Mad Honey is a novel co-written by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan, two bestselling authors in their own right. Picoult’s work is widely known; characterized as women’s fiction or family saga, her writing often focuses on a moral or ethical dilemma that pits characters against each other. Picoult has covered a number of controversial topics, including abortion, death penalty, mercy killings, LGBTQ rights, race and privilege, religion and belief in God, school shootings, and assisted suicide (“Jodi Picoult Turns Tough Topics Into Best-Sellers”). She sometimes adopts a “procedural drama” format, in which most of the book focuses on the solving of a crime and the unfolding of a case in a court of law.

Mad Honey involves several of these characteristic Picoult elements: It tackles subjects of domestic violence and transgender rights, centers on a possible murder case and the trial that follows, and even brings back a recurring character from her previous books, defense attorney Jordan McAfee. Jordan previously appeared in The Pact (1998), which focused on assisted suicide; Salem Falls (2001), which discusses rape and incestuous sexual assault; and Nineteen Minutes (2007), which follows a school shooting. In Mad Honey, Olivia McAfee, one of the main characters in whose voice the story is told, is Jordan’s younger sister; Jordan represents her son, Asher Fields, when he’s accused of killing his girlfriend, Lily Campanello.

Another characteristic of Picoult’s work is how each book has a unique context or setting, which necessitates extensive research on Picoult’s part and finds its way into the book’s themes. Olivia is an apiarist, and the author weaves information about honey and beekeeping into the story, using it metaphorically or symbolically as well to elevate the narration. Another important and unique aspect of the book is that Lily, the other main character in whose voice the story is told, is a trans girl. To adequately honor this experience, Mad Honey features the voice of another author: Jennifer Finney Boylan.

A writer, professor, and trans rights activist, Boylan is herself a trans woman, who transitioned in her 40s. She has talked about the dilemma she grappled with that led her to come out relatively late in life, including fears about being marginalized or becoming a target of violence. She didn’t believe the world would be a safe place for her anymore, and these fears are realized in Lily’s character (“‘I’m Living In The World With No Secrets’”). Lily experiences violence and assault at her school in California when her friends learn that she’s trans; thus, when she has an opportunity to start afresh elsewhere without disclosing the truth about being trans, she takes it. However, unlike Boylan herself, Lily is clear and expressive of her gender identity from a very young age, possibly reflecting what Boylan may have wanted for herself, had the times allowed it.

Contrary to the usual expectation of violence and intolerance faced by trans people from their romantic partners, Asher eventually comes around and accepts Lily for who she is. This may be based on Boylan’s own experience: Her own marriage survived her transition, despite the fact that Boylan and her wife spent the first 12 years as husband and wife. Boylan has described how her wife underwent a dilemma over supporting Boylan’s happiness while wondering if she might lose a partner; nevertheless, the couple pulled through.

Similarly, Lily’s relationship with her mother, Ava Campanello, is potentially influenced by Boylan’s experience of coming out to her own mother. Despite her mother’s being an evangelical Christian and a Republican, Boylan remembers that she was unconditionally loving and immediately accepting of her. In addition, Boylan confesses to dealing with her own son’s transition, when he came out as trans and became Boylan’s daughter. Boylan’s own experience of being trans didn’t, admittedly, make the experience easier for her as a parent. These experiences are reflected in Ava’s character as a mother who is unconditionally loving and accepting of Lily’s gender identity from the very beginning yet experiences moments of conflict over losing a son in the process. Thus, through the dual narration of Olivia and Lily’s characters, Picoult and Boylan each bring their own experiences and expertise to the table, successfully co-creating a complex and nuanced story.