Reading Group: The Beekeeper of Aleppo (Wednesday)

Wednesday 8 July - 19.30

With the move to Phase 5, we can once more hold our Reading Group meetings at the Library!

In July we will discuss The Beekeeper of Aleppo, Christy Lefteri’s powerful and unforgettable novel about refugees forced to flee Syria.

Nuri is a beekeeper and Afra, his wife, is an artist. Mornings, Nuri rises early to hear the call to prayer before driving to his hives in the countryside. On weekends, Afra sells her colorful landscape paintings at the open-air market. They live a simple life, rich in family and friends, in the hills of the beautiful Syrian city of Aleppo—until the unthinkable happens. When all they love is destroyed by war, Nuri knows they have no choice except to leave their home. But escaping Syria will be no easy task: Afra has lost her sight, leaving Nuri to navigate her grief as well as a perilous journey through Turkey and Greece toward an uncertain future in Britain.

Nuri is sustained only by the knowledge that waiting for them is his cousin Mustafa, who has started an apiary in Yorkshire and is teaching fellow refugees beekeeping. As Nuri and Afra travel through a broken world, they must confront not only the pain of their own unspeakable loss but dangers that would overwhelm even the bravest souls. Above all, they must make the difficult journey back to each other, a path once so familiar yet rendered foreign by the heartache of displacement.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo is available as an eBook and audiobook on our BorrowBox platform HERE. There is no limit to how many people can borrow it at the same time. If you need any help getting set up on BorrowBox, email Jodie on [email protected]

Can't make it to the Wednesday Reading Group? Why not join us at the Saturday Reading Group instead!