Mattie’s daughter Jordan, and her granddaughter Naomi continued to monitor Mattie as she slipped closer to death. When she expressed a wish to see Lisbeth once more, Jordan sent a letter with her son Malcolm who was a porter on the Pullman train that crossed coast to coast. When Lisbeth learned of her beloved Mattie’s ill-health, she and her daughter Sadie bought tickets and boarded the Pullman train to Chicago. Four days later they arrived and while Mattie lingered longer than they’d thought, they all stayed by her side until the end.

It was the 1890s and Sadie lived in Oakland, California with her husband Heinrich. Jordan and her two children also headed for Oakland once Mattie had passed on, a dream they’d been going to follow while Mattie was alive. The trip on the Pullman train had been delayed because of strikes, but eventually they all arrived, with Sadie returning with more than she’d taken...

Mattie and Lisbeth had a long history, now Jordan and Sadie had the same ties that bound them together. With trouble on the horizon for the families, along with the racial divide and political agendas, Sadie and Lisbeth would need Jordan and her family more than ever before.

Golden Poppies is the 3rd in the Yellow Crocus series by Laila Ibrahim and once again I loved it. I’d only read #1, Yellow Crocus when I saw Golden Poppies was due out, so I bought and read #2 Mustard Seed before this one. A huge benefit I think, because without the years passing and the main characters growing from children through to middle and old age in this book, the benefit would not be achieved. The characters are so well defined with great depths – so much so that I feel I know them now. I’m really hoping there’ll be a book #4 as I’d love to continue reading about these people. Poignant and intriguing, I recommend the series highly.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first encounter with Laila Ibrahim's work - i didnt realise that this is a part of a trilogy: Yellow Crocus, Mustard Seed and Golden Poppies.
However, I read this as a stand alone book but felt that it would have been better if I had read the preceding books, just to link the characters and their relationships.

The writing was wonderfully rich, Laila writes with such conviction and the characters are highly believable. The story tells of Jordan (black) and Sadie (white) who have little in common except that Sadie's mother was nursed by Jordans mother. It is on Mattie (Jordans' mother) deathbed that we read about the reunion between the characters and their personal battles.

I really enjoyed Golden Poppies - but I will go away and read the first two novels and then Golden Poppies again.

1894 and two families one white one black lead very different lives. Decades ago they were united in one household but marriage and domesticity have pushed them thousands of miles apart. The bonds of deep friendship, loyalty and love remain and that topic is one that was well enshrined throughout the story.

The other sad highlight is the racism that existed then and sadly more than a century later still exists today. Segregation was severe and the rules and laws existed to keep the black people of the country down and to make sure they stayed down. That more rebellions did not happen seems very strange because it was so obviously racist and mean and horrible.

The story is apart from highlighting the injustices of society then, was also about the intense loyalty and feelings that the two families had for each other despite the divide.

It was a solid emotional read for me.

I started the novel "Golden Poppies" by Laila Ibrahim knowing that it was the third in a series but thinking I could probably read it as a stand-alone novel. I was correct!

"Golden Poppies” is the tale of two women, one Black and one white, and their families' relationships to one another before and during the tale end of the 1800's. It is a historical novel of women who believe that things can be different in the United States, and who "desperately want to believe that the ugliness of the past is behind [them]" and and yearn to "move past doubting that we can be one nation with liberties equally given", a timeless theme indeed.....

It craftily weaves through historical moments and topics (devoting more time to some than others) such as the Pullman strikes and the legacy of Black Pullman porters, the imperialism of Hawaii, racism within both the suffragist movement and Chicago’s Columbian exposition, racial passing and anti-miscegenation laws. It features actual historical figures Ida B. Wells, Frederick Douglas, Francis Ellen Watkins Harper and Susan B. Anthony, which I thought was neat.

If you’re looking for a little post-Reconstruction history lesson to remind you of how Black Americans continued to struggle against systemic racism in the decades after the Civil War, but don’t want to read non-fiction, give this one a go. It lead me to a lot of interesting Google searches about things I never knew and things I had long forgotten. It is an easy read that seems pretty well-researched and paints a picture of life in Oakland, California at the very end of the 19th century. I enjoyed it for the nods to US History, a subject I've been thinking about quite a bit lately.

