A review by lottie29
The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

5.0

I think Lefteri approached the issue with compassionate sensitivity, and her writing was interesting. The use of topic words to connect the character’s present day to their flashbacks and memories was new to me, and I liked it. I think this narrative device reflected the complexity of their journey as well as their sense of place and identity as Syrians forcefully displaced, with no choice but to make a home elsewhere.

I found this a really sad, compelling but compulsive read. Especially timely with the Ukrainian war driving people out of the country. The anti- immigrant and anti- refugee attitudes around the world are born from mistruths and perpetuate a wrong and harmful notion that they have a choice. This novel highlighted to me the power of fiction to help us to understand and humanise experience so far from our own, and in turn instill a desire for change.

The only comments I’d make would be perhaps deeper character development, to present a political stance of the characters towards the civil war.