Christy Lefteri

The Beekeeper of Aleppo follows Nuri, a beekeeper, and his wife, Afra, an artist, as their peaceful life in Syria is destroyed by war. After suffering devastating personal losses, the couple are forced to leave their home and embark on a dangerous journey towards Britain in search of safety. Afra has lost her sight following a traumatic experience, while Nuri struggles with his own grief and the responsibility of protecting them both. As they travel through unfamiliar countries and refugee camps, their physical journey becomes intertwined with the emotional struggle to recover from trauma. Through their experiences, Lefteri explores displacement, loss, resilience, and the psychological consequences of conflict. The novel offers an intimate portrait of refugees whose lives have been transformed by circumstances beyond their control.

Set in Nicosia, Cyprus, Songbirds explores the lives of migrant domestic workers whose sacrifices and struggles often remain invisible to the society they serve. Nisha, a young woman from Sri Lanka, has left her little daughter behind with relatives so she can work abroad and send money home. Employed as a nanny and housekeeper by Petra, a wealthy widow, Nisha has become an indispensable part of the household, forming a close bond with Petra’s young daughter, Aliki. Yet while she cares for someone else’s child, she is separated from her own, communicating with her daughter through video calls whenever she can. Nisha’s secret relationship with Yiannis, a man who makes his living poaching protected songbirds, offers the possibility of a different future. He dreams of marrying her and leaving his dangerous work behind. But when Nisha mysteriously disappears one evening, both Yiannis and Petra are left searching for answers. When the police show little interest in investigating the disappearance of a migrant worker, Petra takes matters into her own hands, gradually uncovering the precarious realities of Nisha’s life and the exploitation faced by other migrant women. Inspired by the real-life disappearances of migrant women in Cyprus, Lefteri’s novel draws parallels between the songbirds trapped along migration routes and people who leave their homelands in search of a better life, only to find themselves vulnerable to exploitation. Through the intertwined stories of Nisha, Petra, and Yiannis, the novel examines motherhood, social inequality, belonging, and the human cost of migration.