I knew what THAT twist was – especially after hearing Jodi and Jennifer talk about the book at a live event recently and yet… I STILL wasn’t expecting it! WHAM! And there we go. All of my assumptions were blown out of the water. What a partnership!
I admit, I was worried. I like a Jodi Picoult novel to be… well… Jodi. Until this year, there’s never room for anyone else. Yes I know she’s done it before, with her daughter, and I’ve glossed over them. I can’t even say for sure why. I just felt that there was no comparison. Until now. Oh my gosh until now. This is a partnership NONE of us knew we were waiting for and yet… it all makes sense.
Jodi and Jennifer take it in turns to write, chapter by chapter. They each write a character point of view. They talked about how they then edited each others to keep their respective voices on track. And then there’s one chapter each where they switch completely (I couldn’t tell, I have a vague idea, but it’s likely wrong!). If you’re on the fence with this book because it’s a co-authored, well, get off that fence and get stuck in. You really won’t regret it.
Jodi writes with her usual dignity, grace and very well researched expertise. Without a doubt you learn things about a craft, an issue or a historical moment when you read her books. But you also learn things about yourself. Throw in Jennifer’s style, emotion and compassion… and you have the perfect mixture of humour, reality, and one liners that will stop you breathing for a second or two.
Mad Honey is up there in my top five books of 2022, and that’s no easy feat with the range that I read, but I’m calling it!
About the Book
Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising a beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in, and taking over her father’s beekeeping business.
Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start.
And for just a short while, these new beginnings are exactly what Olivia and Lily need. Their paths cross when Asher falls for the new girl in school, and Lily can’t help but fall for him, too. With Ash, she feels happy for the first time. Yet at times, she wonders if she can she trust him completely . . .
Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead, and Asher is being questioned by the police. Olivia is adamant that her son is innocent. But she would be lying if she didn’t acknowledge the flashes of his father’s temper in him, and as the case against him unfolds, she realizes he’s hidden more than he’s shared with her.
Mad Honey is a riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves.
About The Authors
Professor Jennifer Finney Boylan is the author of eighteen books, is the inaugural Anna Quindlen Writer in Residence at Barnard College of Columbia University. Jenny’s memoir, She’s Not There, published by Broadway Books in 2003, was one of the first bestselling works by a transgendered American.
Jodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-eight novels, including Wish You Were Here, Small Great Things, Leaving Time, and My Sister’s Keeper, and, with daughter Samantha van Leer, two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page. Picoult lives in New Hampshire.
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