Golden Poppies: A Novel (Yellow Crocus Book 3)

I wanted to wait to write a review until I finished reading the entire series. I enjoyed each book and became very attached to these characters. Injustice and unspeakable treatment of slaves before, during and after the Civil War was horrifying. Yet through these stories, Mattie’s family and Lisabeth’s were intertwined from the moment they were brought together as slave nursing a newborn baby in the Big House as Mattie was forced to leave her newborn son in the quarters. Mattie showed unbelievable courage to escape with her baby girl on her back after her husband and son escaped to Ohio. With the help of the Underground Railroad through a harrowing journey, she eventually rejoined her family. Through the generations they held close to hope and their unwavering faith for a better life for themselves and all colored people. There was much love and strength, sadness and loss between these families, black and white, where circumstances kept bringing them together. We’ve come a long way since the 1800’s but not far enough. We still have a long way to go for equality for all Americans. May we continue to plant the seeds of hope for a better life for all!

This was a great ending to a trio of well written booksNow we know how it ends and we are one race under one God

I found the history very interesting and a page turner! Following the families in the series, I felt like I was living in their lives! I highly recommenced it!

This book was a lot of words without a lot of plot. Sadie was unfortunately boring, her story dragging out for ages without going anywhere. Heinrich was an odd choice, and there was no indication of abuse in the earlier part of the story, but suddenly dropped in at the end without any real reason other than to provide impetus for Sadie to leave. I just don’t think Sadie’s actions match her character from the previous book. She was energetic, inquisitive, and challenging as a child, but suddenly she becomes a shrinking violet as an adult until she decides to leave, and even then just kind of absconds. Jordan’s story is equally boring. There were very dramatic events in the world going on in all three of these books, but what we are left with is internal monologues and bored characters. Is the story realistic, sure. I’m sure there were many women who felt and reacted this way at the time. But this is a novel, not a history book. So at some point there has to be some plot and interest to keep it moving forward. This just wasn’t it.

This is a beautiful story of two families linked together by love and shared tragedy. It explains why race relations in America are so strained. The black community has been discounted forever. They have been ignored, abused, disenfranchised and had their hearts broken. All of need to learn that God has a purpose for everyone. He created us equal and lives us all the same. Race is not a consideration.The historical account of the events in the Gilded Age are weaved into the story with great skill.This is a book that should be read by everyone.

Jordan was born in slavery. Her mother was the wet nurse to Lisbeth, a white baby who loved Mattie more than her own mother. Jordan and Lisbeth are linked but live in different worlds. After the Civil War, Lisbeth has the luxury of hoping the world has become a better place. Jordan knows that her children still live in a world where the color of their skin puts them at a disadvantage at best; in danger at worst. The birth of a baby brings them all together. The story is rich with anguish, fear, understanding, the fellowship of women, and love. Don't miss this story.

I loved the first two books in this series (Yellow Crocus and Mustard Seed), so I was excited to read Golden Poppies. The relationship between two Civil War era families, one white and one black has been an interesting premise for the series, but the third book fell flat for me. It was a very slow because nothing happened. IMO it was just a lot of useless dialogue. I enjoyed the author’s historical perspective on life after the Civil War, especially for freed slaves. Another very interesting bit of history was the Pullman Strike, a widespread railroad strike and boycott that severely disrupted rail traffic in the Midwest in June–July 1894. That’s why I love historical fiction—I always learn something new. Another aspect of the book I really appreciated was the family tree at the front. There were so many characters that I just couldn’t remember who went with which family. The book would have been better if it had a more singular focus. Was it about race or women’s suffrage? Dual storylines can be effective, but there wasn’t a strong enough connection between the two in this case. Overall, the writing wasn’t as strong as Yellow Crocus—which I adored. The author used peculiar phraseology, almost as if she is not a native English speaker. For example: “A wave of sorrow traveled down Sadie’s back.” What? A shiver can physically run down the spine, but sorrow? Hmmm. Golden Poppies was good, but not great. 3 stars.

