Bitter Honey - A Novel

Spanning four decades and three continents, Bitter Honey is a story about a mother and daughter divided by long buried secrets, struggling to understand each other as they forge their own paths, from the internationally bestselling author of In Every Mirror She''s Black . 1978: A scholarship draws Nancy from Gambia''s warmth into Stockholm''s frigid winter. When her friendship with charismatic scholar Lars blossoms into something more, she thinks she may have finally found her place. But there''s more to Lars than his charming persona, and Nancy is about to discover the danger of being drawn into his world... 2006: Tina has had her taste of fame as Sweden''s sweetheart pop princess, representing her country at Eurovision. But beneath her glittery facade, she''s uncertain who she really is. Her mother, Nancy, seems desperate to keep the past under wraps, but will the unexpected appearance of Tina''s father--a man she has long thought dead--help open the door to self-discovery? Nancy just wants to protect her daughter from making the same mistakes she did, but Tina longs for the freedom to mess up, knowing her mother will always be there to support her. The two women love each other unconditionally, but can they learn to trust each other as well? This poignant novel delves deep into the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters and delivers a warm, heartfelt story of love, forgiveness, and women finding their voices.

About the author

Nigerian-American Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström is an award-winning travel writer, speaker, photographer, and author of the international bestseller In Every Mirror She’s Black and Everything Is Not Enough. She is based in Stockholm.

Summary

Spanning four decades and three continents, Bitter Honey is a story about a mother and daughter divided by long buried secrets, struggling to understand each other as they forge their own paths, from the internationally bestselling author of In Every Mirror She’s Black.
1978: A scholarship draws Nancy from Gambia’s warmth into Stockholm’s frigid winter. When her friendship with charismatic scholar Lars blossoms into something more, she thinks she may have finally found her place. But there’s more to Lars than his charming persona, and Nancy is about to discover the danger of being drawn into his world… 
2006: Tina has had her taste of fame as Sweden’s sweetheart pop princess, representing her country at Eurovision. But beneath her glittery façade, she’s uncertain who she really is. Her mother, Nancy, seems desperate to keep the past under wraps, but will the unexpected appearance of Tina’s father—a man she has long thought dead—help open the door to self-discovery?
Nancy just wants to protect her daughter from making the same mistakes she did, but Tina longs for the freedom to mess up, knowing her mother will always be there to support her. The two women love each other unconditionally, but can they learn to trust each other as well?
This poignant novel delves deep into the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters and delivers a warm, heartfelt story of love, forgiveness, and women finding their voices.

Report

"Everything is Not Enough presents a fascinating and complex kaleidoscope of women's lives in Sweden, asking crucial questions around career, love, family, and the definition of success. There are no easy answers in this book-the characters are real, subtle and surprising and you root for them the whole way through." - Kathy Wang, author of Impostor Syndrome
"Compulsively readable, Everything is Not Enough is a worthy successor to Akerstrom's debut. It was profoundly comforting to see Akerstrom's women wade into their power, claiming their space in a world that gives them very little room to be. Akerstrom is a master at shading the gaps between power and love. This book filled me up like food. Everything about it is absolutely enough." - Chika Unigwe, award-winning author
"Everything is Not Enough is a searing account of three women struggling through heartbreak, deception, and the scars of their pasts to find their rightful place in a society that isn't eager to make space for them. Lola Akinmade Akerstrom writes with clarity and fearlessness, baring ugly truths amidst the strength and resilience of women who come into their own, while also coming into the beauty of hope." - Charlene Carr, author of Hold My Girl
"Lola Akinmade Akerstrom weaves a complex tapestry of three women through her deft storytelling and absorbing prose. These rich characters' lives are complicated, messy and heartbreakingly real as they struggle with love, family, and identity in a world that consistently thwarts women's ambitions. Their passions, desires, and vulnerability will stay with readers long after they finish this fascinating page-turner." - Christine Pride and Jo Piazza, bestselling authors of You Were Always Mine
"Incendiary, emotionally devastating, absolutely wonderful." - Onyi Nwabineli, author of Someday, Maybe
"Åkerström carefully examines the loneliness of frequently feeling like an outsider and how this can draw the most disparate of people together. Balancing the trauma and turmoil of being judged and appraised based on the prejudices of individual people and societies, this fitting follow-up dwells on the comforts of finding a community on which to depend." - Booklist
"Everything is Not Enough is a heart-racer of a sequel. The passions, regrets, and vulnerabilities of Black women ignite each smartly crafted page. A very satisfying read!" - Deesha Philyaw, award-winning author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
"Akerstrom doesn't pull any punches when calling out the racism that keeps knocking them back, and draws strong characters to carry her plot." - Sunday Times (London)
"International best-selling author Lola Akinmade Åkerström's second novel, Everything Is Not Enough, turns expectations and stereotypes of Black women on their heads. Åkerström creates space for characters to become fully realized, allowing them to make mistakes and embrace anger or selfishness in ways they're not always allowed." - Shondaland
Told compellingly from the three perspectives of Yasmiin, Kemi, and Brittany-Rae, Akerstrom hijacks your attention with her beautiful writing and well-drawn characters, and forces you to confront issues and realities other than your own. Brilliant." - Heat Magazine (UK)
"Brilliant...Lola Akinmade Akerstrom has a sharp voice in the world of nuanced contemporary women's fiction." - Jennette McCurdy

Product details

• Authors: Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström, Lola Akinmade O kerstrom
• Publisher: William Morrow
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 04.11.2025
• EAN: 9780063317024
• ISBN: 978-0-06-331702-4
• No. of pages: 448
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 32 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; FICTION: Women, LITERATURE: WOMEN'S LITERATURE, FICTION: Family Life / General, FICTION: African American & Black / Women, FICTION: Sagas, LITERATURE: GENERAL FICTION, FICTION: Psychological, LITERATURE: AFRICAN AMERICAN, LITERATURE: WORLD, FICTION: Multiple Timelines, FICTION: World Literature / Africa / Nigeria, FICTION: World Literature / Sweden, LITERATURE: AFRICAN