Bar Fridman-Tell’s debut novel, Honeysuckle, is the kind of book that slips under your skin and stays there. I’m thrilled to welcome her to Aber Stoat Books for this month’s spotlight.
When I reviewed Honeysuckle back in March, I called it a magical, tragic story with which I really felt for both Rory and Daye. The writing has this elegant richness to it; layer after layer of beautiful, lingering images; and the characters felt so real I could sink into the story without trying. It’s a haunting reimagining of the Welsh myth of Blodeuwedd: a lonely boy gifted a friend “woven from flowers and words,” their bond deepening as they grow, and the desperate lengths he goes to in order to keep her from falling apart with every season. What starts as childhood friendship-to-lovers becomes something far more unsettling about love, control, autonomy, and the price of defying natural cycles. “The story was such a human one; the ending was just simply … inevitable.”
Bar, thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions and for connecting with our reader community. We’re going to talk about the inspiration behind this lush debut and bringing your Blodeuwedd story to life.
Let’s begin!
The Myth & Beginnings
1. The book pulls from the Welsh myth of Blodeuwedd, the girl made from flowers. What grabbed you about that legend in the first place, and how did it turn into this tale of Daye and Rory?
I fell in love with the story of Blodeuwedd – in which a girl is created out of flowers to be a wife for a hero, only to be turned into a bird as punishment for choosing a different path – since I first came across it in the Mabinogion. It’s a truly gorgeous tale, full of fantastic transformation and tragic love stories. But as much as I loved it, I always felt uneasy about the way Blodeuwedd was framed as its villain despite her lack of autonomy and agency, even over her own body. It’s this tension between love and unease, I think, that made me return to this story again and again – and what eventually made me want to explore it further in Honeysuckle.
2. The publisher has compared it to The Bear and the Nightingale and Weyward for its enchanting yet unsettling atmosphere. Which authors, fairy tales, or myths beyond the Welsh source material inspired your prose style and world-building?
There are so many! I deeply admire the way Katherine Arden weaves together folklore and history into a single coherent reality in The Bear and the Nightingale, and I found myself thinking again and again about the way she builds and maintains a sense of dread in certain parts of it. I also thought a lot while drafting Honeysuckle about Emily Tesh’s gorgeous novella Silver in the Wood – the atmosphere, the forest, and the tangling of love and horror. Another huge influence, both in terms of prose style and themes, is Alexis Hall’s Spires series - particularly Glitterland and For Real – and the way those novels explore uneven power dynamics within romantic relationships. I also read a lot of folklore about forests and birds while drafting Honeysuckle – some of my favorites were The Forest in Folklore and Mythology by Alexander Porteous and Flights of Fancy: Birds in Myth, Legend and Superstition by Peter Tate.
The Right to Bloom or Wither
3. Central themes in Honeysuckle include autonomy, consent, power dynamics in a creator/created relationship, and codependency. What drew you to explore these ideas through Daye and Rory’s evolving bond, especially as they grow older and the stakes around her seasonal existence rise?
Questions of autonomy, consent, and power dynamics sit at the heart of Honeysuckle for me. Through Daye and Rory’s story, I wanted to explore what it means to be in a relationship where the power balance skews dramatically to one side, not just in one moment in time, but what kind of ripples it might send through a relationship in the long term. And to explore the prices both sides might pay for such an imbalance in power, even when everyone enters the relationship with the best intentions.
4. Honeysuckle earned early praise for its “incisive examination of autonomy and agency” and its blend of magic and science. What do you hope readers take away from Daye’s journey, particularly around questions of identity, consent, and what it means to be “real”?
In many ways, Honeysuckle was my way to explore the interrelations between power, autonomy, agency, and love – to ask questions rather than give answers. I hope that Honeysuckle will make readers think about the role power dynamics play in every relationship, and the delicate, often invisible interplay between love, power, and consent. But honestly, if Honeysuckle makes readers think or feel, if it becomes a part of their world or makes them ask questions, that’s more than I could hope for. Hearing reactions from readers – and the different ways each sees Daye and Rory’s story, and the different questions it makes them ask – has truly been magical so far.
Magical Performance
5. The audiobook with Catrin Walker-Booth and Geraint Rhys is outstanding—it makes the creepy floral parts and the emotional stuff feel so alive. What was it like hearing your words read out loud, especially those haunting or romantic moments?
I’ve read Honeysuckle out loud more times than I can count – both while drafting, as a way to check if the prose and dialogue were working, and during the various editing stages – but nothing could prepare me for hearing Honeysuckle’s audiobook for the first time. The way Catrin Walker-Booth and Geraint Rhys brought Daye and Rory to life is nothing short of magic. I’m so incredibly thankful to them, and deeply in love with the audiobook they created.
The Lighter Side
6. What’s your favorite cozy drink when you’re writing those scenes full of decay and longing—tea, hot chocolate, herbal something?
I’m an equal opportunity warm drinks drinker. And by equal opportunity, I mean that rather than choose between tea, hot chocolate, and coffee, I simply drink all three of them in alarming quantities. On a given day, I’ll usually drink 3-4 coffees, 4 teas (loose-leaf black tea is my go-to), and (if it’s a good day) at least one hot chocolate. And yes, I’m aware that’s a distressing amount of caffeine and sugar (but regret nothing).
7. You’ve got two super fluffy cats at home. Did any of their quirks sneak into the book?
Funnily enough, neither Lucy nor Lexi found their way into Honeysuckle – which is truly mystifying since I wrote most of it with at least one of them sprawled across my desk. But they did have a direct hand in shaping Honeysuckle, often very much against my will. I use sticky notes for plot and scene ideas, and one of Lucy and Lexi’s favorite activities is stealing these sticky notes and hiding them under various pieces of furniture. Many possible scenes and plot directions were removed from Honeysuckle through such editorial intervention, and honestly – they are usually right.
A Time to Decay
Bar, thank you so much for trusting me with Honeysuckle. It’s a rare thing to find a debut that feels both ancient and startlingly new. A lush, elegant, and quietly devastating story in the way it asks what we’re willing to do in the name of love and protection. I went into Honeysuckle knowing almost nothing about the Blodeuwedd story and came out completely haunted by it. It’s made very clear in your portrayal how long that myth has lived with you. Readers are going to fall for Rory and Daye the same way I did, even when it hurts a little. Small shoutout to Lucy and Lexi’s editorial expertise; that’s hilarious.
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If this conversation has you wanting to spend more time with Rory and Daye, you can grab Honeysuckle in print from Aber Stoat Books, as an ebook on Bookshop.org, or listen to the gorgeous audiobook narrated by Catrin Walker-Booth and Geraint Rhys on Libro.fm.
And if anything from the book or this chat stayed with you, I’d really love to hear it in the comments.
Happy reading, friends. This one’s special.
Buy and Connect
Order your copy of Honeysuckle from our indie bookshop!
Follow Bar Fridman-Tell on Instagram and Substack.
Author Website: barfridmantell.com
About the Interviewer
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