Harare Review of Books

304 pages.

First published in May 2020.

Sergey lives in a small village in the grey zone, an area between the frontlines of the pro-Russian/separatist and Ukrainian 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 are 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.

Bonus: Here’s an episode of the LARB Radio Hour with the author and translator.