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Title: Many rewards await the discerning reader
Review: 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.
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