Did the Son of an Abusive Man Learn What He Lived?
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This story is told in two voices, Lily Campanello’s and Olivia McAfee’s. The most interesting thing about the book – at least for me as a writer – is that it is a collaboration between two well-known authors, Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. How did they share the story telling tasks here? Jodi wrote the chapters told from Liv’s point of view, and Jennifer wrote Lily’s chapters. I can’t wait to tell you more about the amazing way this collaboration came about…
But first, here is the basic story: Lily is a teenage girl found dead at her home. Foul play is suspected. The main person of interest is her boyfriend, Asher, who is Olivia’s son. As the book moved toward legal proceedings, I thought the plot might be similar to Defending Jacob, the 2012 book where a teen is accused of murder and where his parents aren’t always sure of his innocence. Adding to this thought process is the fact that Asher’s father/Liv’s ex-husband was physically abusive, so it is possible that Asher would follow in those footsteps.
Before long, though, there is a major plot twist regarding Lily that makes this more than just a teen love story gone wrong. But my lips are sealed. You’ll need to read Mad Honey to know about this part of Lily’s history.
Since I can’t reveal the twist and since I sure won’t tell you whodunit, let me get back to the unique way in which this book came about.
The two writers knew about each other, but did not know each other personally. Jennifer loved Jodi’s work ever since reading The Pact in 2003. Jodi had read Jennifer’s 2013 memoir, She’s Not There, and had written a blurb for Jennifer’s 2016 novel, Long Black Veil.
In 2017, Jennifer woke up from a dream that handed her Mad Honey’s exact plot, including the twist. But there is one more piece to add. She also dreamed that she would co-author the book with Jodi Picoult.
Jennifer went on Twitter to tell her followers, “I dreamed I was co-authoring a book with Jodi Picoult!” It was within minutes that she received a private message back from Jodi. “What was this book about?” As it turns out, the book’s topic was something that interested Jodi. Imagine Jennifer’s shock when she next got a message from Jodi in all caps: “OMG I LOVE THIS. LET’S DO IT.”
One final item to discuss before closing, why is the book called Mad Honey? In the novel, Liv is a beekeeper. She tells us lots of things about bees as she tries to figure out nature in general and human nature in particular. There really is something called mad honey that contains poisonous “grayanotoxins.” It has been used in biological warfare as far back as 399 B.C. Liv tells us that the secret weapon of mad honey is that you expect it to be sweet, not deadly.
While the information about honey was interesting, it was a bit extraneous to me. Meanwhile, all the information surrounding the plot twist was fascinating. And even more than that, it was great to see how two writing pros worked together to make a very worthwhile read.
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If you like my writing, did you know I have four books in print? They are all available on my Etsy shop. My newest book, Love, Loss, and Moving On, is also available on Amazon. Please have a look and tell a friend!
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