Smoking Poppy : A Novel [Paperback]

Graham Joyce (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 18, 2003

Graham Joyce

travels to an enthralling, suspense-charged landscape in this hallucinatory novel of a father's quest to save his daughter -- without destroying himself.

Dan Innes has received shattering news from the British Embassy in Bangkok: his daughter, Charlie, whom he hasn't seen or spoken to in two years, has been imprisoned in a Thai jail for drug smuggling. Angry, terrified, seething with reprimands and questions, Dan leaves for Thailand. But the jail at Chiang Mai marks the beginning of his search rather than the end. Following the faintest of trails up into the lawless, dangerous mountain region near Myanmar, where opium grows abundantly, Dan must retrace Charlie's steps -- and brave the same traps that have swallowed her...on a terrifying mission of self-discovery, blind faith, and salvation.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

A father, separated from his wife and estranged from Charlie, the daughter he doted on, is abruptly informed that Charlie is being held in a Thai prison on a smuggling charge that could carry a death sentence. To Dan, intelligent, well read, and working class, there is no choice but to go rescue her. With Mick, his pub friend, and Phil, his evangelical Christian son, they make a motley trio, earnest and grossly unprepared, and they discover not Charlie in prison but a girl who has stolen her passport. Foolishly, bravely, they secure a guide and head into the jungle to Charlie's last-known location. They do find her, as well as drug dealers, honorable peasants, local sorcerers, and thugs, and they also confront aspects of themselves never before experienced. This is a mixed bag of a book, part thriller, part male- bonding story, and part father's revelation, that ultimately explores how far people will go, and what demons they will face, to save who and what they love. Danise Hoover
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Jonathan Lethem I won't say that Graham Joyce deserves to find a wide audience in America; rather I think the American audience deserves to find him.

Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Sharp, short, and terrifying...Surprisingly moving...a thoroughly frightening and foreign adventure.

The Times (London) Vividly imagined...[A] journey to redemption...described with unsentimental conviction and a sure narrative touch.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Washington Square Press (March 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671039407
• ISBN-13: 978-0671039400
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #841,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thriller with heart, March 13, 2003

By 

Anna Klein - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smoking Poppy : A Novel (Hardcover)

Dan Innes's little girl, Charlie, is now an adult with a mind of her own. And she's in a Thailand prison. Even though she never turns to her daddy for help anymore, when he hears she could get the death penalty it never occurs to him not to rush to her aid. Leaving behind his intellectual but empty life in London, Dan takes his pub buddy, Mick, and his fanatically Christian son, Phil, and sets out on the long journey to find his daughter. Instead, he finds the girl who stole her passport. Desperate now, he and his buddy and son hire guides to help them follow Charlie's trail in what turns out to be a grueling trek into the wilderness near Myanmar, where they encounter a wild, surreal world of spells and spirits and opium that will either split them apart forever ... or bring them back together.

In SMOKING POPPY, Graham Joyce has done an excellent job of handling both the psychological and spiritual issues mysteriously yet honestly. This book is a striking portrayal of a father's unconditional love for his children (and his children's unfailing desire to protect him). Nothing here is portrayed as right or wrong beyond the demands of loyalty. More than a thriller, more than a family novel, SMOKING POPPY seamlessly weaves the two genres together into a painful, amusing, and unnerving tale of love and violence in the exotically dangerous Asian jungle.

If you have trouble with slightly far-out spirituality, you may have trouble with this story, but if you're interested in a seriously disturbed literary trip, SMOKING POPPY will definitely deliver.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Joyce deserves to become better known, March 25, 2002

By 

"gmesa" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smoking Poppy : A Novel (Hardcover)

I am a big fan of some of Joyce's dark fantasy novels, in particular THE TOOTH FAIRY and REQUIEM. SMOKING POPPY is being marketed as Joyce's second "suspense" novel (after last year's appalling INDIGO). Joyce makes a welcome comeback here in a suspenseful yet moving tale about family ties, self-discovery and the lengths to which parents will go for their children. Although the fantastical element is not present to the same extent as in the novels mentioned above, it still makes a subtle appearance. Joyce deserves greater recognition.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Many rewards await the discerning reader, May 1, 2003

By 

David M. Gordon (Summerlin, NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Smoking Poppy : A Novel (Hardcover)

SMOKING POPPY is a daedal novel, and the Booklist précis is all the plot summary a reader requires to 'take a whiff'. What that review does not share is how Graham Joyce has managed to update a familiar tale (Conrad's HEART of DARKNESS) and, in the process, completely and ravishingly made it his own.

The plot, the graceful (writerly) style, the characters - each a 'person in full', although Dan Innes, the novel's core protagonist, really shines. Moreover, there is the novel's sub-text: Graham Joyce has important insights to share about our relationships with each other -- parent:child(ren), child:parent, friend:friend, lover:lover, etc. And that is not the end of the treasure trove Joyce has gifted us; many rewards await the discerning reader.

SMOKING POPPY has so much to say and says it so well. Recommended.