Book Review: The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

Screenshot_20200415-065757

I am glad to have read, actually listened to, this book. The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri is the kind of book that I could have devoured in one sitting, had I no other commitments in life. It is a lovingly written story of Nuri and Afra and their journey from their home and once so happy lives towards building new lives together on foreign soil. We recieve the story through the voice of Nuri, a Syrian man. He is the beekeper together with his cousin Mustafa. The story unfolds as an unpredictable mix of present and past.

I knew that the story would be that of immigrants in recent times. We have all heard of the troubles in Syria and are aware of the large number of Syrian immigrants. Indeed, that is one reason to read the book. To hear their voice. Even if it is much of what you expect. I was, however, slightly surprised as to how much intention to influence the reader’s mind, even actions, there actually was. Christy Lefteri is not a Syrian refugee herself. She is a fourty-year-old woman teaching creative writing in Brunel University. Ok, her parents were Cypriot refugees to London, where Christy then was brought up. What brought Christy Lefteri into today’s refugee world was her volunteering in Athens. It is in Athens that she heard the stories of refugees and the characters of Nuri and Afra started to form in her mind. I could have found this out earlier, but it was easier to be open for the story and the voices than it would have been, had I known about the author’s background.

What was best about the expereince with the Beekeeper of Aleppo was the audible reader Art Malik. His voice was easy to listen to. It all felt so natural and he did not over-dramatize the different voices. There was faith that the author’s words would carry the story, and indeed they did. I give this book five stars and it is achieved in combination of the written and the read texts.