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
more
A beautiful refugee story of hardship, grief, loss, and determination, The Beekeeper of Aleppo reminds us that a little humanity can go a long way.
Born from Lefteri’s experience working at a refugee center in Athens, the story centers around the journey of Nuri and Afra Ibrahim, a married couple fleeing war and oppression in Syria in hopes of reaching the UK.
Lefteri pens a story reminiscent of Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, and you can’t help but be pulled into the fear and grief of the young couple. Before they can leave Syria, tragedy strikes, and Nuri and Afra are left with a grief they could never have imagined — which shapes their journey out of Aleppo in heartrending ways.
My only complaint with this story is that it centers around the first-person narration of Nuri Ibrahim, but much of the plot takes place after he’s left his blind wife (either in their boarding room, on a blanket in the middle of a park, or at their home in Aleppo) alone to fend for herself while he walks around thinking or meeting people. Afra can hardly dress herself, and Nuri’s continued indifference toward his wife’s care really bothered me. I would have loved for this story to be from her perspective, or even a few chapters sprinkled in that told us more than Nuri’s perspective.
Overall, I really enjoyed this story, and my heart ached for Nuri and Afra. A perfect read for fans of The Kite Runner.
Powerful, emotional, and ultimately, full of hope.
Nuri and Afra’s long journey to a new home, and back to each other, will stay with me a very long time.
This book will forever hold a place in my heart. I don’t think I can find words to do justice to this gorgeous piece of literature. Lefteri has used her time spent volunteering in a refugee camp in Athens and her observations of the trauma her refugee parents have carried to craft a beautiful story of devastating loss and ultimate redemption. The story follows Nuri Ibrahim, a Syrian beekeeper, and his wife, Afra, as they are forced to journey as refugees to Turkey, Greece and ultimately the UK. Afra has been blind since the traumatic death of their son and Nuri cares for her as he battles his own inner demons. This masterful crafted story ripped my heart in two and then lovingly stitched it back together again. There is no shortage of heartbreak here, but the message is one of ultimate hope. The Lefteris journey thought absolute darkness, but eventually find a glimmer of light.
This is a beautifully written story of a family, who had lived a wonderful life in Syria before the war tore everything apart, from structures to lives, to families, to hopes and dreams.
We follow a couple Nuri who was a beekeeper in Aleppo and his wife Afra, who is a talented artist, who had loved this beautiful city until it was taken from them along with everything they cared about. Afra lost her sight from what she had seen and they finally decide it is time to leave and try to get to England, where Mustafa, Nuri’s cousin and business partner had already gone.
This story shows us the hardships not only of the difficult travel to reach a safer place, but also the mental strain from the haunting memories of what they had left behind. Waiting in the refugee camps, hoping to find a way to travel closer to their destination and the things and people they met on there journey were often very hard and sad to witness.
The author who worked in some of those camps in Greece, was able to give us a real view of what is was like to be a refugee, as she used some of the stories she had heard to compose her story.
I will have to check out more books by this author.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for the ARC of this book.
This book touched my heart. It paints a realistic yet haunting picture of the lives of Syrian refugees, from the tragedy and loss they leave behind, to their challenges in finding safety in new countries. I highly recommend it.
Depicts the emotional horror of loss and grief in a war. Sad.
Nuri, the beekeeper of the title, has fled the Syrian civil war with his wife. While Nuri wanted to leave earlier, they left it almost too late and suffered greatly because of their hesitation. This is a deeply personal account of one man’s journey that will haunt you for a long time.
This gorgeous story is filled with characters who tug hard at all the heartstrings. You root for them all…
This is an amazing story that sucks you in from the very first page. The author whisks you back & forth between the fragrant hills above war torn Aleppo, the tortuous journey of Nuri & his wife, and the quiet B&B in England where they await news of their application for asylum. Beautifully written, tactful in its handling of a sensitive subject & creatively crafted, this is an incredible book that I look forward to reading again & again.
I love my book club; I am challenged to read books outside my comfort zone. This was one of those books. This beautifully written story gives insight into the lives and living conditions of refugees into Europe. There are so many dangers, losses, and hardships that those of us blessed to live in safety rarely consider. This story follows beekeeper Nuri and his wife as they leave war torn Syria to join a friend in England.
The writing style, while well done, is unique. Chapters end and start with the chapter title as a connecting word between them. The chapters flow between the current situation and the characters’ travels to get to that point. There were times it was a little hard to follow, but overall was quite effective.
The story touches on some very difficult topics but handles them with as much grace and sensitivity as possible. I think our book club discussion will be quite interesting this time.
This book stops you in your tracks and forces you to think beyond your own world and consider the lives of others. Beautifully written. Great book to discuss at a book club.
The audio narration of this is fantastic. I loved this book so very much. I don’t want to say too much about it because it is one everyone should read and discover on their own. It was heartbreaking, honest and filled with profound lost but also highlights how love can bring light in the midst of darkness.
Modern day war story with all the tragedies of escape from brutality.
When the story opens, Nuri and Afra Ibrahim are staying at a B&B awaiting to see if they are going to be granted asylum or if they will have to return to their native Syria. Nuri was a beekeeper in Aleppo and Afra was an artist before they fled Syria after their son Sami was killed in the bombings. Afra has lost her vision and they are desperately trying to meet up with Nuri’s cousin, Mustafa, who has made it to England and who is beekeeping again. The story alternates between present day life at the B&B and their journey there after leaving Syria. This is a powerful and very haunting book about their journey and the hardships they faced in the refugee camps.
A sweet and moving tale of Syrian refuge life which brought tears to my eyes!!
Well written tale of Syrian refugees harrowing journey to safety in England.
A topical book about Syrian refugees trying to get to England. It opens your eyes to how it must feel to be a refugee in a way that the news can’t. Simply but effectively written, the last word of each chapter is the first word of the next linking together the different time periods as the novel moves from the present to the past and back again. A sad story which reflects the horrific civil war in Syria.
Marries the beauty of nature with the struggle of immigrants – fabulous a realistic story of what Middle eastern immigrants experience in the pursuit of a better life while pursuing their passion
This story did not have a beginning nor an ending. The best part of the book was the author’s note at the end. Maybe she should have jut published that.
Please start at the beginning of the story and follow it through to the end. Do not jump all over the place so that the reader is constantly jerked around and lost in the timeline.
And, chapters do not end in the middle of sentences.
This is the most powerful, graceful, transformative novel I’ve ever read. She has elevated the form, and improved what I expect from fiction. At the same time, she managed to make me see the entire refugee problem in a different way. She makes a class of people- “refugees”- into individual humans you care about.
Heartbreaking, heart-mending, amazing.
This book is a gift. It is essential. It is God-sent.
And the audio version is beautiful.