A review by escape_through_pages
The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.5

📖 REVIEW 📖

'𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴.'

The story of Syrian beekeeper, Nuri and his wife Afra and their journey to escape war torn Syria. Afra has been rendered blind by the trauma she has lived through and witnessed, Nuri has his own manifestations of PTSD to bear. The story alternates between the couples’ past in Syria, both pre and during the conflict, and with them newly arrived in Britain, residing in a B&B whilst they go through the formal process of seeking asylum. 

Unfortunately, my gut was on the money, I didn’t really enjoy this one and my sum up would be - there are better migrant stories out there. I’ve read at least three this year and I found them all to be more affecting and read more authentically than this one. 

When I consider the differences, it is that those other books took the time and words to depict the situation in the native countries, or the horrors of the migrant journey itself. I feel this book only scratched the surface. The pacing in the first third was too fast, too much happened before we had been properly introduced to the characters and in my mind they were departing Syria before we had truly built a sense of place and of the hostile environment their homeland had become. 

The first person narrative did not work for me either, I feel a third person narrative would have created better connection, ironically. It didn’t read like a Syrian voice, it didn’t read like a person who had experienced these events but as someone a step removed, phony. 

Another thing; the perspective of Nuri and Afra from the beginning of their time in the UK is present from the start of the book and they are still together, so you know they make it. Of course they still have a journey ahead of them and scars they will carry for always, but in some ways, knowing they arrive ‘safe and well’ means there are no heart in the mouth moments, desperately hoping they survive the perils of the journey across land and sea. You can’t feel even an ounce of the fear that would be realistic of the circumstance. 

That said, it did evolve positively in that I enjoyed the second half of the book more. There was compassion and touching moments as Afra and Nuri try to come back together after being distanced by their individual grief and loss. 

I don’t think it is a coincidence that Christy Lefteri volunteered in an Athens refugee camp and these parts of the book were the strongest whilst those written in Syria completely lacked a sense of the climate and political situation, which would have enhanced the story and led to an an understanding of the characters’ decisions and hence connection to them.