Discussing Mad Honey Triggers a Gamut of Concerns

In April 2025, we discussed Mad Honey, by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. By the time my computer was set up, there was some discussion about “mad honey,” the substance that is in some honeys, when the bees tap rhododendrons. The “mad honey” is psychedelic and can be dangerous. We established this curious fact and then started answering the questions Patricia had chosen for us.

It's interesting how all sorts of historical and political topics find their way into our discussions! Women’s Rights had a role in this discussion. Lydia said she felt glad that Olivia was able to make a living taking over her father’s beekeeping business, after leaving her financially successful but abusive husband and moving to the small town of the story, where she had grown up. Talking about Olivia leaving her husband, Flo said that financial solutions are an important part of life for a woman who leaves an abusive husband. Someone said that in the time of the story, men generally had all the financial power in the family. Someone told about a woman in a similar situation to Olivia’s who went to the bank and didn’t have any idea how to get money. I think it was Kurt who said that it wasn’t until the 1970s that a woman could get her own credit card. Someone said that in 1972 a woman had to have a man in her family sign for her to get a credit card. Kurt said that women probably accepted this as part of life. Flo said that with a New York City teaching license (in the early 1970s), she was allowed to get a credit card, though her husband had the right to close it, if he wanted to. Joyce said that women who had the kind of problem Olivia had probably tended to feel that they had made a big mistake by getting involved with an abusive man.

Some of us said society was set up with the men in charge. Joyce said that probably some women were more dependent on male partners than others were. I couldn’t help mentioning that current political winds are blowing away from women’s rights, and there is fear that some politicians are leaning toward a reversal of women’s rights that would result in women losing such rights as financial independence and property ownership. This is foreshadowed by the current push among some politicians for voting registration requiring your name to be listed as your maiden name, as it appeared on your birth certificate, even though women have been using their married names on most identification for many years. Marcia brought in the phrase “barefoot and pregnant,” which does bring some atmosphere to the situation.

Another question we found interesting asked how you felt when you read that Lily was a transgender girl. Lydia said the trans part helped the story line. Someone, maybe Patricia in introducing the question, said that she found it interesting to learn what it might be like for a trans person and what they might be going through, i.e., things most of us would never think of. Apparently, there are a number of children growing up trans, by their own declaration and preference. Someone mentioned that there’s a movement, begun in the 1970s, of kids wanting to identify as animals. The movement is called “furry fandom,” and the “furries” wear costumes, called fursuits, and at gatherings, they represent their fursonas. Some of us thought that was “cute,” and then Joyce said, “Cute, until your child is eating off the floor.” Patricia said that her daughter used to favor horses and wanted to be a horse as a child, and that as she matured, her love of horses was normal and lasted into her adulthood.

Further discussion of trans people meandered into sports and whether trans students should be allowed to play on teams in their preferred gender. Flo reminded us that trans people are a small minority and so don’t merit as large an amount of attention as they are getting in our society. The concept is interesting to people, and, as Marcia said, “It makes good media!” Transgender and cross-dressing people have been around for a long time. Kurt mentioned that they have been around as long as humans have been. I said I could understand why people are concerned about trans people’s potential competitive advantage in sports, because of their hormonal makeup, but young people on trans hormone therapy would have less of their natural hormones balanced with more of their chosen gender’s hormones. So, there’s an ignorance factor in the prejudice against trans people. Joyce said that there is a thin line between the number of newly trans kids and kids just normally dealing with their identities as they go through adolescence. Joyce also drew a parallel between the rise in trans kids and the rise in eating disorders. Lydia reminded us that the teenage years are for “exploring who you are.” She likened the current concerns of adolescents about being trans to concerns about being gay among previous generations of adolescents.

We had a lively and interesting discussion of the book as well as of current topics of conversation and concerns of society.

Disclaimer: I apologize for being unable to determine from a phone recording who made some of the specific comments I mentioned in this blog post. If any of the comments I attributed to “someone” were yours, please email me, and I’ll correct the blog.