From its first pages, this book will hit you hard. It depicts Nuri and his wife, Afra, and the disintegration of their life in Syria and their arduous journey to asylum in England. They lost their son to a bomb. Both are suffering from PTSD, although their symptoms are markedly different.
What can I say about a book like this? It is heartrending. It’s beautifully written. It comes across as totally real. But I still struggled with it. It’s very depressing, as you would expect. I had to keep putting the book down and walk away, giving myself time to process it. I loved his memories of the bees the best, those brief glimpses of beauty. It’s incredibly moving, haunting and gut wrenching,
Lefteri knows what she’s writing about. She worked as a volunteer at a refugee center in Athens for two years. As she writes, “The question I sought to answer with this book is what does it mean to see”.
My thanks to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

This beautiful story is about a husband and wife having to flee Syria to England, for safety. It talks about their horrific tales before and after. The author did such a beautiful job in writing this book. The writing is so beautiful and flows so easy. It’s not an easy read, but a must read.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo follows the story of Nuri and his wife Afra who are seeking asylum in England as refugees from Syria. Before their home and neighborhood was destroyed by the storm, Nuri was a prominent beekeeper with his cousin, Mustafa. Nuri and Afra are devastated to lose their home and everything they’ve ever known. Going through the immigration process is terrifying for them because don’t know if they will be granted asylum or be sent back to Syria. We see glimpses of their life now and the journey to England through intermittent flashbacks.

This novel is very painful to read at times because of all of the hardship the characters face, but I feel it is an important narrative to read. It amplifies the voices of the unsung and we get to see how each refugee’s journey was different as we meet various people and hear their stories through Nuri’s pov. It paints a vivid portrait of the harsh realities of immigration camps and the lives lost by many on a journey to a safer place:

“We found ourselves enclosed in barbed wire, and before us was a grim village with immaculate concrete walkways, wire-mesh fences, and white gravel. There were rows and rows of square makeshift cabins constructed of corrugated metal, for people to stay in until they got their papers . An empire of identification. “

Lefteri writes with great detail, making you feel all the emotions running through each characters mind. You feel their discomfort, pain and overwhelming sense of loss. You can feel how lost everyone is and how they drift from place to place trying to find solace. Lefteri pays great attention to detail in this story and while reading I could imagine the humming of the bees, the sea near Aleppo, and picture the horrible camps that Nuri and Afro stayed.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo was a very emotional read from start to finish. I liked that the author was inspired to write this book based on her own experiences of working in a refugee camp in Athens, Greece. At times it’s very difficult to read, but it’s also a very lyrical and beautiful story. It discusses topics including immigration, feeling broken, loss/grief, how to move forward in life when you are lost, and family.

I think it’s important to keep telling stories like this to make people more aware of things such as this that are going on in today’s world. These are real people with families and friends who have lost everything and are trying to find a safe place. It’s a heartbreaking piece of fiction but one that is well written.

Trigger Warnings: Mental Illness, Violence, Physical/Sexual Abuse

The Beekeeper of Aleppo could have been just one more of the many books about refugees and their hardships in.escaping their wartorn homes to search for a better life. But, Christy Lefteri deftly leads us along on their journey. What might have been a confusing time switch from past to present and back again, instead flowed seamlessly. I will definitely be recommending this well written and engaging book to my book clubs.

After I finished reading this, I almost wasn’t going to write a full review, but just say that it’s a heartbreaking, realistic rendering of the refugee experience, of people struggling to make it to a country that would provide asylum from a place where they have endured incredible loss and face imminent danger. In spite of the heartache, it’s a beautifully written story and I highly recommend it. That’s all I was going to say because I thought the book was so powerful, it would speak for itself. But I couldn’t leave it at that because this book, this story deserves a few more words. This author deserves a few more words about the amazing thing she has accomplished in this small volume.

