{"product_id":"grey-bees-9780857059352","title":"Grey Bees","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eUkraine''s most famous novelist dramatises the conflict raging in his  country through the adventures of a mild-mannered beekeeper. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA warm and surprisingly funny book from Ukraine''s greatest living novelist Charlie Connelly, \u003ci\u003eNew European Books of the Year\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLittle Starhorodivka, a village of three streets, lies in Ukraine''s Grey Zone, the no-man''s-land between loyalist and separatist forces. Thanks to the war, only two residents remain: retired safety inspector turned beekeeper Sergey Sergeyich and Pashka, his frenemy from his schooldays.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith little food and no electricity, under ever-present threat of bombardment, Sergeyich''s one remaining pleasure is his bees. As spring approaches, he knows he must take them far from the Grey Zone so they can collect their pollen in peace. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis simple mission on their behalf introduces him to combatants and civilians on both sides of the battle lines: loyalists, separatists, Russian occupiers and Crimean Tatars. Wherever he goes, Sergeyich''s childlike simplicity and strong moral compass disarm everyone he meets.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut could these qualities be manipulated to serve an unworthy cause, spelling disaster for him, his bees and his country?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTranslated from the Russian by Boris Dralyuk\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA latter-day Bulgakov . . . A Ukrainian Murakami. -- Phoebe Taplin * Guardian. *\u003cbr\u003eA post-Soviet Kafka. -- Colin Freeman * Daily Telegraph. *\u003cbr\u003eKurkov draws us with deceptive ease into a dense complex world full of wonderful characters. -- Michael Palin.\u003cbr\u003eA kind of Ukrainian Kurt Vonnegut -- Ian Sansom * Spectator. *\u003cbr\u003eThis time, the Ukrainian author of \u003ci\u003eDeath and the Penguin, \u003c\/i\u003eknown for his brilliantly dark humour\u003ci\u003e,\u003c\/i\u003e has written a modern-day odyssey, with a return that is ambiguously hopeful. -- India Lewis * Arts Desk *\u003cbr\u003eStrange and mesmerising . . . In spare prose, Ukraine's most famous novelist unsparingly examines the inhuman confusions of our modern times and the longing of the warm-hearted everyman that is Sergeyich for the rationality of the natural world. -- John Thornhill * Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003eA warm and surprisingly funny book from Ukraine's greatest living novelist. -- Charlie Connelly * New European Books of the Year *\u003cbr\u003eCarries top notes of Beckett and Pinter, along with a slug of Kafka. * Strong Words. *\u003cbr\u003eSergey is at once a war-weary adventurer and a fairy-tale innocent . . . His naive gaze allows Kurkov to get to the heart of a country bewildered by crisis and war, but where kindness can still be found . . . Translated by Boris Dralyuk with sensitivity and ingenuity. -- Uilleam Blacker * Times Literary Supplement *","brand":"Quercus Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49371786740055,"sku":"9780857059352","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780857059352.jpg?v=1730154556","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/grey-bees-9780857059352","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}