Book Review: The Poppy Field Diary by Carey Richard

by Carey Richard
Narrator: Susanna Burney
Published by Bonhoeffer Publishing on 11-30-15
Genres: Fiction, Historical, Literary
Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
Format: Audiobook
Source: Author
Buy on Amazon/Audible
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Silver Medalist 2015 Independent Publishers Awards

Book of the Year Finalist 2014 Foreword Reviews

Finalist 2015 Indie Excellence Book Awards

Semi-Finalist 2015 Kindle Book Awards

Mississippi Library Association 2015 Fiction Award

From award winning author Carey Richard comes his debut literary fiction - a compelling journey through the beautiful fields of the human heart. Kirkus Reviews describes it as, "A highly personal story that mines the psychology of betrayal and forgiveness..."

Afghanistan was a beautiful land until greed and ambition pillaged its fertile valleys. She was beautiful, too. Betrayed and broken, she journeyed through 40 years of nomadic longing as her picturesque village disintegrated along with her hope. Unlike her beloved land, she at last discovered her place of rest.

Though she remains unnamed, her Poppy Field Diary is a story for everyone who has ever loved. We dream, we hope, and we fall in love, only to hurt the thing we cherish most. But a few rare and beautiful relationships survive that lonely journey through the minefields of passion to discover intimacy, kindness, and forgiveness.

I was provided a free copy of this book in audio format from the author in exchange for an honest review.

This book narrates the life of a woman in Afghanistan. She is the daughter of an atypical marriage, since her father was French. Her mother has inculcated in her the value of love and this will be the goal for this woman. This is a book about dreams, hope, and love.

The story starts in the 60’s, when this woman meets her future husband Emir, and she dreams of how her life will become. Things start to get complicated for Afghanistan and this woman, and her search for true love will only lead to broken dreams. Only in accepting what she has got she will find new hope.

This is one of the most beautiful books I have read this year, and my favorite so far. The story is beautifully told, with many flashbacks and enough background information. It is narrated in first person and we often suffer about how life is treating her. Born of a mixed marriage, she got a glimpse into the Western culture, and her dreams will not fit in her own cultural reality. For us, it may seem a foreign world, but we see that in her own heart it is also for her.

But this is not only this woman’s story, but also about her country. We witness the changes in Afghanistan in the last 40 years, and how the land gets broken, and how things change under different rulers. Carey Richard has written a wonderful piece of history along with a story about love, grief and loss.

There is no name given to the woman in this story because the book is written in first person like a personal diary, and in fact, this could have been the story of any woman in Afghanistan, despite her different origins.

The narration was also beautifully done. Susanna Burney really becomes this Afghan woman, and her subtle accent makes it believable. It would have been a five-star narration if it were not for the occasional mouth-clicking noises that could have been edited out.

I really enjoyed this book and how it was narrated. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a well-written book with the added value of an extraordinary narration.

 

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