Finally, a self-help book
that won't ask you to ‘manifest’ your way out of racism.
Whether describing an existential body image crisis in a Bikram yoga studio, embracing anxiety during a Black Madonna pilgrimage, or reclaiming Yoruba mythology and the Divine Feminine, debut author Hannah Eko connects her singular life to the universal truths of peace, power, and pleasure in her first collection.
Equally a work of provocative cultural criticism, a disruptor of the self-help genre, and a personal journey of self-discovery, Honey Is the Knife is an initiation into a life of happy contradiction, where we thank our failures, dance with our pain, and where honey is the only knife we need.
Praise for Honey Is the Knife…
“Spiritual, carnal, erudite, and exquisitely original, Honey Is the Knife is a balm and a treasure, a luminous book to be savored. Hannah Eko’s deep love for Black women imbues every line. She wants the best for us, wants us to be pleasure-centered. And for those of us who need a map to get there, Eko is that gentle, vulnerable guide walking alongside us in these pages. I am smarter, more compassionate with myself, and more in awe of myself, for having read this beautiful book.”
—Deesha Philyaw, National Book Award Finalist & PEN Faulkner Award winning author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
“Honey Is the Knife is an anthem for Black women. Eko incisively and generously shares her journey and wisdom on loving one's self and sharing just how she has arrived to centering pleasure, self-care, and truth telling. A well-researched feast, full of insights about colorism, feminism, alternative modes of healing, and spirituality. This book is the perfect gift for sisters, friends, lovers, and aunties who need a salve in these trying moments. Honest and illuminating!”
-Angie Cruz, author of Soledad, Let It Rain Coffee, and the YA/ALSA winning novel Dominicana
“Hannah Eko’s sparkling debut, Honey Is the Knife, is part homage, part resistance, part love letter, and part road map from bounded to unbounded Black woman thinking. At its core is Osun, the Yoruba goddess and how the goddess can inspire daughters of the diaspora. Eko has assembled a multifaceted anti-self-help manifesto that reconsiders and reconfigures a popular and problematic genre. It’s an earnest and vulnerable work written in service of what Angela Davis has called “freedom practice.” Influential luminaries like bell hooks, Ntozake Shange, and Sojourner Truth (to name a few) inform Eko’s book, which honors her ancestors and holds its own, leading the way for a new generation. Do not let this sweetness pass you by!”
—Yona Harvey, poet, Kate Tufts Discovery award winner, and author of Hemming the Water and You Don’t Have To Go To Mars for Love
“Honey Is the Knife is an intricately fashioned, profoundly moving book. In this work, Hannah Eko presents a collection of nonfiction that you'll want to sit with for days, savoring the nuance and wonder of every word. The language is toothy and raw and it is a special thing to find a writer so gifted and committed to expressing the self. Eko does this skillfully, carefully; with exacting precision. Honey Is the Knife is astounding and Hannah Eko is a phenomenal writer.”
—Kristen Arnett, New York Times best selling writer and author of Mostly Dead Things & With Teeth: A Novel