The Beekeeper of Aleppo - Christy Lefteri

Yes, we're still in January and yes, this is already one of my favourite books of the year so far. The book was published in 2019 and has been on my shelf for a little while - I'm so glad I finally picked it up. It follows our protagonist Nuri Ibrahim who is a beekeeper with his cousin Mustafa in Aleppo and lives with his wife Afra, an artist. When the city becomes war-torn and destroys their peaceful lives, Nuri and Afra are forced to flee and attempt the treacherous journey to the UK to meet Mustafa and his family there.

Before they leave Aleppo, a horrific trauma renders Afra suddenly blind and reluctant to leave their crumbling home. Nuri eventually persuades her and they travel through Turkey and Greece with the ultimate goal of reaching Britain, which is looking less and less likely by the day. People are being lined up and shot in the streets, and the sound of falling bombs is as normal as the beeping of car horns. Nuri remains hopeful as he sporadically communicates with Mustafa by email, learning that his cousin has set up an apiary in Yorkshire to teach fellow refugees about beekeeping.

The novel jumps back and forward in time, with Nuri narrating both from their temporary accommodation in Britain whilst they await their verdict on whether they have been granted asylum, and along the journey from when they leave Aleppo. The two interweaving timelines make for suspenseful reading as well as a dynamic narrative. Lefteri's language is poignant and yet somehow peaceful - she illuminates the horrors of war whilst highlighting the beauty in the mundane and every day. Afra's blindness means that she appreciates things through her mind's eye, and this is filtered through Nuri to the reader. Nuri is a sympathetic protagonist who you grow to love and become greatly attached to, and the end of the novel had me in tears (for me, a sure sign that I'm invested in the story!).

If you read one book in the next few months, I'd recommend this one. It not only brings to light the horrors of war in Syria in recent years but also the power of hope and perseverance against all the odds.