Nuri and his wife Afra are forced to leave Aleppo, as the cruelty of the Syrian war has made life untenable in their homeland. Their current situation in England is told outright, their perilous journey, revealed in alternating chapters, and the fact that they were successful in attaining that goal does not diminished the power of their experiences. Last year's Exit West by Mohsin Hamid told a similar story but it lacked the powerful punch of this book in that it was more of a fable. Here we have a man who, along with his cousin, ran a successful apiary business, and I can't think of an enterprise that most clearly evokes feelings of gentleness and kindness than the husbandry of bees and the production of honey. To add to the pathos, Afra has lost her sight, especially cruel since she is an artist who produced such lovely work, she sold it in the souk. As they progress towards attaining asylum status in the present day, details of the previous months are presented with increasing difficulty. Christy Lefteri has incorporated her parent's history as well as her own, which gives this book an immediacy and power. Just the title evoked a feeling of compassion that stayed with me throughout the reading of this book.

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.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo is the type of book that will stay with you forever. I understand that my statement is bold, but this book deserves it. It’s daunting and beautiful. I fell in love with the characters and their pain was mine. Their suffering was mine. Their story was too. What Christi Lefteri has done - is write a story that will beat the passage of time. Where other books would faded in my memory, the Beekeeper of Aleppo will remain fresh.

I cried with Nuri, a beekeeper from Aleppo and his wife Afra when they lost their bees, their home, their only son in the Syrian war. I traveled with them to Turkey then Greece and I lived in the refugee camps with them. Then, they arrived in England, seeking asylum like the thousands of others before them and after them.

The aftermath of the horror they survived affected them each differently and their love for each other. Afra was so lost in herself seeing her young son die in her arms, she became blind, without a physical alignment. Nuri suffered severe PTSD from the shock and fear of the war.

But like their beloved bees seeking to build new hives, they eventually allow themselves to accept this new and strange life.

The book is magnificent. Haunting, but some stories simply must be told and I’m grateful that Lefteri gave voices to Nuri and Afra. It’s storytelling at its finest and a sincere reminder why I love books so dearly.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a beautifully written book about the horrors and trauma associated with war and the need to flee to a safer country. I cannot say enough good things about it. Narrated by Syrian beekeeper Nuri, the story of his flight, along with his wife Afra, from Aleppo to the UK is particularly relevant today. Even with their comparatively considerable resources, Nuri and Afra's journey is not easy and its challenges are compounded by the ghost of their seven-year-old son who was killed by a bomb as Afra looked on. Afra is a talented artist who loses her sight; Nuri sees Sami in the form of another child. The book's central question, as author Lefteri explains in her afterward, is what does it mean to see? Other related themes include the effects of trauma and humanity's evil and good, as many on their journeys are scammed or drawn into nefarious enterprises while also being helped by good souls. Lefteri's prose reflects the hand of a mature and accomplished novelist. Her descriptions of the places in which Nuri and Afra spend time, from the hives Nuri and his cousin Mustafa nurture in Syria to the quarters in which they must stay along their journey, are so vivid that the reader can smell the fragrance of the flowers from which the bees derive their honey as well as the filth of a body too long unwashed. Finally, Lefteri's afterward is of particular relevance to today's global immigration crises. I hope this book attracts the readership it deserves.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a thought-provoking novel that tells of Nuri and Afra’s experiences escaping war torn Syria. The story is told in the first person by Nuri, the eponymous beekeeper of the title, alternating among descriptions of life in Syria, both before and during the war there; their journey to freedom; and their adjustment to life in England. The tension builds as they are faced with making decisions to leave the only home they have known and it grows in intensity as each leg of their flight brings new dangers. We see the emotional toll on this couple’s relationship and how their displacement affects their ability to cope with the stresses of leaving everything behind. We also see their interactions with other refugees who are caught up in the conflicts in their own countries.

I’ve read quite a few accounts of refugees fleeing war-torn countries, some historical fictional (When the Moon is Low - Afghanistan; The German Girl – German Jews, WWII; Salt to the Sea - East Prussia, WWII) and some non-fiction (A Hope More Powerful than the Sea - Syria; Sea Prayer - Syria). I am always moved to see how innocent civilians are caught up in the middle of the political machinations of their leaders, and this novel proves to be both heartbreaking and provocative. In comparison to all the news reports on refugees fleeing countries around the world, this novel focuses attention of this crisis by making one family's flight real and sympathetic. This is not always an easy book to read due to its content, but it is an important one.

