The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick is her second novel. The premise of the novel is that people who are grieving and struggling to move on can be put to sleep for a month or two and when they wake up, the grief has lessened and they can live their life. The center where all this takes place is deep within the desert of California and is considered ground breaking. Unfortunately it is also possible that you will lose all emotional connections with the person that you are grieving. (It happens about ¼ of the time.)
There are 5 characters that the story goes between. Ava, Ray, Sasha, Sky and the dog PJ. Through a series of events, the four end up in a car driving to California – each for a different reason. At the end of the journey is Ellis (although we meet her much earlier) the woman who came up with the facility and presently runs it.
The book looks at grief and how people grieve for those who are gone. I think the journey toward The Poppy Fields is interesting, especially in how they deal with each other. I liked how the characters were able to be supportive to each other. However, I didn’t feel the powerful reaction to grief as I expected. I also struggled to get into the book. However, it is clear to me that one of the results the author is expecting us to take in is that everyone grieves in their own way and it is the journey through the grief that allows you to learn to live with grief.
The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick is an interesting read, but does not feel as emotional as I expected.
