, Sami, the light of their lives. Until.
Afra suffers blindness after watching her son Sami die during a bombing in the streets of Aleppo. Nuri does his best to help his wife and protect his bees as he watches friends, neighbors, eventually, even his partner Mustafa with wife Dahab and daughter Aya gather up essentials and flee to the coast seeking refuge across the Mediterranean Sea. Anywhere else. Afra, in deep mourning, lost and helpless, refuses to leave their home. They will stay with Sami, who is buried in their gardens. Nothing Nuri says will change her mind. When she finally concedes and they join the masses of refugees of Syria, Afghanistan and the African continent, the nightmare continues, unabated. For YEARS.
I live an hours drive from Juarez, Mexico. I thought I was cognisant with the whole idea of pain and loss and fear behind the fleeing citizens of a beleaguered country – leaving all you love, facing a life among strangers and starting all over again because you no longer have a home, a country, a place in your world. I have done what I thought I was capable of to assist those fleeing through Mexico from Central America, Europe, even the Ivory Coast. Locally we hold food drives and clothing drives, gather truckloads of water and diapers, try to provide tea and sympathy. We bombard our legislatures with letters and e-mails. But I truly had no idea. Though presented as fiction, The Beekeeper of Aleppo has truth at the heart. Please read this book. We cannot do enough to assist these families awaiting validation at our borders around the world. And this is a problem that the world must solve before it is too late – for all of us.
What an amazing story! Sadness. Resilience. Over and over again there are casualties of civilians during war. Lefteri tells a masterful tale of a bookkeeper named Nuri and his artist wife, Afra. They live in the hills outside of Aleppo. Everything is lost during the civil war in Syria including Afra’s eyesight. As refugees, Lefteri makes you feel like you are right beside this refugee couple as they make the journey through Turkey and Greece to try to get to Great Britain where Nuri has a cousin as a beekeeper. I know I will be haunted by this story for a long time. It would be an excellent bookclub choice. Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
So, I actually finished this one over the course of a week, and while not my normal reading speed, it simply felt right for this novel. It’s not an easy read, by any means, and the subject matter is painted with darkness both literally and figuratively, but even so…it’s very moving.
From the moment you step between the pages, you become a part of the story. You are there with Nuri as he discovers his passion for something outside of the family business much to the chagrin of his father. You too revel in the beauty found within the beekeepers landscape, and equally feel the emptiness left behind when it’s all taken away. You can’t escape the blackness painted on his soul when his son goes somewhere he can’t simply follow, though at times he may wish to with all his might. As time progresses, you are still there, a silent shadow, witnessing what true hardship can do to a person physically, mentally, and emotionally. How DO you carry on when everything is taken from you, including your freedom? How indeed…but the question posed doesn’t merely belong to Nuri, nor the sorrows experienced, challenges faced, and hardships survived, for Afra was with him every step of the way. His wife had her own troubles brought on by everything that transpired, including the loss of her sight. It’s bad enough when the world around you is crumbling into nothingness, casting you out like so many fallen leaves, but to not be able to see past the memories in your own mind, to lose the chance to move forward from the beauty it once possessed and into the reality it has become visually…I’m not certain if that was a blessing or a curse.
In the end, no one would ever accuse this one of being filled with sunshine and rainbows, and happily ever after is certainly not seen in the short run (more like through the lense of the Hubble telescope), but it’s all the more beautiful for the heartache, pain, tragedy, and darkness LIVED through.
**ARC received for review; opinions are my own
Thank you to Random House for an advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.
The Beekeeper Of Aleppo
By: Christy Lefteri
*REVIEW*
I’m going to voice an unpopular opinion about The Beekeeper Of Aleppo. I didn’t fall in love with this story, but I didn’t dislike it either. I’m on neutral ground. I’m not going to rehash the plot. You’ve all read it. I’d like to discuss the impactful message it presents. I have nothing but complete respect and earnest sympathy for the struggles and hardships faced by immigrants and refugees. These people, fictional or real, are so much stronger and courageous than I will ever be. My reason for not loving this book is the overwhelming sadness. I didn’t expect this to be a happy story. I can take sadness to an extent, but in this case, the feelings of depression, grief and hopelessness simply overwhelmed the story to a point where I didn’t want to read it anymore. On the other hand, it’s beautifully written and unbearably heartbreaking, and I understand why it’s beloved by so many readers. This is a story that needed to be told. I greatly appreciate the unflinching portrayal of the human spirit in all of its fragile and enduring forms. In society today, this book is extremely relevant for the obvious reasons of immigration tragedies due to a large influx and needed reforms to prevent such things from happening. The Beekeeper Of Aleppo is a gritty sharp edged look at the war torn refugee experience through the eyes of the unfortunate souls who lived it. It’s something everyone should read because the story clings to you and makes you think about the world as it is and as it could be. Do consider picking this one up if you haven’t already.