I read Laila Ibrahim's 'Yellow Crocus' several years ago and found it really enjoyable. When I spotted that one of this month's Amazon Prime First Reads was another of her books, I grabbed it without hesitation. When I realised it was a continuation of the 'Yellow Crocus' characters, I was even happier with my choice - although I have to admit I did read the whole thing without realising I'd missed the volume that goes between 'Yellow Crocus' and 'Golden Poppies'. The great thing is that I didn't need to have read 'Mustard Seed' (the middle book) or to have any detailed memory of 'Yellow Crocus' in order to enjoy this one.If you ask me "Can I read this without reading the others?" I'd say you can, but you might get a bit more context if you've read at least one of the previous books.In 'Yellow Crocus' Ibrahim took on the issues of slavery and the ownership and abuse of other human beings. Time has passed and 'Golden Poppies' is set in the late 1800s, at a time when slavery is no more, but prejudice is still rife. It focuses on the cross-racial relationships and friendships of the two families descended from Mattie the black slave-woman who was wet nurse to Lisbeth, the slave-owner's daughter. Younger generations come to the fore in this book and themes include the campaign for women's rights, and the campaign to prevent the lynching of black men. We're also introduced to wage inequality between the races, 'passing off', and domestic abuse between experienced by the characters.As a Brit reading about the campaign for Universal Sufferage in the USA, I'm at a disadvantage because the historical characters are not so familiar to me as they would be if the book were set in my home country. I may, therefore, miss some of the significance of the famous characters introduced, but that didn't stop my enjoyment. I really like Laila Ibrahim's style of writing and her willingness to take on controversial story-lines and put her characters through the wringer in sometimes extreme ways.I now REALLY need to go back and read Mustard Seed.

Having already read both of the preceding books in this series, I was intrigued to see how life progressed for the characters who had grabbed my attention and interest in them. I was not disappointed in the least, and found it particularly appropriate to be following the fight of women in America to obtain the right to vote, and, at the same time, the fight of African Americans to achieve any degree of equality following the official end of slavery. What is equally sad is that, at this very time, so many years on from when the novel is set, people in the US and elsewhere are still being treated as second class citizens, despite having officially obtained equality long ago. In my teenage years, when we marched against apartheid and for Civil Rights and Women's Liberation, none of us would have dreamt that we would still be fighting the same battle 50 years on. Yet, there is hope in this work, as what always strikes me is that it is only in getting to know and understand people of all nationalities, creeds and colours, that we can ever overcome our fears and preconceptions, and Leila Ibrahim's characters exemplify how this change is brought about.

There is quite a bit of that but at least it’s not all ‘he said’ ‘she said’ like most books seem to be these days. Having made that point, the book isn’t bad, it’s just not me. If you like romantic westerns then you’ll love this one all about the inter-relationships between a black family and a white family not so long after the American civil war when prejudices were still rife as they are today in some parts of the world. Racial purity is as old as mankind himself. Ever since one cave man converted what his more prosperous neighbour had and decided that neighbour was inferior to himself so he started a feud has there been a drive towards racial purity and on that basis is born prejudices. There are other factors too but that’s certainly one of them. how dare an inferior race think himself superior just because he has what somebody else wants? Anyway, this book is set against the backdrop of change. There’s a good deal of info dumping too which is really off-putting but i get why it’s there. Some people might not know the basis for some remarks but still, it’s really not the kind of book I’d read but it was an Amazon first reads choice so I took it. It’s just too sickly sweet for my taste.

This is a decent story, if a little confusing in terms of the secondary characters and their relationships to and with each other and the main characters.Given what's going on in the USA at the moment it's always useful to get further historical context to underlying issues. I felt that this book could have explored further the reasons for the failure of US society to integrate fully, a problem which hasn't diminished over 150 years after the end of the Civil War.Incidentally, I probably would have given this book 4 stars, possibly 3 1/2, but decided not to do so because of (spoiler alert) the casual racism expressed towards Sadie's husband. His appalling behaviour is explained by saying "he's German" which is just as unacceptable as any other form of discrimination. The character is a deeply unpleasant and flawed individual; his being German or otherwise has no bearing.

I enjoyed it but not as much as her other books. I absolutely loved Yellow Crocus and Mustard Seed but found this rather slow and because it's a while since I read them, it wasn't until the "willow tree incident" was mentioned that I realised it was a follow on! I may well in the future read them all again, and hopefully enjoy this one more. She is an excellent writer and I look forward to reading. whatever she writes next!!