A brilliantly written book! When I first requested this from Lake Union I did not notice it was from a series. I followed along just fine but I know this would probably have been a 5 star book had I read the whole series and been wholeheartedly invested in the characters. This book follows two families. One black and one white. They have ties from a Plantation in Virginia but have now moved to Oakland, California. It is an emotional but inspiring story. The two family's bind was powerful and loving.

I will most certainly read, "The Yellow Crocus" and "Mustard Seed" by this author. I would like to kindly thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for granting me access to this Advanced Reader Copy.

Laila Ibrahim brings her characters to life with this post civil war book that still rings true today. As our nation continues to fight for the rights of ALL people; men, women, black, white, brown this historical fiction novel reminds us that while we've come a long way we still have a very long way to go.

What an appropriate time to read this book. With everything going on in the world related to race, it was amazing to read a book set in the late 1800's where race and women's rights were being fought for. How amazing that over 100 years later, some of these same issues are being fought today. I appreciated reading this and feeling angry for Sadie, a white women with a man who was very traditional in his views on how a household should be run and also following Jordan and Naomi fighting for women's rights, equal pay and being able to have the same rights as white people. I definitely recommend reading this one.

This is a historical fiction novel set in the late 1800s in post-Civil War America. It follows two families whose lives have been interwoven for years since they first met on a plantation in Virginia. Lisbeth's parents were the owners of the plantation and Mattie was a slave who became her wet nurse. Lisbeth's bond with Mattie as she grew up outweighed the bond she had with her own parents and when they parted ways, they never forgot one another. Years later, when Mattie's makes a wish from her deathbed to see Lisbeth just one more time the women and their adult children are reunited. This book tackles issues such as race, divorce and women's suffrage.

Golden Poppies is the third book in the Yellow Crocus series. I haven't read either Yellow Crocus or Mustard Seed but this book can absolutely be read as a standalone. I will be picking the first two up soon as I am eager to spend more time with these characters.

This cover is beautiful. It is the sole reason that I clicked on this title and requested it. I would suggest a cover redesign of the first two books to match this one as they are not as striking in my opinion.

Thank you, #NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Golden Poppies, by Laila Ibrahim, continues in 1894, about 25 years after the second book in the series, A Mustard Seed, leaves off. Both the Freedman and Johnson families end up in Oakland, California. I don't know if this book concludes the series, but it certainly seems as if there is much more to these families' stories and I look forward to another installment, if Ms. Ibrahim plans to write another novel in the series. I appreciate how the author weaves in historical events and shows how the characters, both black and white, were impacted by these events. She explores the dynamics of race relations, in general, and how it relates to these particular families. One of the more interesting relationships in the series has been between Lisbeth and Jordan, as they both share Mattie as a maternal figure, but only Jordan is her actual daughter, while Mattie was the house slave that nursed Lisbeth. I have sensed a tension tinged with respect between the two women. The women lose their common bond of Mattie in this novel, but they realize that their relationship survives even after Mattie passes. While this novel continues to explore the different experiences between blacks and whites in the 19th century United States, it also further explores the experiences of women as they also strove for rights and freedoms. One of the key issues was women's suffrage, but also issues of infertility, loss and grief, and sexual and physical abuse were explored. I liked how the novel showed the events and desires that were the same for these women, while also making it clear that how these events were experienced might be very different because of racial injustices. This is a very thought-provoking novel, and series, and I recommend it for anyone interested in exploring these issues, while also following the saga of two families.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the Reader's Copy!

Set in the early 19th century Oakland California, Laila Ibrahim's "Golden Poppies" is an excavation of race, gender and privilege as we follow the adventures of the Wagoner women. Though Sadie Wagoner is a white woman of considerable means and Jordan Wallace is a Black schoolteacher in Chicago, they have more in common than either realize. As Sadie grapples with her families' intricate history with slavery in the South, Jordan learns to trust in her long lost cousin.

