1. What kind of life did Nuri and Afra have as a family in Aleppo.
Can you imagine having your life destroyed in front of your eyes and
being forced to leave it all behind as Nuri and Afra did?
2. Talk about the hardships of the couple's journey across Europe, on
their way to Great Britain. Discuss the hatred and prejudice they
endured, as well as physical dangers. What horrified you most in that
journey?
3. The trauma of their journey has left both Nuri and Afra deeply
scarred. Talk about the way it has opened a seemingly unbridgeable gulf
between the couple. Nuri is our narrator and thinks of Afra as "locked
in." What in Afra's behavior leads to Nuri's assessment?
4. (Follow-up to Question XX) How is Nuri affected? He believes he no
longer worthy of her or her forgiveness. Why does believe that?
5. Can you imagine what life would be like for this couple and the
millions of others, who are waiting in limbo, neither able to move
forward with their lives nor return the life behind them. Talk about
what the limbo and dislocation would feel like. How well do you think
Christy Lefteri has captured those feelings and experiences? Has reading
the Beekeeper of Aleppo, led you to a different understanding, a
deeper empathy perhaps, regarding refugees? Or is the problem so vast,
so painful, that it remains almost impossible, as a single individual,
to grasp?