I went into this one not knowing what to expect. I was quickly immersed in the storyline. The writing is beautiful, lyrical without trying too hard. It certainly humanizes those who suffer from the Syrian war, but what I found so compelling is that in a way it could have been ANY war, in any country, at any time. The characters could be any of us. The imagery of using the bees was highly effective and worked for me completely. I felt so drawn in to the writing style and empathized so strongly with the characters. This book made me feel strongly, and think deeply, and I was moved. Isn’t that the ultimate goal of reading novels? I can’t wait to see what this author writes next.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Ballantine for the free digital copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

WOW! This is such a heartbreaking and thought provoking book. The book focuses on a beekeeper and his wife and their journey to safety in England from Syria. You will be thinking about this story and the characters long after you finish it because Christy Lefteri has these characters coming to life bye giving them a voice beyond what we see in television and media about the Syrian conflict. You are brought in their lives and really get to see the misery of being a refugee and the dark reality that they endure even after they get to safety. Christy’s storytelling is some of the best I have read this year and I believe that’s because she actually did volunteer work in Greece once refugees starting pouring in. Her experiences with Syrian refugees and seeing the haunting things that they have to go through is all over these pages.

3.5

It's a moving story of Nuri and Afra's journey seeking asylum, the impact of the war on their relationship, and on them as individuals, through Nuri's POV. Nuri was a beekeeper in Aleppo before their lives were uprooted by the war. As one might guess, the nature of bees is often used as a metaphor through the book. The story alternates between their initial experience having arrived in the UK and their journey from Syria to the UK and experiences along the way. I would have loved to have had Afra's POV in the story as well. There seemed to be so much more to her than we learn from Nuri.

The story also provides some insight into refugee camps and the asylum process. It's wonderful that the author chose to tell this story after her experience volunteering during the refugee crisis. While her characters, Nuri and Afra are fictional, a lot of the experiences in the book are based on her conversations with refugees and what she saw at the camps she volunteered at.

A beautiful story of war, love, and loss. The characters were so real and heartbreaking, and during their journey I was rooting for them all the way. The PTSD angle and effects were an additional interesting aspect. Beautiful imagery with the bees. I hope this author writes another book in the future.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a beautifully written story of the challenges of refugee families. It is the journey of Nuri, a Syrian beekeeper and his artist wife, Afra, from Syria to the UK. They leave their home to seek asylum in London after the war takes everything from them. A story of love, loss, survival, despair and the hope that life will get better.

This is a difficult subject matter and a very sad story. It is also an excellent book! Our eyes and sight connect us to the world, it’s pleasures and horrors. They also connect our inner self to love, hope and despair. The Beekeeper of Aleppo touches it all with wonderful characters and heartfelt emotion.

A heart wrenching novel of the life the hardships torment refugees go through.In this novel Syrian refugees forced to escape the country they love.This is a beautifully written novel full of sadness seeking a new life.desperate for safety.#netgalley #randomhouse.

A beautiful and haunting tale of Syria and the families who lost so much and fought so hard to stay in their home country, only to be driven out by war.

This is the story of Nuri, a beekeeper, and his wife, Afra, who is an artist. They live in the city of Aleppo and their life is a good one. Until war comes. In a bomb strike their lives change forever. They change forever. Afra has seen such horrors, she is now blind. But with the aid of Nuri's cousin, they escape. 

It is a long and hard journey they must now go on. Now they are refugees. Looked down on and taken advantage of. Nuri is suffering from PTSD and only wants to find a place to raise his bees and be safe. They can never go back. All they have is memories of a home that will never be theirs again.

This is a story of human strength and compassion. A real story of the horrors of war in 
Syria and the real people who are dying and suffering for a reason we don't really understand. Nuri and Afra may never see Syria again, but can they find their way back to each other?

This is a book you need to read. It's not pretty and it's very sad, but it's honest and I cried and was very grateful to have read it.

Very Well Done!

NetGalley/ August 27th, 2019 by Ballantine Books

I adored this haunting, immersive, sad novel.

