Inspired by the Welsh myth of the Blodeuwedd—a woman who is created entirely using flowers and plants—author Bar Fridman-Tell set out to create her own version of the story in her debut novel Honeysuckle. The book opens with two siblings, a sister and brother named Wynne and Rory, who are several years apart. Frustrated by his endless demands to play, Wynne crafts a playmate for Rory, a Blodeuwedd which Rory names Daye. As Rory grows up, and Daye is recrafted and renewed each season, the power dynamic between the two shifts and begins to take a more sinister turn, because Daye, as a Blodeuwedd, must always do what her creator requests.
Honeysuckle by Bar Fridman-Tell was published by Bloomsbury.
Kate Layte is the founder and owner of Papercuts Bookshop in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Mass. Here are her recommendations:
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