Review of The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick

Nikki Erlick explores grief, loss, family conflicts, strangers' bonds, and sticky moral dilemmas related to a speculative-fiction scientific advancement, which allows certain grieving individuals to enter into a free, weeks-long induced sleep and emerge with a lessened sense of sadness--but which can carry its own devastating cost.

A mysterious therapy center lies in the California desert, and its services are free, but they're only accessible to those who are desperately sad and who are able to pass a rigorous application process.

The treatment available allows those who are grieving or coping with tragedy to soften their emotions and emerge better able to function without debilitating sorrow. But participation requires traveling to California, consenting to receiving mysterious, purportedly helpful injections while unconscious, and being put to sleep for a matter or weeks or months. The process is new, somewhat under the radar, often controversial and, for some, carries the potential side effect of losing all emotion around the loss--which can cause a different level of loss and another layer of sadness, particularly for other friends and family members who want to share the load of memory and grief around a loved one who is gone.

After a canceled flight, a carload of people head on a cross-country journey to the "poppy fields," as the facility is nicknamed, but each has a different goal in reaching their destination, and not everyone is being forthcoming about their reasons for going. One had their application to the fields rejected, one is a hopeful participant, one lost a brother after he spent time there...and one is sisters with the CEO and founder of the system.

I enjoy a novel about imagined near-future advancements, and the Poppy Fields's founder delves into moral dilemmas while also--in a realistic successful-scientist's conflict--considers the benefit of providing a free service while needing extensive funds to advance research or expand facilities.

The exploration of loss and grief was a particular highlight for me. Many of the novel's characters seek escape from the painful, messy path through grief, while others--some, belatedly--acknowledge that the terrible sadness of sitting with a loss is part of acknowledging how much someone has meant to them and is a necessary part of living after the death of a loved one. (Check out the links below to Bossy reviews of other titles about mortality, grief, and loss.)

The characters' back stories aren't exactly what they initially seem, and I appreciated the added depth Erlick builds for each of the protagonists. The bond between the travelers was heartwarming, and they surprise each other and themselves with the roles they play in each other's emotional journeys.

I listened to The Poppy Fields as an audiobook, which I received courtesy of Libro.fm and William Morrow. (You can link to and benefit independent booksellers when you buy audiobooks through Libro.fm!)

More Books about Mortality and Loss

Erlick is also the author of The Measure.

For more books that explore mortality, please check out these lists and titles, and please check out the links here for more books that address grief and loss.