Book set in Syria and England: The Beekeeper of Aleppo, Christy Lefteri

Submitted: 2nd May 2019

A novel of immigration, set from Aleppo across Europe to England

Book set in Syria and England: The Beekeeper of Aleppo, Christy Lefteri – “In the midst of war, he found love In the midst of darkness, he found courage In the midst of tragedy, he found hope. The Beekeeper of Aleppo: what will you find from his story?”

This is a story of two journeys: that of a family who flee Aleppo and make their way to England and the story of human endurance and the fight between good and evil…..

BookTrail the locations in The Beekeeper of Aleppo

BookTrail Travel to the locations in The Beekeeper of Aleppo

Setting: A journey from Aleppo, Syria all the way across Europe to England

#Bookreview

Nuri and Afra live in Syria and have a lovely normal life until war breaks out. Nuri is a beekeeper, Afra an artist, and they live with their son Sami in the east of the city. Bombs rain down on the city and tragedy strikes as their young son is killed in one of the raids.

They have no choice but to escape the country and follow their friends and leave the country. From war-torn Aleppo, through Turkey and Greece, they eventually make it to London where they claim asylum. This is the story of their journey across country after country with a very insightful account of life for refugees in Greece (the author apparently volunteered with refugees here)

There’s two parts to the story in the sense of location – their flight from Syria to England and their time once they arrive, trying to navigate their new life. However, there’s also another two shades to the story in the gentle and loving way Nuri lavishes attention on his beloved bees, compared with the brutality of war and the horrors humans can inflict on each other is striking and raw. It’s a very effective way to bring both emotions to the fore.

Everyone has an opinion on immigration today and there are many different stories, reasons why people move and various rights and wrongs. What this novel does however is to show the most desperate and the most human story. The people here are fleeing from their once beloved homeland and face a terrible journey. On that journey, they face danger, prejudice and more along the way. Then what happens when they get to England? No body can know. You can read all the headlines and have all the discussions you want, but when you feel the human emotions and the reality in this book…

This is a journey in more ways than one. Not just in miles travelled but in the emotional journey the characters (and the readers) go through.

A story so symbolic of our times and it’s an emotional read in many many ways.