This unforgettable novel puts human faces on the Syrian war with the immigrant story of a beekeeper, his wife, and the triumph of spirit when the world becomes unrecognizable.

“The Beekeeper of Aleppo humanizes the immigration debate by illuminating the sorts of desperate circumstances that compel people to flee their home countries or face a violent and likely deadly end. Reading this book will mark you in a deeply personal way.”

WINNER OF THE 2020 ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE USA

RUNNER UP FOR THE DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE USA

SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD AWARD 2024 FOR FICTION WITH A SENSE OF PLACE

AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER OVER TWO MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE

SOLD IN FORTY TERRITORIES

A RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB CHOICE 2020

A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB CHOICE 2019

THE READING AGENCY'S PICK FOR NATIONAL READING GROUP DAY

THIRD BIGGEST SELLING PAPERBACK IN THE UK  OF 2020

WINNER OF NIELSEN BESTSELLER GOLD AWARD FOR UK SALES OF OVER 500,000

Praise for Christy Lefteri

TBOF “Christy Lefteri's beautiful new novel, The Book of Fire,is a compelling story of love, loss, and redemption in the face of unimaginable tragedy. As with The Beekeeper of Aleppo, Christy transports the reader to a once lush and now destroyed world, where a community-and a mother-- must fight to regain what has been lost. Uniquely crafted and full of both stunning imagery and human emotion, The Book of Fire is a story that will long remain in the reader's mind.”

Kristen Hannah, bestselling author of The Nightingale

Songbirds “A beautifully crafted novel that sits at the intersection of race and class, that flags the frank truth of the life of migrant workers for whom a flight to freedom can become the most finely woven trap.”

Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Two Ways

“With the first sentence, we enter a world too visible for the protagonists who can’t, nevertheless, turn away. The Beekeeper of Aleppo demands that we contemplate the way we humans process the horror around us, the senseless violence, the loss of what we hold dearest”

Esmeralda Santiago, Aspen Words Literary Prize head judge

SongBirds “This is a novel of international significance. Courageous, provocative, haunting, it will open our eyes”

Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz

The book of Fire “Christy Lefteri is a writer of huge power, who writes with great delicacy and urgency, making us see the world around us through fresh eyes.”

Heather Morris, international bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz

“Beekeeper Nuri and his wife, Afra, are devastated by the Syrian civil war. After violence claims their child and Afra’s eyesight, the couple is forced to flee Aleppo and make the fraught journey to Britain—and an uncertain future.”

USA Today (5 Books Not to Miss)

“[Christy] Lefteri sensitively charts what it’s like when war comes home, alert to the subtle effects of trauma and grief. Nuri and Afra are not broadly sketched as victims, but rather suffer in different and complex ways from PTSD. . . . By creating characters with such rich, complex inner lives, Lefteri shows that in order to stretch compassion to millions of people, it helps to begin with one.”

Time

“In recounting the daily brutality as well as the glimmers of beauty, this novel humanizes the terrifying refugee stories we read about in the news. Lefteri explores questions of trust and portrays what trauma and loss can do to individuals and their relationships. . . . A beautiful rumination on seeing what is right in front of us—both the negative and the positive”

The Boston Globe (Pick of the Week)

“Nuri's story rings with authenticity, from the vast, impersonal cruelties of war to the tiny kindnesses that help people survive it. . . . A well-crafted structure and a troubled but engaging narrator power this moving story of Syrian refugees”

Kirkus Reviews (starred review) 

“In fluid, forthright language, Lefteri brings us humbly closer to the refugee experience as beekeeper Nuri and his wife, an artist named Afra who has gone blind form the horrors she’s witnessed, escape Aleppo and travel dangerously to Great Britain. . . . There’s no overloading the deck with drama; this story tells itself, absorbingly and heartrendingly”

Library Journal

“This book dips below the deafening headlines, and tells a true story with subtlety and power.”

Esther Freud, author of Mr. Mac and Me

“The Beekeeper of Aleppo’ is a story of loss, love, resilience and hope. In the same school as the Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Kite Runner, it’s impossible not to be moved by Lefteri’s plea for humanity and perhaps inspired too”

The Observer/ Guardian

“Christy Lefteri has crafted a beautiful novel, intelligent, thoughtful, and relevant. I'm recommending this book to everyone I care about. So, I'm recommending this book to you’

Benjamin Zephaniah, author of Refugee Boy

“A haunting and resonant story of Syrian war refugees undertaking a treacherous journey . . . Readers will find this deeply affecting for both its psychological intensity and emotional acuity.”

Publishers Weekly

“So if you like sweeping, well-told story of social value that pushes some obvious emotional buttons then this is for you”

The Metro

“The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a relevant, timely book, but impresses most as a compassionate and truthful character study. It’s a remarkable account of the dislocation endured by displaced persons across the world, an important and necessary novel that humanises the dispossessed who are all too often demonised”

Herald Scotland

“A redemptive tale of hope in the midst of shocking adversity”

Irish Independent

“A book of darkness and light, of horrors and hope, and of the true power of the human spirit”

Culturefly

“Heartbreaking at times, this story of fear, loss and survival gives an emotionally charged insight into what life is like for refugees facing the depravity of predators and needing the compassion of strangers”

Candis Magazine

“She has created a convincing and harrowing novel about the will to survive- and the enduring power of love”

Sunday Mirror

“In The Beekeeper she has created an utterly convincing and harrowing novel about the will to survive and the enduring power of love”

Sunday People

“This book is haunting, heart breaking, eye opening, thought provoking and brilliant”

Lipsquid Book Blog

“I have not read anything this haunting and moving since The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini. This book will stay with me for a long time”

Brown Flopsy Blogspot

“This is a beautiful story of hope, an important tale of devastation, and a cry for compassion and action”

Rebecca's Rave Reviews

“Honestly, The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri is stunning because it has everything I wanted and more in it”

Romantics, Rebels and Reviews

“Great for book club . . . a powerful story about the refugee experience, hope, and love”

Real Simple

“Powerful, thought-provoking and beautifully crafted”

Choice Magazine

“Vivid, haunting prose”

Daily Mail

“A harrowing adventure story that's informative as well as immersive”

Sunday Express

“A hard read and not always enjoyable and or relaxing, but well worth it. I came away with a much greater insight and deeper understanding of the plight of refugees. Christy takes us through Nuri and Afra's detailed journey so beautifully that we experience every step with them and feel every heartbreak”

Jenny Proudfoot, Features Editor ― Marie Claire