Boy did this novel make me tired. Tired to the very core. Jordan and Naomi and all the wonderful Black characters in this novel carried the plotline on their shoulders, from providing medical care to Sadie in her time of need to sheltering her from her abusive husband to feeding her mother in her old age. And, as Jordan astutely notes early on in the book, even though the Wallace family is no longer slaves, they are still serving the needs of the Wagoner family. I'm also tired of the narrative of innocent, dewey eyed white women suddenly waking up one day and "realizing" racism is a thing. Sadie and her mother grew up on a literal plantation. They cannot be blind to the perils of the Wallace family, especially if they call them family. It's exhausting.

Well written, dramatic historical retelling, just might be too tired of the same narratives repeating themselves over and over again.

I liked this book very much. It´s the third book in the Yellow Seeds series, but can be read as a stand-alone.

The story of Lisbeth and Mattie, one black, one white, continues in Jordan and Sadie and their families. Depicted by them alternately, it shows the story of women and of black people at the end of the 19th century, It touches a variety of topics, including racism, passing, sexism and suffrage, but also general problems of people with their families.

Well written and researched, I liked the overall relations of various women among the gaps of race and social status. Though they can´t always find their goals in life, they are staying together and helping eachother out.

Looking forward to reading the first two books, and hope the story will continue!

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lovely book. It helps, I think to have read the two earlier books in the series so that you can fully appreciate the characters but even if you're reading it as standalone, know that you'll find the women fascinating. An excellent read.

This is the third book in the Yellow Seeds series. Each book follows two women, one Black and one White. This story continues through the eyes of their daughters. I would recommend them for anyone who has an interest in American history.

I'd love to say that 'Golden Poppies', a novel about the barriers faced by black Americans in the late 19th century, depicts attitudes and challenges no longer present in today's world. Whilst things might have moved on somewhat, the events in June 2020 - when this novel was coincidentally published - demonstrate that they have not done so nearly enough. The novel tells of two families, one white, one black, whose lives are intertwined. I didn't realise it was a sequel until I read the acknowledgements at the end. I don't think it mattered that I hadn't read the predecessors, although it does explain why the exciting-sounding events referred to occasionally by the characters were never expanded upon.

The characters are introduced at the deathbed of Mattie, matriarch of the black family and a former slave. The white child she was a nursemaid to - now a middle aged woman - travels across the USA to be with her, accompanied by her daughter. Mattie's own daughter and granddaughter are present too, and the bonds of friendship and love between the four younger women are strengthened over the events of the following weeks and months.

Racism is an important theme in the book and it's a timely read. The black characters face barriers that the white characters never have to consider. Everything in their lives is that bit harder for them, and they live with a degree of fear and uncertainty that the white characters do not, simply on grounds of their skin colour. As a fortunate white person, I haven't had to experience this myself, and reading books where you can empathise with and like the characters can help to understand - as much as one can when it isn't your lived experience. But the novel isn't just about race - in fact it's a family saga about ordinary people living ordinary lives, that just happen to be underpinned by and affected by race in way that life shouldn't have to be. Birth, death, love and grief, marriage and children are all covered here. The characters are united in fighting a different type of inequality - the battle for women's suffrage. But even there, race becomes a factor.

Overall it is a heartwarming story about likeable (mostly) people and the bonds and love that can exist between people regardless of race and circumstances. I will definitely go and read the preceding novels ('Yellow Crocus' and 'Mustard Seed') and Ibrahim's other novels. And hopefully one day readers will be able to read in the knowledge that the inequality depicted has finally been wiped out altogether.

A beautiful, well-researched story that touches on a variety of important topics including racism and sexism in the post Civil War era. Set in the late 1890s, Golden Poppies continues the story of Lisbeth and Mattie by following the lives of their daughters, Sadie and Jordan. Although the book is part of a series, it stands well on its own; however, I think I would have connected with story and characters more easily if had read the first two books. Quite a lot happens across the course of the novel but I didn’t find myself completely engaged until about a third of the way through the book. By the end, I adored the characters and found myself shedding tears on their behalf. It’s a very touching story and I look forward reading the first two books in the series.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley!

