A Watermelon a Fish and a Bible / The Beekeeper of Aleppo

by Christy Lefteri

Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

About the author

Christy Lefteri was born in London in 1980 to Greek Cypriot parents who moved to London in 1974. She completed a degree in English and a Masters in creative writing at Brunel University. She taught English to foreign students and then became a secondary school teacher before leaving to pursue a PhD and to write. She is also studying to become a psychotherapist.

Reviews

[Sylvia Clare]

I had to stop reading the beekeeper of alleppo as it was finding the immigration issues in UK too upsetting to read ay more - i am so deeply ashamed of how we treat people fleeing such horrors - buti will come back to it

[Katherine Hetzel · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

I tried, I really did. (Ought to add this is only for the watermelon, fish and bible title, which I THOUGHT I'd selected! Read the beekeeper and enjoyed that one much more by comparison, but there's a separate review posted for that book).

But I got about 100 pages in and was bored. Sorry.

[Mark Wall · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read, albeit a little disappointing and at times difficult to keep going

[Tayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Beekeeper of Aleppo

This is not a story I would have picked off of a shelf, bought and read, from the first page and the blurb. I have only read this for my book club. However, I am glad I have read it.

I have been deeply moved by this personal insight to real experience inspired stories of asylum seekers to safer areas across the world. I enjoyed the conversation of multiple nationalities, languages, cultures and customs, converging to a singular point in time. It is both deeply tragic and troubling, as well as, important and inspiring.

The overarching concepts I have enjoyed is the exploration of trauma and the deep, physical effects it can have on the brain, body and the way we interact with the outside world, the people and animals in it. Including the desensitisation and apathy to issues, while experiencing a deep sadness and darkness perpetuated by the situations at hand. The book covers it all. I believe I enjoyed this theme most as I am a psychology degree holder.

I have also enjoyed the concept of being physically blind and the emotional blindness that prevents us from seeing truth and experiencing reality, causing us to become frozen in relationships, feelings and the present.

The concept of the light and darkness inside of us, hate and love, hope and fate stuck with me through the entire book.

I do feel the characters could have been more powerful, but also feel they are realistic. There is not much of plot per se as it is simply a journey, and it is horrifically honest and beautiful as well as scary and terrifying.

I do think the twist was very transparent. I suspected it around the first meeting with Lucy Fisher. I was not surprised by it at the end. But this may come from being almost exclusively a crime, mystery and thriller reader. I am not satisfied by the ending. I would greatly prefer a solid decision on whether or not they are granted Asylum. I hope they were.

Finally, my favourite part of this book is how it is written. I adore how the singular words are used to stitch two parts of each chapter together - the end of the ‘now’ writing and the beginning of the ‘then’. I think it is beautiful. I really enjoyed the symbolism on that one! This writing style and the pacing is the reason I finished the book in 4 days despite it not being my go to genre.

In conclusion, I would recommend this to someone who enjoys deep, real and genuine real world situations being brought to a personal level. I thought I wouldn’t enjoy it but I did.

[Ruth Daly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having been to Cyprus and knowing a little of its recent history, I could easily imagine such a story unfolding. A couple of places in the novel, I found the dialogue too full of historical/political events and tended to skim over those; if I didn't already know the main events/leaders involved in the invasion and the events leading up to it, I may have found these parts confusing. I also found the faster pace of events at the end of the novel jarring - but perhaps that was intentional, since that's how it would have been in reality; everything happening at once.

The plot is intriguing and I found it impossible to predict how it would end; in fact, I couldn't read fast enough! I love the way the author writes and will definitely be reading her next novel.

(The rating is just for 'A Watermelon, a Fish, and a Bible' since I have already reviewed/rated 'Beekeeper.')

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moving story about the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 which led to the separation of the island. An intricately woven tale of a family and the how they were affected by the various inhabitants of Cyprus. It examines how village life is based on tradition, how the various invaders across the years - specifically the Brits and Turks affected the Cypriots lives.
Lots of detail that I tended to skip over but on the whole a worthwhile read that explores what life is like when one country invades another.

[Jonas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Känns som en bok många tjejer på instagram säger var skitbra utan att boken egentligen var så bra

[Wendy Leaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a fabulous book! I couldn't put it down!

[Zoe Britton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the bee Keeper of aleppo. A interesting read and really highlights the battle that immigrants face regularly trying to get to the UK

[Jane Newey · Rating 1 out of 5]

too depressing - never finished

[Tina Marcoux · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this read.

[Fiona]

I have to confess I didn’t finish. The first 7 chapters on audio book were good - vivid and disturbing and interesting. It’s just not the same. And apparently there were design features that helped with the time transitions.

[Rachel Boxall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking and difficult at times.