Honeysuckle and Bone
By Trisha Tobias
Young Adult Fiction
In Honeysuckle and Bone, 18-year-old Celia arrives at the Blackbead mansion in Jamaica. She has taken a temporary job to be nanny for the two children of the wealthy Hall family. Ian Hall is in the midst of a political campaign. It is not long before Celia receives signs, one being the cloying scent of honeysuckle (even though there is no honeysuckle on the property) that something or someone in the mansion wants her gone. The trope of a haunted or possessed property is not unique, but there are several ways in which this novel rises above the norm.
First of all, the reader learns that Celia is there under false pretenses. The job was supposed to have belonged to her best friend Joy. We do not know the exact nature of how Celia came to take her friend’s job, or what exactly happened to Joy, although we know Celia bears a great deal of guilt over the situation. This unknown is a source of tension that carries the reader through the novel, and the back story is only revealed near the end.
Another source of tension is the supernatural occurrences that seem to be telling Celia to leave. At first, Celia assumes it is her friend Joy punishing her for whatever has occurred. But as she learns secrets about the Hall family, she starts to think the spirit has something to do with Ian Hall’s past misdeeds. Celia’s sleuthing into the true nature of the paranormal phenomenon and the Hall family’s past is another thing that propels the reader forward and also leads to an incredible plot twist near the end of the novel.
Delectable bits of lightness are added to the novel through the vivid description of Jamaica – its food, its natural beauty, and the character of the people. Also, levity is added by the lighthearted banter and friendship shared among Celia and the other workers, or “Young Birds” at the mansion. The reader is often privy to snippets from text message threads among the young workers. To top it off, there is just the right dash of romance. There is a simmering love interest between Celia and Aaron, one of the mansion gardeners, that only blossoms near the end of the novel after all secrets have been revealed. In the end, the reader is left with a message about wrong choices, guilt, and learning to rise about guilt to truly live again.
Reviewed by Bryan Latimer
Zauel Library
