Daily Maverick publishes an excerpt from Lola Akinmade’s novel Bitter Honey
Daily Maverick has published an excerpt from Bitter Honey, the first standalone novel by writer Lola Akinmade. The work’s protagonist, 20-year-old Swedish pop singer Tina Wikström, is preparing to perform at Melodifestivalen, a music competition whose victory could open the way for her to represent Sweden at Eurovision.
A performance on her birthday
In the excerpt, Tina speaks on the phone with her mother, Nancy, on the eve of her performance. She is nervous about what is at that point the most important evening of her career, although for the past two years she has been called a pop sensation and a musical prodigy after being discovered at a singing competition.
Tina is set to perform her own song, Honey. She received a Grammis award for it — the Swedish equivalent of the Grammy — in February. The song is connected to her pain over her father, whom she never knew: Tina and her brother Tobias were told that he had died in Gambia.
In the dressing room, the singer is surrounded by birthday flowers. The largest bouquet was sent by Sebastian, who, she expects, will come to the performance with friends from the national football team.
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A stranger backstage
Assistant Lotta tells Tina that a man has come backstage with a VIP pass, calling himself her father. The man, named Lars, has honey-colored eyes, freckles and copper-red hair similar to Tina’s, which means she cannot immediately dismiss his words.
Lars claims that he wanted to be there for Tina and Tobias, but his wife Frida made him promise not to contact them. He also says that Nancy told the children he had died in order to protect them from what he could not give them. Tina replies that she had believed her father was dead all her life.
The theme of a family secret
According to the book’s description, Bitter Honey focuses on the relationship between a mother and daughter, resilience and the search for one’s place in the world. The novel was published by Apollo, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. Lola Akinmade is also set to take part in the 2026 Open Book Festival.
