Bitter Honey: Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström in Conversation with Wanda Morris

Name: Bitter Honey: Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström in Conversation with Wanda Morris
Start: 2025-11-08T19:30:00-05:00
Location: 184 S. Candler St. , Decatur, GA, United States, Georgia 30030

Schedule

Sat, 08 Nov, 2025 at 07:30 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

184 S. Candler St. , Decatur, GA, United States, Georgia 30030 | Decatur, GA

This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast, Charis' virtual event platform. This event is free, but registration is required for virtual attendance. Register at the link above to attend virtually. Please read the in-person event guidelines at the bottom of this page to be sure you can participate in the event.
Charis welcomes Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström in conversation with Wanda Morris for a discussion of Bitter Honey, a story about a mother and daughter divided by long buried secrets, struggling to understand each other as they forge their own paths.
1978: A scholarship draws Nancy from Gambia’s warmth into Stockholm’s frigid winter. When her friendship with charismatic scholar Lars blossoms into something more, she thinks she may have finally found her place. But there’s more to Lars than his charming persona, and Nancy is about to discover the danger of being drawn into his world…
2006: Tina has had her taste of fame as Sweden’s sweetheart pop princess, representing her country at Eurovision. But beneath her glittery façade, she’s uncertain who she really is. Her mother, Nancy, seems desperate to keep the past under wraps, but will the unexpected appearance of Tina’s father—a man she has long thought dead—help open the door to self-discovery?
Nancy just wants to protect her daughter from making the same mistakes she did, but Tina longs for the freedom to mess up, knowing her mother will always be there to support her. The two women love each other unconditionally, but can they learn to trust each other as well?
This poignant novel delves deep into the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters and delivers a warm, heartfelt story of love, forgiveness, and women finding their voices.
About the Author
Nigerian-American Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström is an award-winning travel writer, speaker, photographer, and author of the international bestseller In Every Mirror She’s Black and Everything Is Not Enough. She is based in Stockholm.
About the Conversation Partner
Wanda M. Morris is the acclaimed author of All Her Little Secrets, which has been praised by Karin Slaughter as “brilliantly nuanced.” It was named as one of the “Best Books of 2021” by Hudson Booksellers and selected as the #1 Top Pick for “Library Reads” by librarians across the country. All Her Little Secrets won the 2022 Lefty Award for Best Debut Mystery Novel and was a Finalist for 2022 Georgia Author of the Year for Best First Novel. All Her Little Secrets has been optioned for a limited television series, starring and executive produced by three-time Emmy winner Uzo Aduba.
Her second book, Anywhere You Run, was named One of the Top Ten Crime Fiction Books of 2022 by The New York Times. It was also longlisted for the prestigious Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Prize. Anywhere You Run received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and Library Journal. It was named one of the Best Books of 2022 by NPR and Publishers Weekly. Anywhere You Run won the 2023 Anthony and Lefty Awards for Best Historical Novel as well as the 2023 Georgia Author of the Year for Best Mystery. It was also nominated for the Strand Critics Award, the Macavity Award, and the ITW Thriller Award.
Wanda’s latest book, What You Leave Behind, has also received critical acclaim, including being nominated for a 2025 NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction. It has received starred reviews from both Library Journal and Booklist, with the latter stating, “Morris displays an astonishing mastery of multiple literary forms… this tale is ominous at first, full blown at the finish.” It has also received stellar reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly. It has been featured in People Magazine, Us Weekly, Woman’s World Magazine, The Washington Post, The Denver Post, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, and The South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Wanda is a former corporate lawyer, married, the mother of three and lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
The event is free and open to all people, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event.
Charis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking, two ramps, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website.
In-person event guidelines:
- All attendees must wear a face mask during the event.
- We will begin seating people at 7:00 PM ET.
- This event will be live-streamed via Crowdcast. Register at the link above to attend virtually.
- As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event.
If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations, please contact [email protected] or call the store at 404-524-0304.
Please contact us at [email protected] or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions at https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/10538231?hl=en. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don't hesitate to reach out to [email protected].
By attending our event, whether in person or virtually, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email [email protected].