Poppy Sea

The first volume of an epic saga-trilogy, centered around the intertwining stories of very different people. Their fates will converge on the schooner "Ibis," on which they will embark on an unknown life. A bankrupt Indian raja who has lost everything, including his honor; a young and carefree French orphan; an Indian widow fleeing a cremation ceremony; an American sailor who unexpectedly becomes the captain's assistant; an apologist for a new religion… They all must undergo adventures filled with dangers, trials, and upheavals before they decide to board the "Ibis." Behind them will remain poppy plantations, the dangerous streets of Calcutta, wealth, power, humiliation, families. They are all drawn to freedom from past ties, burdens, and misfortunes. In "Poppy Sea," the captivating nature of Rafael Sabatini's "Captain Blood's Odyssey," the wisdom and depth of Abraham Verghese's "Cutting for Stone," and the panoramic scope of serious historical novels are paradoxically combined.