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pearloz's review against another edition
2.0
What even is this book? A lot of minutiae little plot, the most interesting part was the last section of the book with Alice in the woods, and I don’t know if it was genuinely interesting or if it was bc the rest of the book was such a snore. The immigration issues occupied so little of the book it’s a wonder why it was even included.
mybrilliantbasset's review against another edition
5.0
Soooo good and frantic on audiobook at 1.3x speed.
mhoffrob's review against another edition
3.0
While I enjoyed the plot and character development in "The Golden State" by Lydia Kiesling, the first few chapters were tough reading as I adapted to the author's style (lack of punctuation (particularly commas), run on sentences, stream of conscious narrative). The intensely told story of Daphne, a young mother who's husband has been sent back to Turkey due to an "input error" on his green card, of sorts. She works for a university foundation, assisting students who wish to study in Asia (among other administrative tasks) and simply walks out of her job one day to return to the home she inherited from her grandparents and mother. The entire novel covers slightly more than a week, while Daphne and her daughter Honey learn of the rural area and interact with new and old acquaintances. There is a side plot of a secessionist movement seeking to split up the state of California and one involving an elderly woman navigating her past, all while Daphne and Honey contemplate next steps. The ending is a little unsatisfying, but this is a thought provoking read which would work well for literary-minded book discussion groups.
ajafrost's review against another edition
4.0
There are many cliche ways to describe this book—"raw," "unflinchingly honest," "brave," etc., etc.—but that would be a waste, because The Golden State is anything but cliche.
It's written stream-of-consciousness, which is a bold choice, especially since most of Daphne's attention is spent on the mundane aspects of motherhood: feeding her daughter, Honey, entertaining Honey, keeping Honey reasonably clean, and so on. But that's the point. Daphne can't escape motherhood anymore than you can. No book has made me feel so deeply the stuff in between the highs and lows of having a child.
The Golden State also touches on some interesting, timely themes, like Islamophobia, populism, and corruption/bureaucracy/the general uselessness of modern academia. That sounds like a lot, but these ideas are woven in quite deftly. I was surprised to learn this was Kiesling's first novel because it showed a lot of control and maturity.
If you're interested in reading about modern motherhood, I'd recommend this book.
It's written stream-of-consciousness, which is a bold choice, especially since most of Daphne's attention is spent on the mundane aspects of motherhood: feeding her daughter, Honey, entertaining Honey, keeping Honey reasonably clean, and so on. But that's the point. Daphne can't escape motherhood anymore than you can. No book has made me feel so deeply the stuff in between the highs and lows of having a child.
The Golden State also touches on some interesting, timely themes, like Islamophobia, populism, and corruption/bureaucracy/the general uselessness of modern academia. That sounds like a lot, but these ideas are woven in quite deftly. I was surprised to learn this was Kiesling's first novel because it showed a lot of control and maturity.
If you're interested in reading about modern motherhood, I'd recommend this book.
chelseela's review against another edition
3.0
An abupt ending after spending a long time in the main characters manic episode. No real resolution. But, the main character is compelling.
nick_jenkins's review against another edition
5.0
I originally started reading this novel right when it came out, but I had to set it aside because, to be candid, the parental emotions it describes and—in some sorcery of subliminal style and tone—conveys were too real, too much my own. I had to wait until my own baby girl had grown a bit before I could continue.
Having gotten a margin of distance—or at least better command of my ability to pretend to some distance—I am so glad I returned to it. Daphne’s voice is so vivid, so fully realized, that there are moments one imagines slipping between the paragraphs into a natural conversation. Even more impressive, though, is the character of Honey. Even some of the best novels about motherhood—Helen Phillips’s The Need, for instance—struggle to depict interactions between adults and children as reciprocal or bilateral events, moments that occur across a spectrum of sometimes unpredictable effects and emotions. Daphne and Honey, and for that matter Alice and Honey, are equally part of these moments, these collisions of mood, intention, and sensation. Even as we remain within Daphne’s interior voice, the novel shows Daphne dynamically responding to the child, not just reacting in a recursive loop to her own emotions about the child. That is not an easy thing to do.
Having gotten a margin of distance—or at least better command of my ability to pretend to some distance—I am so glad I returned to it. Daphne’s voice is so vivid, so fully realized, that there are moments one imagines slipping between the paragraphs into a natural conversation. Even more impressive, though, is the character of Honey. Even some of the best novels about motherhood—Helen Phillips’s The Need, for instance—struggle to depict interactions between adults and children as reciprocal or bilateral events, moments that occur across a spectrum of sometimes unpredictable effects and emotions. Daphne and Honey, and for that matter Alice and Honey, are equally part of these moments, these collisions of mood, intention, and sensation. Even as we remain within Daphne’s interior voice, the novel shows Daphne dynamically responding to the child, not just reacting in a recursive loop to her own emotions about the child. That is not an easy thing to do.
radbrenfro's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
rglossner's review against another edition
4.0
Daphne is raising her toddler daughter Honey alone in San Francisco, working in an international institute at a University and dealing with the green card limbo of her Turkish husband. A tragedy on a trip she set up and the pressure of single parenting cause her to pack her car and her toddler and move abruptly to the California high desert, where she owns a mobile home inherited from her mother and her grandparents. She is seeking clarity, but over the next 10 days she drinks too much, wanders aimlessly around the town, and befriends an nonagenarian on a pilgrimage to a once happy place. Raw and emotional, this debut novel explores themes of motherhood, grief, and the difficulties of multi cultural marriage.
greenej's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this novel a lot, although not all that much happens until close to the end. But it's a deft and engaging portrayal of a young mother on her own, with 16 month old baby, and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Daphne decides to visit her family home in the middle of nowhere, abandoning her job in San Francisco. She moves back and forth between isolation, caring for her daughter, meeting a few people in the little town in northern CA, and worrying about her husband who is back home in Turkey due to having been denied re-entry to the US. Although at times I wished more was happening plotwise, the writing is beautiful, the sense of the frustrations and joys of mother quite powerfully communicated, and I often found Kiesling saying things I could imagine saying myself--her observations of her middle-of-nowhere family home, for example. The language reminded me ever so slightly of Sally Rooney's, in her first novel.
kjboldon's review against another edition
4.0
This book masterfully captures the simultaneous grinding tedium and moments of shafting joy of caring for a baby. That Kiesling does this in addition to a plot about an international marriage, and intrastate struggles in California along with a multigenerational friendship is impressive as hell. This is a fascinating female identity crisis novel.