The Beekeepers of Aleppo is a novel about Syrian refugees arriving in Britain however the author, Christy Lefteri, writes with authority as her parents were Cypriot refugees to Britain and she spent time as a volunteer at a refugee centre in Athens. Her knowledge and experience comes through in this thought-provoking novel centred around Nuri and his wife, Afra, who leave Syria after the death of their son, Sami. The First Look introduces the reader to Nuri, his family, his cousin and the cousin's family and gives a background to the troubles arriving in their area. Having read Joanna Palani's Freedom Fighter and Emma Sky's In A Time Of Monsters this is a welcome novel for any reader interested, or indeed confused by, the situation in the Middle East and for all those readers who enjoy a well-written, engrossing novel that pulls the reader in from the start.