Generally sticking to the 1900's when I read historical fiction, I departed from that and read this one based on rave reviews. I was not let down. I appreciate the author's raw, unapologetic truth during the time period and enjoyed how well the story kept me reading on to the next chapter.

Despite this, it wasn't a book I'd read again. It was enjoyable.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read and give my honest opinion.

The ties that bind.

Golden Poppies lays out a patchwork quilt of different interlocking pieces that tell the story of the human experience. While the colors and patterns seem to compete for a dominance hierarchy, truth be told, one patch is no less valuable than the next in the scheme of things. Each patch gets ruffled in the winds of time. Each patch fades out over that same stretch of time exposed to all things that eventually erode the precious threads that hold us in place.

It's April of 1894 in Chicago as Jordan Wallace sits at the bedside of her dying mother, Mattie. A similar quilt covers her tiny figure worn by age and by the harshness of her life. Jordan's daughter, Naomi, is a trained nurse who hovers to the side. Nothing prepares you for "the letting go".

On the west coast in California, Lisbeth Johnson and her daughter, Sadie Wagoner, are boarding a Pullman train that will take them to Chicago and to that room where Mattie lays on her death bed. There's a history here between these two families. Mattie served as a wet nurse and slave on Fair Oaks Plantation where Lisbeth was raised with luxury. But there is a bond here that transcends circumstances, place, and time. Jordan and Naomi will eventually move to Sacramento where their lives will intertwine once again.

I was not aware that this is the third book in this series. It does read as a standalone. I've already ordered the first two books. Laila Ibrahim takes us deeply into this storyline with America's leaning towards industrialization, urbanization, and creativity through invention. We'll experience the signposts of the quests for civil rights, the pursuit of women's suffrage, the eradication of child labor, the non-acceptance of domestic violence, and the freedoms of acceptance and the fulfillment of life to its fullest by all. Some attained. Some so terribly lacking even now.

Golden Poppies reads as fiction laced with familiar and unfamiliar names throughout this time in history. It makes me think of that quilt, once again, all sewn together in appealing sections on the front. But if you turn it gently to the backside, there's tangled threads and knotted pieces reflecting setbacks, the struggles, and the successes and failures that occur as one generation either rises upward from the previous generation or sets it on the road to ruination. Only time will tell.

I received a copy of Golden Poppies through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Lake Union Publishers and Laila Ibrahim for the opportunity.

Golden Poppies is a great example of what I wish all historical fiction could be. Far too often I'll start reading something that makes it clear that the author thought all you needed to do was state the year, add some period clothes to your characters and there you have historical fiction. You don't, and the number of terrible books that have appeared in the genre in recent years has practically ruined historical fiction for me until one like this comes along. I would have enjoyed the book just as much if it were not based on real life. The story is beautiful and heart-grabbing without pulling cheap punches like unnecessarily schmaltzy situations or dialogue.

This is book three of the Yellow Crocus series and I highly recommend that you read the other two books first. This book would read well as a stand alone <b>BUT</b> you're really missing out if you skip the other two. And while I know it has nothing to do with the words that are inside, I like the cover art. I m glad the publisher decided to put a flower on the front of this as they did with the first book.

Jordan thought her education would protect them. It's 1894 and her mother is dying. She has a daughter Naomi and a son Malcolm. Her husband passed away She felt like God was testing her. I liked Jordan. Naomi has finished school but has not found a job. Naomi is 19 years old. Malcolm is twenty three years old and works as a porter but studied to be a lawyer.

The plot unfolds in a slow manner otherwise it is rather intricate and the cover has been beautifully designed that it grabs the attention of the reader and also reflects the central theme of the novel. I did not however enjoy the writing style, its a bit complicated and as based it history it calls for some knowledge and attention of the reader about the times. The pace is rather slow and on the whole the book is terribly lengthy.