Through her vivid and loveable characters who will stay with me forever, Christy Lefteri questions what it is to be human and how to maintain our dignity. This compelling tale gripped me with its compassion, its sensual style, and its lively urge for resolution.
This book dips below the deafening headlines and tells a true story with subtlety and power.
This novel speaks to so much that is happening in the world today. It’s intelligent, thoughtful, and relevant, and also accessible. I’m recommending this book to everyone I care about.
Courageous and provocative, The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a beautifully crafted novel of international significance with the capacity to have us open our eyes and see… Read about this couple, relate to this couple, and understand the world they have fled.
Heartbreaking, powerful and so beautifully written. This book and its characters will stay with me for a long time. Such an important read and one I highly recommend.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.
This is perhaps the most poignant book I have read thus far this year. Yet the book is filled with beauty and love.
Nuri is a beekeeper in Aleppo, Syria. His wife Afra is an artist. Amidst the Syrian Civil War Afra was left blind when she witnessed their young son killed by a bomb. Their nephew Mustafa fled Syria earlier and is now in England. Mustafa has bought some beehives and started his own business. He begs Nuri and Afra to join him, thus they set off, joining thousands of other refugees fleeing to what they hope is a better life, a safer life. It is a long and danger-filled trek to and through Turkey and then through Greece with no guarantee they will be granted asylum if and when they reach England.
Theirs is a journey of moving through their grief and rediscovering themselves, individually and as a couple. Along the way they meet people who will take advantage of them, some who will hurt them, and some who will give them the strength to continue their journey.
The author worked as a volunteer at a refugee center in Athens, Greece. The stories she heard and the people she met led her to writing this compassionate account of their stories.
Have you ever read a book that captures your heart? Each beat pauses as you read every transcendent word! Absolutely a breathtaking experience reading this book. It is an absolute must read!
This is a very powerful story about the sufferings of refugees. It tells the story of Nuri and Afra’s journey from war torn Syria to safety in the U.K. it poignant and painful as they struggle to survive the journey intact in both mind and body. It is told in a fragmented pattern which aptly describes their state of mind throughout the journey. The author looks at the small mercies done by some people they meet and the horrible wrongs done by others. It answers the question how do you hang on to hope when things are so dark. This is a story that needed to be told.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.
In Aleppo, Syria, Nuri the beekeeper lives a simple yet full life. He is married to Afra, an artist, and their son, Sami, is the light of their lives. Of course, this is before Syria’s civil war tears their lives apart and they decide to leave Syria and make their way to the UK where Nuri’s cousin is waiting for them.
Nuri narrates the journey, with timelines alternating between past and present (not in chronological order). His story shows us what life as a refugee means to a person, a couple, a family, a community, a country, indeed the world. Nuri feels like Afra’s “soul is evaporating” and thinks that perhaps he should break her neck, putting her out of her misery and giving her peace. He describes Afra:
“She cried like a child, laughed like bells ringing, and her smile was the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. She could argue for hours without ever pausing. Afra loved, she hated and she inhaled the world like it was a rose. All this was why I loved her more than life.”
I was sickened! Did his love turn to hate, or was his love so overwhelming that he wanted to kill her out of desperation to put an end to her suffering? And with each page, the pit in my stomach opened up a little bit more. This is what 13.5 million refugees from Syria must feel. There are some very disturbing storylines that will leave indelible images in your mind. Indeed, Nuri wonders how to be able “to pretend for a moment that I hadn’t seen the things I’d seen.”
This is a haunting novel that will break your heart.
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