Andrey Kurkov

49-year-old safety inspector-turned-beekeeper Sergey Sergeich, wants little more than to help his bees collect their pollen in peace. But Sergey lives in Ukraine, where a lukewarm war of sporadic violence and constant propaganda has been dragging on for years. His simple mission on behalf of his bees leads him through some the hottest spots of the ongoing conflict, putting him in contact with combatants and civilians on both sides of the battle lines: loyalists, separatists, Russian occupiers, and Crimean Tatars. Grey Bees is as timely as the author's Ukraine Diaries were in 2014, but treats the unfolding crisis in a more imaginative way, with a pinch of Kurkov's signature humour. Who better than Ukraine's most famous novelist - who writes in Russian - to illuminate and present a balanced portrait of this most bewildering of modern conflicts? Translated from the Russian by Boris Dralyuk

Grey Bees

Jemima Scott

Time plays a role when there's someone to keep track of it, to depend on it. And if no-one like that remains, then time, too, stops and disappears.

How much I enjoyed this book and how much I cared for the bees really crept up on me. I’m going to miss starting my days with Sergey and his bees.

Emma Cragg

Shona Tiger

Sergey lives in a small village in the grey zone, an area between the frontlines of the pro-Russian/separatist and Ukranian armies. He’s a retired mine safety inspector and beekeeper, living alone because he’s been left by his wife and child, and because he has so far refused to leave his village. His only neighbour is Pashka, a childhood frenemy. Because of circumstances, Pashka and Sergey are thrown together, but their politics do not always align.

As the war drags on, and summer approaches, Sergey makes a decision to travel to a place where his bees will be safer. He ends up in another village in Ukraine, but he runs into trouble there, and so he moves on to Crimea, which initially seems idyllic.

This is a slow, character-driven story, and a heartfelt novel. Sergey is initially gruff, alone, and mostly self-sufficient; but as the weather warms, and as his journey progresses, we see a lot more of the man he is, and he seems to mellow, too, becoming quite endearing. His character arc is accomplished brilliantly, paralleled by his journey with his bees.

There is great beauty in the use of the colour grey in the book, from descriptions of surroundings and objects, to the grey bees of the title. There’s also a lot of dry humour—which, of course, is the best kind of humour, and is my favourite thing in post-Soviet literature, in which category one may place the book.

All of the secondary characters well-drawn. The author depicts really well the lives of people who are swept along helplessly by forces that are beyond them.

This is a book I very much recommend. Rated: a high 9/10.

Grey Bees

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