"The relationship between a human boy and a girl woven from plants is a thought-provoking and compelling dark reimagining from the Welsh mythology of Blodeuwedd."
Both gentle and provocative, loving and sinister, this story sings a stark song through longing, friendship, power, consent and consequences. Rory is desperately lonely, his wishes come true when his sister weaves him a friend Daye, yet the friendship is tainted when he realises she will only last for a season. I wouldn’t describe this as directly based in fairytale or horror, my feelings did though, hover on a sharp agitated edge throughout. Debut author Bar Fridman-Tell has crafted a provocative and atmospheric tale of consent and power through friendship. The location feels as though it is a reimagined Canada, with the magic of the weaving existing alongside the realities of life. Daye is an absolute delight, spending time with her nudged me into the joy and fragility yet strength of nature. While Rory’s need to keep Daye alive creates a growing disquiet, compassion also has its place. This is an incredibly intimate tale, which ensured a charged energy prevailed, I felt an all encompassing concern for what might happen and what could be. The ending felt as though it was a truth, and had already taken place. I’ve chosen this novel as a Liz Pick of the Month, Honeysuckle steals through thoughts and feelings, it nips and bites, and lingers in the mind.
| Primary Genre | Horror and Supernatural Fiction |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
Once upon a time, on the edge of a forest, there was a lonely child with only his older sister for company. So his sister made him a playmate ? Daye, a girl woven from carefully selected flowers and words.
Rory is gloriously happy, until he learns that Daye is a seasonal creature. At the end of each season, she must be woven back together or fall gruesomely apart. And when, one autumn, his sister fails to return home from university in time, Rory has no choice but to watch his best friend slowly crumble.
Realizing he can no longer rely on his sister to keep Daye alive, Rory determines he must leave home to learn how to do it himself. Rory sinks deeper into research and experiments to end the cycle of bloom and decay. But as Rory grows older, his thoughts turn darker . . .
An entrancing, inventive and unsettling reimagining of the story of Blodeuwedd from Welsh mythology, Honeysuckle by Bar Fridman-Tell is a feminist Frankenstein with flowers; a deliciously dark, twisted, horror-tinged fairytale with rot at its heart . . .
Honeysuckle features in the following genres: Debuts, Liz Robinson's Picks of the Month, Recommendations, Family Drama, Fantasy, Horror and Supernatural Fiction, Fairy and Folk tales / Fairy tale retellings, Dark romance, Narrative theme: Sense of place, Dark fantasy, Narrative theme: Death, grief, loss, Fairy and Folk tales / Fairy tale retellings
Honeysuckle is available in Hardback, Paperback
Honeysuckle was written by Bar Fridman-Tell and published by Nightfire an imprint of Pan Macmillan
Honeysuckle has 336 pages
£19.80