Lefteri did such a great job of putting me in Nuri's shoes. Not an easy feat, as we do not share first language/culture/country/gender/any life experience except marriage and parenting. This is a story of war and loss and a refugee odyssey through smugglers' vehicles and boats and foot travel and squalid camps and social services and clinics and bureaucracy. The stuff of news headlines is fleshed out here in the tale of one family.

I read fiction to experience the universal through the particular, and when it is done as well as it is here it is sublime.

With big thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the ARC. Due out August 27 2019.

This is another novel told in non-linear fashion but it was relatively easy to follow. The time jumps of past memories usually made sense. It took me awhile to realize which were memories and which were present time.

This is the story of a Syrian family forced to flee their home, and the beekeeping business the protagonist Nuri runs with his older cousin Mustafa.

Lost a star due to a rape that I felt was unnecessary to the plot. I wish people would stop using rape as a plot point.

Recommended for those who like refugee fiction.

I did not finish this book, but not because of the writing. The writing was beautiful. The topic of refugees was too depressing for me and probably for my book group. I will purchase it, however, because this book might find its reader.

Oh man, this book tugged at my heart strings. In Christy Lefteri’s novel The Beekeeper of Aleppo we journey through a Syrian war with Nuri Ibrahim and his wife, Afra. Fleeing from for asylum in the UK Nuri and Afra travel thousands of miles through chaos in Turkey and Greece and end up in a refugee camp as they wait for the proper documents to gain asylum. Alternating between present day England and Syria, this story of survival and second chances will have you on the edge of your seats.

Lefteri is the daughter of two war-affected parents. She spent time in a refugee camp, were she assisted families who arrived from Syria and Afghanistan. Beautifully written and mesmerizing the end will have you pull out the tissues, this is a must read. Thank you, Netgalley & Random House Publishing, for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. 4 out of 5 stars.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a heartbreakingly beautiful story. There is trauma, sacrifice, tragedy, but the beauty is in the overcoming, hope, and strength. The writing is poetic and tender. I found myself rereading lines because the some descriptions were so lovely. The past and present is artfully woven together in a unique way, and the story unfolds little by little. My heart ached for the terrible circumstances that many Syrians face and the violence and fear that permeates their lives. I liked how the vulnerability of bees mirrored those seeking asylum and how kindness and care is something that would aid both. The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a book I highly recommend for historical fiction fans who enjoy learning about other cultures.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo
By Cristy Lefteri
7/7/19

What a beautifully written, haunting novel about individuals caught up in the Syrian refugee crisis. Though the book does not give any insight into politics or the cause of the crisis, it describes the hardship of various refugees throughout their journey to freedom. Coincidentally, I read this book right after reading, The Girl with Seven Names by Hyeonseo See, a true account of her flight from North Korea, and though that was a memoir, many facts in Beekeeper were similar and thus felt very genuine.

I was repeatedly struck by how long the journey to freedom could be, with many not ever reaching safety. The waiting felt endless, and often the journey felt hopeless. The corruption and bribes that were necessary in their flight left me feeling so sad for the many who don’t have those resources. And I recognize how fortunate I am to live in a safe country with resources.

I really loved the characters, Nuri, the beekeeper, and his wife Afra, an artist, as well as Nuri’s cousin and fellow beekeeper, Mustafa, whose emails kept Nuri’s dream of freedom alive. Lefteri did a wonderful job showing the trauma that these characters had been through, and then flipping my preconceived notions about strength, coping and PTSD on its head. We know that the couple arrives safely in England, as the book begins there, as they await their asylum, and that knowledge comforted me when all seemed lost.

The references to the art of beekeeping were interesting, and I loved the little “refugee” bee who lost his wings, but was still able to survive thanks to friends providing the right environment.

My thanks to NetGalley for an Advanced Readers Copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in any way

This is an amazing, beautifully written novel of Nuri and Afra, a beekeeper and his wife, who are Syrian refugees. The novel puts a face on the sorrow and hardships that refugees endure. There's incredible sadness, but also amazing resilience in this story. Your heart aches for these characters, but the novelists shows the strength of the human spirit. . The metaphor of the bee is incredible. Everyone should read this incredible book. Thank you NetGalley for the copy.