The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a story about finding hope in the hopeless and holding on to hope when it seems all is lost.

“We created great things together, just as you said we would. But this war snatched it away from us, everything we dreamed about and worked for.”

The Beekeeper of Aleppo reminded me that war refugees are more than just headlines. They are people like you and me with hopes and dreams, homes & families, and that war unfairly strips all of these away from them.

“Each & every day, I wonder how we got here, how life can be so cruel. And the children who have survived – what will become of them? How will they be able to live in this world?”

Christy wrote this story brilliantly in a way that seemed very real to me. Nuri is someone I know personally, and he’s telling me this story face-to-face. It seems like I undertook this journey with him and Afra from Syria to Turkey to Greece and then England.

“When you belong to someone and they are gone, who are you?”

The war has taken so much from Nuri and Afra, and the story shows how trauma can affect the body, the mind and relationships. Aside from their physical journey to safety, they also have to deal with trauma while rediscovering themselves and their love.

“Where there are bees, there are flowers, and where there are flowers there is new life and hope.”

The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a story about finding hope in the hopeless and holding on to hope when it seems all is lost.

“‘I think bees are like us’, she said. ‘They are vulnerable like us. But then there are people like Mustafa. There are people like him in the world, and those people bring life rather than death.’”

I truly adored the relationship between Nuri & Mustafa & how their love for each other is what kept Nuri going. The vulnerability & the love in their emails was palpable. The flashbacks to when life was good in Aleppo & they were happy families were powerful.

“And there we both stand, battered by life, two men, brothers, finally reunited in a world that is not our home.”

The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a very heart-wrenching story, and I’m happy that it had a heartwarming ending.