Synopsis
'A lush, dreamlike, wholly intoxicating novel . . . Honeysuckle is a fever dream that I won’t soon forget' Ava Reid, Sunday Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning
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 . . .
Details
24 March 2026
9781035067923Reviews
A lush, dreamlike, wholly intoxicating novel with the elegant lyricism of modern fantasy and the deep, dark roots of ancient folklore. Honeysuckle is a fever dream that I won’t soon forget.
A hauntingly lyrical, fairytale-like horror. I was absolutely enthralled with Fridman-Tell’s lush world building and devastatingly beautiful prose . . . A searing addition to the literary horror genre, Honeysuckle offers a tale in which beauty is inextricably intertwined with rot, and with the unrelenting passage of time love serves as both a shield and a dagger
Bar Fridman-Tell has created a rare, beguiling thing. A twisted, wild journey that deftly leads the reader through the forest of hopes and fears, Honeysuckle is a bold, haunting folktale for our times
Honeysuckle is equal parts fairytale and nightmare, beautiful and terrifying, innocent and disturbed. A novel for anyone who contemplates the rot beneath lovely things, and a deeply impressive debut
