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Orange Mint and Honey: A Novel

Description

“A wonderful, jazzy, exciting read.”
–Nikki Giovanni, author of Acolytes

Broke and burned-out from grad school, Shay Dixon does the unthinkable after receiving a “vision” from her de facto spiritual adviser, blues singer Nina Simone. She phones Nona, the mother she had all but written off, asking if she can come home for a while.

When Shay was growing up, Nona was either drunk, hungover, or out with her latest low-life guy. So Shay barely recognizes the new Nona, now sober and with a positive outlook on life, a love of gardening, and a toddler named Sunny. Though reconciliation seems a hard proposition for Shay, something unmistakable is taking root inside her, waiting to blossom like the morning glories opening up in Nona’s garden sanctuary.

Soon Shay finds herself facing exciting possibilities and even her first real romantic relationship. But when an unexpected crisis hits, even the wise words and soulful melodies of Nina Simone may not be enough for solace. Shay begins to realize that, like orange mint and honey, sometimes life tastes better when bitter is followed by sweet.


“Carleen Brice has woven her talent for storytelling into a funny, sad, and perceptive novel that speaks to all of us who navigate less-than-perfect relationships with our parents or children.”
–Elyse Singleton, author of This Side of the Sky

“Brice deftly shows the importance and joy of understanding our past and not only forgiving those who hurt us, but loving them in spite of that hurt. Readers of Terry McMillan and Bebe Moore Campbell will find a new writer to watch.”
–Judy Merrill Larsen, author of All the Numbers

Reviews

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-07-28
Summary: "In Many Ways Love Is Like A Garden"

"I closed my eyes and inhaled. The mint smelled like a just-sliced orange, but not as strong."

Carleen Brice has written a wonderful novel about a mother and daughter in Denver, Colorado. Shay, the daughter, comes from Iowa to Denver, Colorado where her mother lives with her baby girl, Sunny. Sunny is Shay's half sister. Shay's childhood with her mother was very difficult. Shay's mother during those years was an alcoholic. After coming home again, Shay finds a changed woman. Nona no longer drinks alcohol. She is no longer a neglectful mother. As a matter of fact, Sunny could not ask for a more loving and attentive mother. This is the only problem I had with the book. It would have seemed more realistic if Shay had to struggle with loving Sunny too. There is a small, bit of bad feelings. At a blink of an eye the bad feelings are gone and she totally loves her half sister, Sunny.

Anyway, Shay also meets two new people in Nona's life and a new group she spends time talking about and visiting regularly. The new group is Alcoholics Anonymous. One of the new people is Ivy, a woman who is trying to change her life too. Ivy wants to give up drinking. Nona is Ivy's AA sponsor. Since Nona has not had a drink of alcohol in four years, she is the perfect person to help Ivy. The other woman is Lois. She is Nona's sponsor in AA.

The book is very emotional. I especially remember the verbal fight between Nona and Shay at church. While it was painful to read, the words needed to be said. I began to realize unhappy relationships can not begin to heal until all the ugliness is confronted first. Like the minister and the congregation, I felt uncomfortable hearing a mother and daughter shout out their dirty laundry. "I planted the mint next to the shed and it has spread all the way over to trouble the lilacs....It's my reminder that we're not always in control." I did want to cover my ears by turning a few pages. However, I did not want to miss a word. No one left the church. The minister did not leave his pulpit. It was like time stood still for these two women to exchange years and years of buried thoughts and feelings. Forgiveness, the need to move forward to a larger and cleaner space happens at different times for each person in Orange Mint and Honey.

Orange Mint and Honey is more than a novel about mothers and daughters. It is a novel about people changing their way of looking at a situation at different times. In other words, each person forgives in a different way, for different reasons and not at the same time as the other person. The novel is also about friendship. It is very painful to read about a person who self destructs a friendship. Carlene Brice also writes a love story. Romance comes when we least expect it. From whom we never thought to find it.

Speaking of romance, the theme of music as a messenger is written throughout the book. Nina Simone is Shay's guiding presence. Nina Simone is like a surrogate mother for the times when Shay finds Nona untouchable and unreachable. It's her songs that lead Shay away from Iowa and back to Colorado. "Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Bessie Smith, Mildred Bailey. They were queens.........encouraging me, pointing me away from danger, schooling me in the ways of life. Especially Nina Simone." At the end of the journey I had taken with Nona and Shay, I was wondering where to turn next. These women in just a few days, had made themselves a part of my life. What should follow? Some times the best is saved for last. There are two recipes at the end of the book: Orange Mint And Honey Butter Cookies and Nona's Orange Mint Tea. This is a wonderful, wise and inspiring novel and one not to be missed. Orange Mint and Honey

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Rating: 3 / 5
Date: 2010-05-11
Summary: "Orange Mint and Honey"

I kind of liked this book. Actually, I liked more about it than I disliked. The story is about Shay Dixon, a burnt out grad student who goes to stay with her recovering alcoholic mother for a break. She goes because Nina Simone (a dead jazz singer) tells her to. I didn't really connect with the Nina Simone thing. However, I really liked the mother-daughter story that's at the core of the novel. Their relationship and Shay's healing and evolution kept me reading. I didn't like the end. It felt loose and unfinished but not in a "literary" on purpose kind of way. The ending also felt untrue to me. I didn't understand Shay's decisions in the end. I'm not saying they were the wrong decisions. They just didn't fit for me. This sounds like a bad review but it's not. I did enjoy most of the story and I would recommend this books to friends.

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Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-04-18
Summary: "Orange Mint and Honey, A Novel"

This is the first of two books that I have read by Carleen Brice. I received this book from Amazon in the mid-afternoon and could not put it down until it was done. Wonderful, strong women of all different ages makes this a great story. Nona is a very likeable woman while her daughter Shay comes off very rough in the beginning, and this was hard to accept. It was certainly understandeable from the viewpoint of Shay the daughter, and what she had gone through in her childhood. Shay's final discovery of the enjoyment of life and the bonds she forms with Nona, made me a fan of this book. I am waiting for Ms. Brice's next book.

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Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2010-03-28
Summary: "Letting go is hard to do...."

This was the first book that I read by Ms. Brice. I read it after watching the movie "Sins of the Mother" on Lifetime Movie Network that was adapted from this book. Loved the movie, loved the book.

Shay is an educated young woman who is forced to face the demons in her head, because they are starting to manifest themselves in her daily life. She is forced to to go home to the alcoholic mother, whom she feels abandoned and neglected her. When she get there the alcoholic, neglectful woman is no longer around, she has been replaced by this woman who is a great mother to the 4 yr old half sister and a vigilant AA participant. Shay refuses to believe that this real.

Ms. Brice's writing is vivid and colorful and clear. You can visualize Nona's garden, you could smell the food cooking. I loved this book because, because it showed that sometimes we have to really forgive other in order for us to be able to heal ourselves.

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Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2010-03-17
Summary: "Breath-taking Book Title"

I saw the movie on DVD and it didn't do much justice to the book. The name of the movie was totally inadequate for the storyline. Actually, I really didn't like the movie (but loved Jill Scott's performance). Shay had a heart of stone. She had the most difficult time dealing with the mistakes her mother, Nona, made during her bouts with alcohol. Now sober for four years, Shay still cannot forgive nor forget. Nona life's was dysfunctional enough to cause any individual to turn to Alcohol to smother her problems. However, Shay couldn't and wouldn't understand any of this. But God has a way of touching one's heart. Don't rely on the movie because you'll be disappointed and miss a great deal of what the book has to offer.

Reviewer Susan
A Book Case Review