Grey Bees

Written in 2018, this recently translated work from Kurkov (Death and the Penguin), one of Ukraine’s great writers, illuminates a world tragedy today. Sergey Sergeyich, a divorced disabled mine safety inspector and devoted beekeeper, lives in a small village in the grey zone, an area in the Donbas region that separates larger Ukraine from Russian-backed separatists. With no electricity, mail, or food, Sergey survives on rations from neighboring towns, candles from the destroyed church, and sheer resourcefulness. Visits from Pashka, a childhood frenemy, and Ukrainian soldier Petro relieve the boredom. Increased shelling and the approach of better weather motivate Sergey to find a more peaceful place for his bees to pollinate. He travels first to a Ukrainian village, but when townsfolk become suspicious and violent, he moves on to Russian-controlled Crimea. There he calls upon the Tartar beekeeper, Akhtem, only to find that he disappeared, and endures confrontations and interrogations from both Ukrainian and Russian authorities even as he befriends Akhtem’s family.