Orange Mint and Honey [Hardcover]

Carleen Brice (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: One World Ballantine Books; Book Club Edition edition (2008)
• ISBN-10: 0739493094
• ISBN-13: 978-0739493090
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,341,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carleen Brice's debut novel, ORANGE MINT AND HONEY, is the basis for the NAACP Image Award-winning Lifetime TV movie "Sins of the Mother" starring Jill Scott and Nicole Beharie. ORANGE MINT AND HONEY was also an Essence "Recommended Read" and a Target "Bookmarked Breakout Book." For this book, she won the 2009 First Novelist Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and the 2008 Break Out Author Award at the African American Literary Awards Show.

Booklist Online called her second novel, CHILDREN OF THE WATERS (One World/Ballantine), a book about race, love and family, "a compelling read, difficult to put down." Essence said, "Brice has a new hit."

Please visit her website, www.carleenbrice.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What Would Nina Simone Do?, May 7, 2008

By 

Dera R Williams (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orange Mint and Honey: A Novel (Paperback)

Carleen Brice, an author of such nonfiction titles as Age Ain't Nothing But a Number makes her fiction debut with Orange Mint and Honey. Shay Dixon is a nervous breakdown in the making. She is a twenty-five year old grad student who has hit rock bottom; laid off from her job, about to be evicted and carrying baggage that would break the back of the strongest of women. Not to mention she is channeling the voice of the late singer, Nina Simone who seems to be her guiding force and at this moment, she is telling Shay to go home. Home is the last place Shay wants to be. She has spent the last few years distancing herself from Denver, Colorado and her past.

Raised by an alcoholic, Shay finds it hard to forgive her mother's past neglect but that is exactly what her mother is asking--forgiveness. Shay returns to find her mother has made a transformation. Nona is now an employed homeowner replete with Martha Stewart living, a healthy lifestyle and a flower and herb garden. She is also the mother of another daughter, five-year old Sunshine. Shay watches as her mother is the epitome of motherhood as she dotes on Sunshine, something that was lacking when Shay was a child.

Shay has even more issues, baggage upon baggage that need fixing; she has a nervous habit of pulling out her hair, she is socially inept and her background is such that she guards against getting close to people. Shay gets a job in a record shop, reconnects with the only friend she has ever had and begins to navigate through her issues to reclaim her sanity and find balance. She is forced to step outside of herself as she begins dating, forges new ties, and begins the journey of repairing the most fragile of all relationships, that of mother and daughter.

There are many layers to this story that make it a satisfying reading experience; well-developed secondary characters; relationships that include mother/daughter, sister/sister, man/woman, mentor/mentee; redemption and forgiveness, and social ills. Brice came to Marcus Books in Oakland to promote the book and she enthralled the audience with her expressive reading and orange mint chocolates. This is fiction for all women that transcends age, race and economic/class lines. 4.5 rating

Dera R. Williams
APOOO BookClub
Marcus Book Club (Oakland)

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm Speechless, February 18, 2008

By 

S. Outing (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orange Mint and Honey: A Novel (Paperback)

I'm not much of a reader but it only took me 5 hours to read this book! I'm only a few years older than the main character and I could relate to some of the issues a young woman goes through with her mother.I learned from Shay that people who "seem" together really aren't. I don't have my degree yet and the whole time I'm yelling (at the book) "you have a degree!! what are you whining about?" My generation is the first generation in the black community that's starting to talk about personal issues and family problems.It's hard to face things as black women. We were taught to hold it in and deal with everything on our own.I liked the way this character grew and decided to let it out. This was refreshing, real, and uplifting. I cried, laughed, and really want to make this tea!!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bitter Sweet, May 12, 2008

By 

Tavares S. Carney "Inspire, Motivate & Encourage" (Michigan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Orange Mint and Honey: A Novel (Paperback)

Orange Mint and Honey by Carleen Brice is the story of a mother and daughter, Nona and Shay Dixon, and the path both women take in discovering who they really are. The central theme in the author's first novel is forgiveness. Sometimes in life, we must face our bitter pasts in order to get to our sweet tomorrows.

Nona is a recovering alcoholic, who in yester-years was not very motherly to her first daughter, Shay. She is now striving to be a better mom to her second daughter, Sunny. After an emotionally unstable Shay puts her postgraduate degree on hold and returns home for a semester discovering her "new mom," her pinned up animosity towards her mother radiates through several incidents and conversations. In spite of Shay's resistance to the extension of Nona's olive branch to mend their broken mother-daughter relationship, Nona continues her quest to stay on the right track and repair their relationship.

Readers will find themselves drawn into this story, especially mothers and daughters. Mothers and daughters may not always see things from each other's perspective; however, through communication and mutual respect, anything is possible. Nona relied on her AA meetings and tending to her garden to keep her on the straight and narrow; while Shay found herself after she opened up to newfound beau, Oliver.

Through supporting characters Ivy, a recovering alcoholic, drug abuser and prostitute, and Oliver, Shay's first "real boyfriend," Nona and Shay face situations where they lean on each other for emotional support and finally begin the healing process in their own relationship. Sitting down over a cup of orange mint tea with a splash of honey, the two women discover that sometimes in life we just have to accept the bitter with the sweet and make the best of it. Sometimes we have to know who we are and what we can accomplish as individuals before we can truly make someone else happy and give them the love and support they need.

This book was an enjoyable read. I recommend it to all mothers and daughters, especially those whose families have struggled with alcoholism and the effects thereof. I was happy with the way the novel ended and would read another selection from this author.