Author: Caroline Kellems
Publisher: Grand Canyon Press
Thank you to A Library Thing for this book.

Caroline Kellems writes a wonderful book about a family who moves to Guatamala to become missionaries.

Phil decides to go to Guatemala to be a missionary. Phil, Katherine and the kids pack up everything and move to Guatemala from comfortable Indiana. Katherine and the kids must now learn to adapt to this whole new lifestyle which is not very easy. As Phil and Katherine set out to spread the work of GOD and all doesn’t go as planned. Their house is broken into and then they end up moving to another house. This new house seems so wonderful in the beginning but after a while they realized how sinister it really is.

This is their story of a new life of adventure, love, loyalty and human relationships.
Caroline Kellem, who also happens to live in Guatamala, has written a beautiful book and the descriptions of Guatemala are fantastic. If you are a spiritual person this book is for you. ( )

I wanted to like this book so much. I was hopeful after reading the author's bio. She obviously is familiar with the area and has respect for the culture and people who live in Mexico and Guatemala. The history of the Highland people in Guatemala has been suffused with violence and terror since the early 1980s to the present. I was even initially confused about what time period we were looking at because the main characters seemed oblivious to the history and culture of the area. The missionary husband assumed he could migrate his middle-class non-Spanish-speaking family with no money, land the plane and convert the local people to their evangelical faith? No Poisonwood Bible here. But maybe enough for the description of marriage and divorce fiction.
The book has also been described as Hispanic/American literature, and a mystery/thriller. This book is a mystery and a thriller. I wanted to know the fate of this family under the control of a Mexican drug trafficker. So as far as that storyline went, I was entertained.
As for Hispanic American literature, I wouldn't call it that. The novel reads like Romance with a capital R. Setting a love story in the midst of an area that has been fraught with 50 years of violence and terror affecting indigenous people of the Guatemalan highlands for the last 50 years between a naïve wife of a clueless pastor and a sauve drug trafficker who kills anyone who gets in his way does not make Hispanic literature in my view. Nor even a convincing love story. There just wasn't enough depth to earn a convincing, love relationship. The clash of values was just too great. Which ironically made the end of this novel that read like YA fiction, a successful bowtie ending. ( )

I enjoyed Katherine's evolving relationship with Phil and her personal growth. Through her efforts to help the local people, challenges with Phil's strong religious stance and relationship with Alfonso, Katherine emerged as a strong woman. ( )

The Poppy Field is a captivating story of religion, crime, deceit, and family. In my opinion, the book goes through slow periods that don't do much for the plot, but overall, this is a fun read with twists and turns. I personally had a hard time connecting with some of the characters, which made it hard to root for them in the plot. Generally, the family story and sibling connection is fun to read about and similar to many family dynamics. It did feel like the plot built and built for an epic climax, but when we finally reached the peak of the story, things were resolved quickly and without much explanation. MY favorite parts of the books were the parts related to crime, mystery, the drug trade, and subtle hints of deception and trickery. I did not connect with the religious messaging and did find it a bit off putting. Overall, this book definitely appeals to people looking for a religious, crime romance dynamic with twists and lots of imagery. ( )

I got this book from early reviewers. I was concerned the idiot Americans wouldn’t receive any repercussions for their idiocy, and surprise surprise they didn’t.

First off, you don’t learn any of the language before moving to a foreign country, and you don’t learn about the culture, and ESPECIALLY the religion* you are clearly easy targets for any kind of manipulation.

This book was predictable, and sadly, even more unfortunate, hurtful to women. I’m disappointed the female presenting author would equate unhappiness with infidelity, especially a woman who was written to be a faithful person.

The conclusion to the story is what you expect, but what I find interesting is there was no afterward. But being that the characters don’t think more than one second ahead of themselves I doubt the characters would have any reconciliation to their actions after Guatemala either.

Also, if there would be time to effect change on this story — the title is a HUGE giveaway to the ending. It doesn’t make that much sense for the story as it is presented.

*(No one wants religious bigots moving to their world. I hated this premise. Once I changed the nutty religious idiot father to some carpenter, and ignored the Jesus stuff, it got better.) ( )