A beautiful refugee story of hardship, grief, loss, and determination, <i>The Beekeeper of Aleppo</i> 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 <i>The Kite Runner</i>, 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 <i>The Kite Runner</i>.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bonnier Zaffre for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Nuri is in heaven. He has always wanted to be a beekeeper. Now in Aleppo his dream has come true. His cousin, Mustafa and he have a successful business raising bees, cultivating the honey, and discovering new ways to implement honey in everyday items. Happiness abounds, families are happy, their in paradise. Then with the flash of bombings and the war, everything is destroyed. Both families lose their sons. They are forced to immigrate to the United Kingdom.
The trials, heartbreak, trauma of mind, body and soul are enough to make anyone give up. The hope of a better life, and the soft humming of bees will give them the strength needed to survive.
A rich and powerful story. Magnetic, doesn't let you go until the final page.

Life in Syria was sweet for beekeeper Nuri and his wife, artist Afra until war broke out. Together the two make their way across a war torn country, through Turkey and Greece, hoping to find a new home in England. This is an incredible story, heartbreaking and timely and should be read by every person who has any question about why victims of political upheaval and ethnic cleansing need a safe refuge