Lead Review

• Book: Grey Bees
• Location: Ukraine
• Author: Andrey Kurkov, Boris Dralyuk (translator)

Review Author: Tina Hartas

Grey Bees is a delightful, well-mannered book set against the violence of war torn Ukraine. Sergey Sergeyich is one of only two people left in small village in the Grey Zone between loyalist and separatist forces. He has survived a long hard winter with no electricity and only limited food supplies. But Spring is coming… Sergey is a beekeeper – in fact, being a beekeeper defines who he is. His hives have been secured in an outhouse all Winter, but now Spring is on its way he needs to get them flying again to collect pollen and nectar. He is very wary of doing this in the Grey Zone, so he loads his hives onto the back of his old truck and heads off in search of sunnier, warmer, and safer climes. His main interest is always the wellbeing of his bees.

He weaves his way through Ukraine (charming his way through checkpoints. bribing the guards with pots of honey, and camping in fields close to the road where his bees can fly) ) until eventually he crosses into Russian controlled Crimea. He is looking for a Tatar called Akhtem – a beekeeper with whom he had attended a conference years back. He finds the family, but not Akhtem – he has been ‘disappeared’ by the Russians or their sympathisers. He spends the summer with his bees close to Akhtem’s in a pasture high above the village where the family live. He sells honey and makes some money. Life is not too bad at all.

Events unfold as Autumn sets in (no more for fear of a spoiler), and Sergey heads off back to his village.

Grey Bees is an utterly charming and human book written against a very violent background –  a war in which many have perished (and continue to perish). Kurkov brings some normality and decency to a confusing and chaotic situation. The contrast between Sergey and the environment in which he finds himself is stark. Yet his first concern is always his bees.

Finally a confession. I, too, am a beekeeper (though in slightly less strained circumstances). The bee part of the story fascinated me, but I am absolutely sure the book will appeal to the many who aren’t.

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