The Golden State: A Novel

"Lydia Kiesling’s gorgeously written, deeply engaging, character-driven debut novel outlines 10 days in the life of Daphne, mother to toddler Honey. Due to a bureaucratic snafu, Daphne’s husband has been denied re-entry to the U.S. from his native Turkey, so she’s on her own, trying to balance work with caring for Honey (whom she both profoundly loves and sometimes resents), and trying not to fall apart completely. To save herself, she abandons her job in San Francisco and heads for the high desert town and the mobile home where her grandparents once lived. It’s been a very long time since my daughters were toddlers, but Daphne’s trenchant observations of her complicated feelings brought it all back. Plus, it was nice to read a California novel set in neither Los Angeles nor San Francisco."