The Beekeeper of Aleppo (Christy Lefteri)

Rating: ⭐⭐🌠/ 5

I picked this book on reading many recommendations on Bookstagram. Also I have read As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow and Stationery Shop at Tehran in the last few months. This is an important piece of information as this has a bearing on my review.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo is about Nuri and Afra, who lead a tranquil life with their baby boy in Aleppo, North West of Syria. By profession, Nuri is a Beekeeper, and runs a small business, profitable honey business with his cousin Mustafa. He loves working with the bees, understands their ways and continues to learn nuances of the bees and honey trade from his older cousin who patiently teaches him everything there is to know about this line of work. Afra is a successful artist and sells her paintings in the local market. Their calm life starts to crack as the political situation in Syria deteriorates and they face escalating mindless unending violence. Nuri wonders if he should escape with his family to a safer place but keeps delaying as Mustafa is not ready to leave the bee farm. Finally one day the arsonists burn their life's work and leave it in ruins. We also learn that the Beekeeper's little boy has been taken away from them and Afra has lost her sight. Despite facing mortal danger, she does not want to leave the house where her boy lived and is now buried in. After a tipping point experience though, the couple sets off on an arduous journey across the seas and the land. After moving from refugee shelter to shelter, being smuggled across Turkey and Greece, barely managing to keep it together and facing all forms of abuse, they arrive in England where they hope they will get asylum and be able to build a life again. 

The story moves back and forth in time in every chapter. There are parts of their present life in England as refugees and how the couple is trying to cope with various aspects of the asylum seeking process. There are poignant interactions between various people who have defied death in different parts of the world and found their way to England, in the hope that they will find peace and acceptance in a new foreign country and can finally be safe. Since they have been thrown in together, they try and look out for each other and protect each other from harm as best as they can. 

Nuri finds solace and comfort in taking care of Mohammad, a child who he found among the refugees while escaping from Syria. He is the same age as Sami, his own son would have been. This small boy keeps disappearing and appearing as he pleases, much to Nuri's chagrin. But he feels responsible for him and is always looking out for him, doing the best he can in the given circumstances. The story finally ends with the hope, where we feel that Nuri and Afra will be granted asylum and they will be able to get back to doing what they love - Nuri to being a beekeeper and Afra to her paintings. 

As a story it is poignant and captures the struggles for survival and identity that refugees face. I particularly liked the struggle the characters have in the asylum interview, where they are expected to give reasons why they have left their country. They are expected to not like their country any more and express that in no uncertain terms. They find it difficult, because they love their own countries, and given a chance would not have left it for anything. But it seems in a struggle for survival, the love for one's country and one's land has to be erased....

This book explores the themes of love, loss, tragedy, trauma and how it manifests. The reason why I rate it only 2.5 stars is that too many books in the recent past that are situated in Syria/ Iran, have dealt with the same topics in quite the same way. The aspects of PTSD explored are also similar. While I recognize and empathize with the trauma and the long term mental health impact these have, as a reader I found the themes overused. The writing of this book is also average and I did not find myself reading any of the lines again or being wonderstruck at any place. There are many parts of the story that are drawn out too long. Too often characters are introduced who don't have any role to play in the storyline or how the plot progresses.

What I also miss in all these books that i have mentioned above, is the lack of any explanation or any attempt to make the reader understand the reasons for the political turmoil or the violence and chaos that follow. One is just expected to accept that there is violence and all rule of law has been overthrown for some vague political reasons. Books like A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini explain to the reader why things are what they are and how they came about, as part of the story, but without belaboring the point. This is sorely missing in this and other similar books i have read recently. It is as if the authors themselves dont have an understanding of the historical context or are wary of speaking about it in their books.