The Beekeeper of Aleppo

Nuri is remembering the last morning in Greece. He had wished they could escape, but this also meant going further away from Sami and Syria.

Constantinos had made them coffee, behaving as if nothing had happened. Nuri wanted to kill him and imagined doing it, but he knew he needed Constantinos to get them out. Afra sat in stony silence, as if dead inside. Constantinos gave them instructions and they were driven to the airport. There, Nuri received the boarding passes and passports from an anonymous man in the toilets, and they checked in and waited for the plane. There was a scare as the police entered the waiting area and took away five other people. Once on the plane, Afra reassured Nuri: “we’re going to Mustafa and we will be safe” (349).

Nuri wakes up in the B&B, in the storage cupboard. He walks to his room, passing Diomande, whom he covers with a blanket, and the wingless bee in the garden. He realizes Mohammed will not be coming and recalls fond memories of Sami instead. He goes to the bedroom and finds a painting Afra has done, which is much more realistic now she has some ability to see. He goes to bed and sees Afra with his own new eyes: her body, her attractiveness. He caresses her as she sleeps. She wakes and says, “You forgot about us” (335). He says he did. The couple reminisce about Sami and talk of having another child.

In the morning, Mustafa arrives at the B&B. He and Nuri embrace and cry together, then after a while Mustafa talks of the bees and his plans, encouraging Nuri to come to Yorkshire. Nuri feels hope. Afra’s reaction to Mustafa is one of relief, sadness, but also hope too. Nuri watches Afra as she watches three hoopoe birds in the garden. Hoopoes are migratory birds that are common to the Eastern Mediterranean, in countries including Syria.