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Title details for California Golden by Melanie Benjamin - Wait list

California Golden

A Novel

by Melanie Benjamin
Christine Lakin
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Two sisters navigate the thrilling, euphoric early days of California surf culture in this dazzling saga of ambition, sacrifice, and the tangled ties between mothers and daughters from the New York Times bestselling author of The Aviator’s Wife.
“A shimmering rendering . . . pairs the surf culture of the Beach Boys with the sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll of Daisy Jones & The Six.”—Entertainment Weekly (“Best Books of the Summer”)
Southern California, 1960s: endless sunny days surfing in Malibu, followed by glittering neon nights at Whisky a Go Go. In an era when women are expected to be housewives, Carol Donnelly breaks the mold as a legendary female surfer struggling to compete in a male-dominated sport—and her daughters, Mindy and Ginger, bear the weight of Carol’s unconventional lifestyle.
The Donnelly sisters grow up enduring their mother’s absence—physically, when she’s at the beach, and emotionally, the rare times she’s at home. To escape questions about Carol’s whereabouts—and to chase her elusive affection—they cut school to spend their days in the surf. From her first time on a board, Mindy is a natural, but Ginger, two years younger, feels out of place in the water.
As they grow up and their lives diverge, Mindy and Ginger’s relationship ebbs and flows. Mindy finds herself swept up in celebrity, complete with beachside love affairs, parties at the Playboy Club, and a USO tour in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Ginger, desperate for a community of her own, is tugged into the dangerous counterculture of drugs and cults. But through it all, their sense of duty to each other survives, as the girls are forever connected by the emotional damage they carry from their unorthodox childhood.
A gripping, emotional story set at a time when mothers were expected to be Donna Reed, not Gidget, California Golden is an unforgettable novel about three women living in a society that was shifting as tempestuously as the breaking waves.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 8, 2023

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593787366
      • File size: 354023 KB
      • Duration: 12:17:32

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 10, 2023
      Benjamin (The Children’s Blizzard) sets this attuned if cluttered story of a frustrated woman and her striving daughters against the backdrop of California’s emerging surfing scene. Carol Donnelly, a onetime prospect for the Olympic swim team, struggles with her role as a housewife in the 1950s, having scuttling her dreams of becoming an Olympic swimmer. While raising two daughters, she becomes a champion surfer, often leaving home for long stretches. In 1962, when her daughters, Mindy and Ginger, are teens, they take up surfing in hopes of winning their mother’s affection. By 1967, Mindy is a successful surfer and tours Vietnam with the USO. Ginger takes another path, leaving home to live with an abusive boyfriend who drags her into the violent world of a drug-dealing cult. The story slips into melodrama after Ginger shows up at Mindy’s doorstep to drop off her unwanted daughter, whom she had with Mindy’s surfer ex, and the sisters bring the baby to Carol, hoping to reconcile with their mother once and for all. The core family story is moving, but Benjamin loses focus amid the many themes—Vietnam, the 1960s counterculture, and domestic violence being just a few. These women can hang 10, but the novel doesn’t quite hang together. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, ICM Partners.

    • Library Journal

      June 10, 2024

      Benjamin's (The Children's Blizzard) latest, set in the turbulent but transformative 1960s, provides a window into early surf culture in California. Benjamin traces the ups and downs of the Donnelly women--sisters Mindy and Ginger and their aloof mother, Carol, a world-class swimmer and surfing pioneer. Listeners follow the sisters as they grow into adulthood, contending with their mother's frequent absences and grappling with sexism, racism, abuse, and abandonment. Their lives are complicated by the unique pressures of surf life--a world dominated by men--and the pull of the '60s counterculture movement. The ocean is a constant in this story of passion and neglect, following the women as they seek their own communities, break traditional rules, and make their way through the ensuing fallout. Christine Lakin's smooth narration pairs well with Benjamin's enticing descriptions of California and will have listeners planning their own trips to the beach. VERDICT An atmospheric novel that transports readers to sunny southern California and through the complicated times of the 1960s. Pair with Taylor Jenkins Reid's Malibu Rising or Erica Abeel's Wild Girls.--Laura Hammond

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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