Book Review - The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

 

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri is about a husband and wife, Nuri and Afra, who try to escape the destruction of Syria. Nuri was a beekeeper and Afra was an artist. Nuri used to rise early to hear the call of prayer before traveling to the countryside to visit his hives. He always felt at peace and comfortable when surrounded by his bees. On the weekends, they would travel together to the open air market to sell Afra’s paintings. Her paintings sold well and they were able to make a comfortable living. Nuri and Afra were surrounded by friends and family that they loved and cherished.

When war ravages the beautiful city of Aleppo, the unthinkable happens to Nuri and Afra. Everything and everyone they loved was either destroyed or had left Syria. Nuri knows that they must leave before they lose their chance. However, Afra is hesitant to leave her home behind. After another close call, Nuri had begged Afra to leave. They both know that leaving Syria will be a difficult journey but the difficulty becomes compounded when Afra loses her sight. She would need to depend on Nuri to guide them to Britain.

Both Nuri and Afra are expressing their grief differently. However, the only bright spot of the journey is that Nuri knows his cousin, Mustafa, is waiting for them. Mustafa and his family had left earlier before Nuri and Afra and had started an apiary in Yorkshire and taught other people about beekeeping. As the couple travel to Britain, they have to come to terms with the trauma and pain that they survive and the dangers that surround them.

I thought the novel was an okay read. It was a bit confusing at times when the book would switch from the present to the past. It was hard to tell when we were in the past and when we were in the present. I had a hard time bonding with the characters because of how the story was told. We were told bits and pieces at random times. By the time we got the full story of their trauma, I had lost interest. I felt that Afra was a shell of a character. We barely got to learn her point of view only that she was blind and depending on Nuri to do everything for her. Afra was a complex character that had her own different set of trauma but we never “heard” her voice. She felt like a doll that Nuri would dress and take care of. 

I didn’t like that some chapters would end mid-sentence and would continue as the next chapter title. It was cute in theory but got annoying after a while. I didn’t like the author to hint at things but then she wouldn’t always tell us what she was trying to say. Like the two brothers who followed the musician and were doing stuff. What kind of stuff were they doing? I hate assuming because perhaps they were just stealing and not doing anything sexual. Or it took several painful chapters to find out the trauma Nuri and Afra suffered in the past. Some were easy to guess which made it annoying that it took so long for us to find out. Some readers might enjoy this book but it wasn’t for me.