Bar Fridman-Tell has a BA in art history and an MA in English literature. (She gleefully wrote her thesis about Victorian vampires.) She has worked as a bartender, a bookseller, a translator, and a library assistant. She is currently studying for a master's in library and information sciences at the University of Toronto, hoping to stay in a library for good. She lives in Toronto with her professor husband and two very fluffy cats. Honeysuckle is her debut novel.

"Fridman-Tell's gorgeous debut fantasy luxuriates on the border between romance and horror . . . Fridman-Tell uses her eerie fairy tale premise to masterfully unpick all of the squirmy ethical implications of the created-lover trope, spinning a story that is as powerful in its human aspects as in its magic. This stuns." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A fascinating combination of magic and science . . . Tackles issues of consent, bodily autonomy, and codependent relationships. Fridman-Tell has crafted a truly genre-defying story here, one that'll fit perfectly next to Helen Oyeyemi and Carmen Maria Machado." --Reactor Magazine, "30 SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2026"

"Lush and romantic with a hint of darkness, this unsettling tale of desire, power and fear is inspired by ancient Welsh mythology." --Barnes & Noble, "Best Books of March 2026"

"I'm a sucker for a dark fairy tale, and Fridman-Tell's gorgeously rendered debut - featuring a Blodeuwedd, or woman made of flowers, from Welsh mythology - blew me away. Come for the lush prose and horror-tinged romance, stay for the incisive examination of autonomy and agency." --Phoebe Cramer, Publishers Weekly's "9 Books That Should Be On Your Radar in 2026"

"A lush, dreamlike, wholly intoxicating novel with the elegant lyricism of modern fantasy and the deep, dark roots of ancient folklore. Honeysuckle is a fever dream that I won't soon forget." --Ava Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A STUDY IN DROWNING

"A haunting reimagining." --The Times (London)

"Fridman-Tell's debut joins the growing collection of soon-to-be gothic classics that have come out this year. Here, she reimagines Welsh mythology in a refreshing way, bending time, physics, love, and the emotional power of a fairy tale." --Debutiful
"Lush . . . eerie and oh-so-relevant." --Lit Hub, "March's Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books"
"[An] emotionally raw exploration of feminine interiority . . . examin[ing] desire, control and psychological unraveling." --BookTrib
"I haven't been able to stop thinking about Honeysuckle since I read it. A Frankenstein-esque spirit haunts the pages through Daye's love for Rory, which is woven and tangled with her existence. Fridman-Tell writes characters whose thoughts, worries, and flaws spill off the page into people and experiences I'm sure most readers know in some way. This was a simultaneously familiar and altogether unique reading experience. I highly, highly recommend!" --The Southern Bookseller Review
"A flower-threaded horror crafted from myth and brimming with lush prose, Honeysuckle is an incredibly timely story about the corrupting power of desire and control. Unsettling and stunning in equal measure." --Maddie Martinez, USA Today bestselling author of THE MAIDEN AND HER MONSTER

"The novel is composed with brittle, devastating lyricism. Its horrors flutter beneath intoxicating layers of nature references . . . A flower girl magicked to life to be a boy's playmate comes into her own in the exquisite fantasy novel Honeysuckle." --Foreword Reviews, starred review

"Bar Fridman-Tell's debut novel, Honeysuckle, emerges as a hauntingly lyrical, fairytale-like horror. I was absolutely enthralled with Fridman-Tell's lush world building and devastatingly beautiful prose . . . A searing addition to the literary horror genre, Honeysuckle offers a tale in which beauty is inextricably intertwined with rot, and with the unrelenting passage of time, love serves as both a shield and a dagger." --Kalynn Bayron, New York Times bestselling author of CINDERLLA IS DEAD and THIS POISON HEART

"Fridman-Tell's reimagining of the blodeuwedd legend from Welsh mythology is as beautiful as a flower while unearthing the rot festering at their roots . . . Highly recommended for fans of feminist fairy-tale retellings and romantic horror." --Library Journal

"Bar Fridman-Tell has created a rare, beguiling thing. A twisted, wild journey that deftly leads the reader through the forest of hopes and fears, Honeysuckle is a bold, haunting folktale for our times." --Ami McKay, internationally bestselling author of THE WITCHES OF NEW YORK and THE BIRTH HOUSE

"Equal parts fairytale and nightmare, beautiful and terrifying, innocent and disturbed. A novel for anyone who contemplates the rot beneath lovely things . . . A deeply impressive debut." --Danielle Valentine, New York Times bestselling author of THE DEAD HUSBAND COOKBOOK

"Bar Fridman-Tell is a master of the botanical grotesque. This lyrical and captivating debut unsettles and shocks by turns, as a lush and dreamy childhood world gives way to a dark reality." --Charlotte Cross, author of THE BRIDES

"Begins with a playful bargain but quickly descends into something darker, something that blurs the lines between love and ownership, desire and power, bond and bondage. This is magical realism at its absolute best - the fantastical is woven seamlessly into the sumptuous fabric of the world, while what is real is too monstrous and twisted to be anything other than achingly human. Escalating in dread from its first page to its breathless conclusion, this is a novel destined to become a modern gothic classic. A glorious, decadent debut!" --Anuja Varghese, author of CHRYSALIS

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Pub date: 2026-03-24

Length: 336 pages