β Scribed by Lydia Kiesling
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
β The Golden State is a perfect evocation of the beautiful, strange, frightening, funny territory of new motherhood . . . A love story for our fractured era.β βKaren Russell, author of Vampires in the Lemon Grove and Swamplandia!
LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION'S FIRST NOVEL PRIZE
A gorgeous, raw debut novel about a young woman braving the ups and downs of motherhood in a fractured America
In Lydia Kieslingβs razor-sharp debut novel, The Golden State , we accompany Daphne, a young mother on the edge of a breakdown, as she flees her sensible but strained life in San Francisco for the high desert of Altavista with her toddler, Honey. Bucking under the weight of being a single parentβher Turkish husband is unable to return to the United States because of a βprocessing errorββDaphne takes refuge in a mobile home left to her by her grandparents in hopes that the quiet will bring clarity.
But clarity proves elusive. Over the next ten days Daphne is anxious, she behaves a little erratically, she drinks too much. She wanders the town looking for anyone and anything to punctuate the long hours alone with the baby. Among others, she meets Cindy, a neighbor who is active in a secessionist movement, and befriends the elderly Alice, who has traveled to Altavista as she approaches the end of her life. When her relationships with these women culminate in a dangerous standoff, Daphne must reconcile her inner narrative with the reality of a deeply divided world.
Keenly observed, bristling with humor, and set against the beauty of a little-known part of California, The Golden State is about class and cultural breakdowns, and desperate attempts to bridge old and new worlds. But more than anything, it is about motherhood: its voracious worry, frequent tedium, and enthralling, wondrous love.
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A Novel
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**"_The Golden State_ is a perfect evocation of the beautiful, strange, frightening, funny territory of new motherhood . . . A love story for our fractured era." --Karen Russell, author of _Vampires in the Lemon Grove_ and _Swamplandia!_** **** **LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION'S FIRST NOV
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