Library Loot ~ the latest book by Jodi Picoult

Mad Honey ~ by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan, 2022, fiction (New Hampshire), 455 pages

Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over.  Her picture-perfect life — living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising their beautiful son, Asher — was upended when her husband revealed a darker side.  She never imagined that she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in and taking over her father’s beekeeping business.

 

Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too.  When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start.  And for just a short while, these new beginnings are exactly what Olivia and Lily need.  Their paths cross when Asher falls for the new girl in school, and Lily can’t help but fall for him, too.  With Ash, she feels happy for the first time.  Yet at times, she wonders if she can trust him completely.

 

Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead, and Asher is being questioned by the police.  Olivia is adamant that her son is innocent.  But she would be lying if she didn’t acknowledge the flashes of his father’s temper in Ash.  As the case against him unfolds, she realizes he’s hidden more than he’s shared with her.  Mad Honey is a riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves.

Donna and I met Jodi Picoult in September of 2019, when Jodi spoke at the St. Louis County Library.  Donna's on the left, and I'm on the right.  Jodi is my favorite writer, so I put this book on reserve at my library.  And now it's my turn to read her latest book, published in October 2022.