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The Beekeeper of Aleppo

Christy Lefteri

Start date: April 1, 2020

Finish date: April 30, 2020

Discussion: Monthly Group Reads

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The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
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The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

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What Members Thought

Apr 03, 2020 Lisa rated it really liked it

In the sad time of the covid-19 pandemic, I needed something more cheerful to read. This story was not the one for me to read. It was one of the saddest books I've read in many a moon. Its prose is beautifully written and the characters are fully, painstakingly depicted. It's no wonder that this book describing the plight of refugees from Syria in startling detail has been making the rounds of all the book clubs. You may want to wait for a time when there is less turmoil to read it. ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Mar 21, 2020 Shomeret rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

I've been in an escapist mood, so I didn't know if I could deal with anything quite so heavy as The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri. It was selected by a Goodreads group for discussion this month, but I thought it might be too grim to read during a pandemic. I had been wanting to read it for some time and I now had the time to do that. I figured I'd try it out. If it was too depressing, I could always set it aside. Well readers, I finished it and am now anxious to review this book.

It was I've been in an escapist mood, so I didn't know if I could deal with anything quite so heavy as The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri. It was selected by a Goodreads group for discussion this month, but I thought it might be too grim to read during a pandemic. I had been wanting to read it for some time and I now had the time to do that. I figured I'd try it out. If it was too depressing, I could always set it aside. Well readers, I finished it and am now anxious to review this book.

It was engagement with the characters that kept me reading. Nuri Ibrahim is the narrator and the titular beekeeper. I was drawn to this book by that title. I wanted to know the story of this protagonist. I hadn't thought of Syria as a place where there are beekeepers. Bees need flowers to produce honey, and I'd always imagined Syria as a desert country without flowers. Well, I was wrong. As portrayed in this novel, the geography of Syria is more diverse than I expected. There have actually been beekeepers in Syria. Christy Lefteri mentions encountering Dr. Ryad Alsous, a Syrian refugee who was a beekeeper there. Alsous inspired Lefteri to create Nuri. I also found an article about a real Syrian beekeeper named Adnan Al-Outani.

For much of this novel, I didn't have the same commitment to Nuri's artist wife, Afra. I wanted to believe in her, but her perspective wasn't provided. I felt that without a direct tie in to her subjectivity, I would never understand Afra. I love reading about woman artists, but she was clearly very damaged by events that had happened in Syria and during their travels since. Toward the end of the narrative, she has a breakthrough which allowed me to have hope for her recovery.

I found the resolution of The Beekeeper of Aleppo very moving. It was what I had wanted for Nuri. The new life that I had envisioned for him seemed on the verge of becoming a reality. I also thought that Afra would be able to fully reclaim herself in that supportive context. This book shows how refugees can re-integrate themselves successfully and contribute to their new home countries as they have in previous generations.

For my complete review see https://shomeretmasked.blogspot.com/2... ...more

6 likes · Like · see review