Bitter Honey

A page-turner of a story that spans four decades and two continents, in six parts. Mother and daughter Nancy Ndow and Tina Wikstrom are the novel’s two protagonists, who often have the reader cursing under her breath – or holding it in – as they navigate their womanhood among men and in lands that don’t have their best interests at heart (Lars, when I catch you!). Bitter Honey is written in an extremely contemporary style and language, rather like the screenplay for a TV series, which isn’t inherently a bad thing. And each chapter feels more dramatic than the last; that said, one can often see how disaster is going to strike, which makes for some frustrating predictability in parts. It’s a novel that has everything in it – history, geopolitics, love, manipulation, racism, alienation, addiction, the spoils and dangers of fame – and all the subject matter teased out carefully across both women’s timelines.