The Beekeeper of Aleppo

Locations
Call Number: Fiction / Lefteri, Christy, Adult Book / Fiction / General / Lefteri, Christy
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Lefteri, Christy	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Lefteri, Christy	4-week checkout	Due 05-23-2024
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Lefteri, Christy	4-week checkout	Due 05-18-2024
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Lefteri, Christy	4-week checkout	Due 05-18-2024

"Nuri is a beekeeper; his wife, Afra, an artist. They live a simple life, rich in family and friends, in the beautiful Syrian city of Aleppo--until the unthinkable happens. When all they care for is destroyed by war, they are forced to escape. But what Afra has seen is so terrible she has gone blind, and so they must embark on a perilous journey through Turkey and Greece towards an uncertain future in Britain. As Nuri and Afra travel through a broken world, they must confront not only the pain of their own unspeakable loss, but dangers that would overwhelm the bravest of souls. Above all, they must journey to find each other again. Moving, powerful, and beautifully written, The Beekeeper of Aleppo brings home the idea that the most ordinary of lives can be completely upended in unimaginable ways"-- Provided by publisher.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Booklist Review
Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Excerpt
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

The Beekeeper of Aleppo submitted by leighsprauer on August 9, 2020, 8:00am I had high hopes for this book: I always appreciate good historical fiction, and am particularly interested in the Middle East. Unfortunately, this book was a big disappointment.
The Beekeeper of Aleppo is the story of a refugee family escaping the war in Syria for a new home in England with relatives. The husband, Nuri, had been a beekeeper on the outskirts of Aleppo, and rejoining his cousin and business partner in England to continue their work together is what keeps him going on the awful journey out of Syria. It is partially based, apparently, on Lefteri's humanitarian work in Turkey with the refugee population.
It's a decent idea, but like so many other decent ideas, should have been given to a good writer to bring to completion. The narrative is typical but somehow annoying, as the plot shifts back and forth between their present life in England and the story of their journey. The character descriptions are flat, and left me not really caring about any of them. (The detailed descriptions of a few of the characters gave the impression that she was basing them off real people, which would have been fine if it had not been so glaring as to disrupt the flow of the narrative.) Like a few other books I've read recently (Where the Crawdads Sing, All the Light We Cannot See), it felt like the author was imagining the story as a film instead of as a piece of literature.
I gave it two stars because the story is decent and it's an easy, quick read; it might be a good beach read (if your idea of "beach read" is war, violence, and despair, of course.)