Nuri, the Syrian beekeeper of the title and his wife Afra make a harrowing journey from Syria, through Turkey and Greece to the UK, a hard journey, traumatic at times from what Nuri sees and does there and the past he dreams about. Afra, his wife is suffering , blinded by the bombing is grieving an unimaginable loss to most of us. Nuri cares for her, seemingly so strong in the face of the adversity that has fallen on them, but he too is suffering and it manifests itself in such a heartbreaking way. He, too is suffering from the loss, has witnessed horrific things, and has lost his livelihood caring for bees in a business with his cousin. The loss of everything they held dear and now this profound grief and sense of displacement. As I read this, I wondered about Christy Lefteri and how she could be so intimately engaged in their sorrow and their struggle. Then I read her note at the end and realized that her deep compassion emanates from her experiences as a volunteer with refugees, from listening to their stories and from a personal connection to refugees - her parents. (This article describes that connection. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-beekeeper-of-aleppo-fictionalising-the-refugee-crisis-from-personal-experience-1.3900869)

I loved the writing, how she seamlessly bridges the past to the present through flashbacks and through Nuri’s dreams and nightmares and by connecting one chapter to another by a word. The last word of each chapter is continued with the title of the next chapter and that word begins the first sentence of that chapter. I found this very affecting. This is not a very long book, but it is not a quick one to read. It is incredibly sad and some of the images were reminiscent of the horrific ones I’ve seen on TV, as the refugee crisis is front and center in the news. I have read a number of novels about immigrants, but none until now about the journey to asylum. This is a stunning portrayal, profoundly emotional and thought provoking. If I had written a shorter review, I would have said, you need to read this.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Random House/Ballantine through NetGalley.

What? Another book about displaced refugees? If you subscribe to this theory, you definitely need to read this novel to awaken your senses. Yes, it is a novel about displaced refugees, but the writing is so lyrical and haunting taking us on an imaginative journey so powerful that we find ourselves immersed into the minds of these characters, feeling what this difficult journey must mean to them. I can't remember when I have felt so swept up, rocking like an emotional roller coaster ride as Nuri ,a beekeeper, and his wife Afra, try to leave their native Aleppo for England after a bomb strikes their town and kills their son, Sami. Nuri hopes to join Mustafa his dear friend who has fled to England and is cultivating English bees but the journey presents many problems related to dislocation, especially when you have a panoply of immigrants holed up in a central area and all crying for admittance into a country. But is the emotional dislocation that takes its greatest aim at the heart of this book. I would have given this a 5 star except sometimes the switching of place and time was a bit confusing to me, otherwise, a great story, demanding to be told in our uncivil age.

This a book that's beautifully written, yet at the same time, so hard to read. It focuses on a Syrian couple as they try to find a better life for themselves by seeking asylum in Europe. They get beaten down -sometimes literally, sometimes figuratively- at every stop along their journey. The only thing they never lose is hope, and that's about all they have left in the end, but somehow that almost feels like it's enough.

The author gives little details out at a time about the situations and what happened to the refugees, our main characters Nuri and Afra, so as not to overwhelm the readers, as obviously they were. They suffered many distressing events, and slowly make their way to England. They endure despite all the difficulties and trauma from before leaving their country, and what happens in the camps. PTSD is portrayed as almost sleepwalking, our narrator see's what's not there....

The writing was decent but I did not like the gimmick of the words, that flow from one scene to the next, as the section heading, which switches the time line. The first time I think it was neat, but it got old and annoying. Some may like this new way of writing, playing with the novel form. I think it was enough to just portray the situation of refugees without needing to experiment with the novel.

When we first meet Nuri, he is a beekeeper living in Aleppo, a city in Syria. We then meet his wife—a woman named Afra—and his cousin, business inspiration, and dear friend—Mustafa. Life is good. But before long, the war hits Aleppo and everything is turned upside down. We then follow Nuri and Afra as they embark on a dangerous, harrowing journey through Turkey and Greece in the hopes of reaching freedom and safety in England. The Beekeeper of Aleppo is both tragic and heartwarming, and will have you vacillating between crying and cheering. The book introduces strong characters, and gives a window into a moment of recent history that many Americans are, sadly, ill-formed about. It’s a powerful story, and one you won’t soon forget.

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.