Synopses & Reviews
"Koja can pack a lot Dickensian humor into a sentence."
The Plain DealerUnder the Poppy is a brothel owned by Decca and Rupert. Decca is in love with Rupert but he in turn is in love with her brother, Istvan. When Istvan comes back to town, louche puppet troupe in tow, the lines of their age-old desires intersect against a backdrop of approaching war.
Hearts are broken when old betrayals and new alliancesnot just their owntake shape, as the townsmen seek refuge from the onslaught of history by watching the girls of the Poppy cavort onstage with Istvans naughty puppets.
When the war gets too close, Istvan and Rupert abandon the Poppy and find a place in high society where they try to avoid becoming more than puppets themselves in the hands of those they have helped before and who now want to use them again.
From its explosive beginning to the final climax, Under the Poppy is a vivid, sexy, behind-the-scenes historical novel as delicious and intoxicating as the best guilty pleasure.
Review
"
Under the Poppy is unlike anything Ive ever read, a world unto itself, spun out of fevered, sensual prose and vivid, compelling characters."
Lewis Shiner
"Koja has a ventriloquists skill when it comes to inhabiting the voices of her characters . . . A gothic, glam-rock take on love and sex and death that reads a little like what would happen if Sarah Waters and Angela Carter played a drunken game of Exquisite Corpse in a brothel, Under the Poppy will make you want to get out your very finest crushed velvet, drink a couple bottles of wine, and do something a little bit illegal with someone very good-looking. In other words, its a winner."
Tor.com
"All the elements of a great novel are present in Kojas work: from suspense and intrigue to undying love and toxic jealousies, this highly developed read is brimming with imaginative flair and originality."
Lambda Literary
"This book is different, magical, seductive, and strange. However, there are books to which "Poppy" has ties, however wispy: think The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera mixed with The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek lightened with Fanny Hill by John Cleland and layered with The Satanic Verses, A Passage to India, and Mrs. Dalloway."
Bethanne Patrick, Beyond the Margins
"People will probably love this book or hate itpossibly both. But let me just say that it would take an author of extraordinary talent to open with a scene of a woman being sodomized by a ventriloquists dummy and make me want to keep reading.
"And Kathe Koja is that talented. Five stars."
Speak Its Name
"The velvet and brocade, the rips and tears, the music and theater, you see it all as you read about what the denizens of the Poppy do to stay in business, stay ahead of the tide, stay alive."
Colleen Mondor, Chasing Ray
"Frequently changing viewpoints and fluid segues in and out of flashback illuminate actions readers have already witnessed. Part of the fun is heading into the past after knowing the future; even when you know where the story will go, you wonder what will happen next."
Ann Arbor Observer
"The brothel of Kathe Kojas Under the Poppy requires no time and space coordinates. It is a fictional universe unto itselfrich and bawdy and violent and sad, with a beating human heart underneath. I love Kojas daring and flair."
Louis Bayard (The Black Tower)
"I loved Under the Poppy. It pours like chocolatelaced with brandy; sexy and utterly compelling!"
Ellen Kushner (Swordspoint)
"Throughout the story there is an undercurrent of darkness. I can think of no better way than this to describe it and it keeps you reading, pulls you on and on through the narrative. Tied into this sense of the creeping grotesque is the fact that Koja is skilled at depicting how close to insanity art can come. I have fond memories of the mad genius of Skinhow far Koja was willing to push her story and her characters for the sake of their art and there is a similar feeling here. Istvan is driven and he cannot be anything other than what he isa player, an actor and puppeteer. At the same time, he is drawn to Rupert and Rupert to him. Their relationship is painfully realnothing is perfect or sugar-coated. They hurt each other, they try to mend their rifts, attempt forgiveness and do their best to accept the other as they are. Its superbly done."
Girl on Book Action
"Few books Ive read about the theater capture its dazzle as luminously as this one does. The performances are integral to the plotline; one cares about the performances because one cares about the characters, and one cares about the characters in part because of how they perform. Intelligent descriptions and a compelling cast make reading Poppy an intense, lingering experience
. Each section was a burst of images. I wanted to read it as slowly as I might eat a rich mealsavoring each bite before taking another."
Rachel Swirsky, Cascadia Subduction Zone
"Despite all the trappings of puppets, sex shows, stabbings, and drawing-room treachery, this is a love story about how, sometimes despite themselves, Rupert, Istvan, and their friends have created a family. . . . she creates an atmospheric tale for those who like their historical fiction on the dark and lurid side. Those readers who enjoyed Emma Donoghues Slammerkin or Sarah Waters Fingersmith will find similar themes."
Library Journal
"A page turner with riveting language and close attention to sensory detail. Set in late 19th-century Brussels, the story follows the adventures of puppeteer Istvan and brothel owner Rupert who bond as friends and lovers."
Publishers Weekly
"Koja can pack a lot Dickensian humor into a sentence . . . [she] takes a page from Victorian lit in her writerliness, and she reveals human nature like someone slipped her the manual."
Cleveland Plain Dealer
"This book made me drunk. Kojas language is at its poetic best, and the epic drama had me digging my nails into my palms. Its like a Tom Waits hurdy-gurdy losers lament come to life, as sinister as a dark circus."
Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing
Synopsis
"Koja can pack a lot Dickensian humor into a sentence."The Plain Dealer
Decca runs a Victorian-era brothel and is in love with the co-owner, Rupert. He in turn is in love with Decca's puppeteer brother, Istvan. When Istvan reappears, their love triangle is enmeshed in an approaching war which forces them to abandon the Poppy. Lush, sexy, and vivid, Under the Poppy is being adapted for the stage, was longlisted for the IMPAC Award, and received the Gaylactic Spectrum Award.
Kathe Koja is working on The Mercury Waltz (the follow-up to Under the Poppy). She lives in Detroit, Michigan.
About the Author
Kathe Kojas books include The Cipher, Skin, and Extremities; YA novels include Buddha Boy, Talk, Kissing the Bee, and Headlong. Her work has been honored by the ALA, the ASPCA, the Parents Choice Award, and the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel. Her books have been published in seven languages, and optioned for film. She is a Detroit native and lives in the area with her husband, artist Rick Lieder, and their cats. Koja is working on a series of staged events based on Under the Poppy.