The Golden State / Lydia Kiesling.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION 5 UNDER 35 PICK. FINALIST FOR THE VCU CABELL FIRST NOVELIST AWARD. LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION'S FIRST NOVEL PRIZE.

Named one of the Best Books of 2018 by NPR, Bookforum and Bustle . One of Entertainment Weekly 's 10 Best Debut Novels of 2018. An Amazon Best Book of the Month and named a fall read by Buzzfeed, Nylon, Entertainment Weekly, Elle, Vanity Fair, Vulture, Refinery29 and Mind Body Green

A gorgeous, raw debut novel about a young woman braving the ups and downs of motherhood in a fractured America

In Lydia Kiesling's 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 parent--her Turkish husband is unable to return to the United States because of a "processing error"--Daphne 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.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

DEBUT Almost without knowing what she's doing, Daphne abandons her well-paid university job, collects her 18-month-old daughter Honey from child care, packs up the ancient Buick she inherited from her grandparents, and heads from San Francisco to their abandoned mobile home in rural Paiute County. She's melancholy about the death of a graduate student killed in an automobile accident overseas. She misses husband Elgin dearly-he's stuck in Turkey after accidentally losing his U.S. residency status. Plus, she's frazzled by motherhood and the associated challenges of raising her baby on her own. But the high desert, with its stark beauty and hardscrabble neighbors, may only amplify her loneliness. First novelist Kiesling nails the particular travails of new mothers, puts a human face on immigration issues, and adds some contemporary political commentary with Daphne's interactions with a group that wants to secede from California. There's so much to love about this novel, it's possible to forgive the frequent use of long, run-on lists, a stylistic choice that becomes a bad habit. Ignore this quirk and focus instead on Daphne's honesty, insight, and efforts to sort out the best path forward for herself and her family. VERDICT Strongly recommended for readers who enjoy contemporary literary fiction and can handle a few swear words. [See Prepub Alert, 3/12/18.]-Christine -Perkins, Whatcom Cty. Lib. Syst., Bellingham, WA © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Kiesling's intimate, culturally perceptive debut portrays a frazzled mother and a fractious America, both verging on meltdown. Thirty-something Daphne works for the Institute for the Study of Islamic Societies and Civilizations at a San Francisco university while raising her 16-month-old daughter, Honey, alone. Daphne's Turkish husband, Engin, has been denied reentry into the United States. Daphne is also haunted by the death of a student, who was traveling on Institute funds. Tired of waiting for Engin to be allowed back and reaching the edge of a breakdown, Daphne packs up Honey and heads to Northern California's high desert to take refuge in the house she inherited but rarely visits. She fixes tuna sandwiches and pancakes, finds her mother's pomegranate-themed ornaments and collectibles, and attends her mother's now nearly empty church, but the safety and emotional connection to her own childhood she seeks prove as tenuous as overseas communication with Engin in Istanbul or the local ventures that ensnare her: neighbor Cindy's anti-government, anti-immigration secessionist movement and 92-year-old Alice's scheme to visit the work camp where her husband served during World War II. Kiesling depicts parenting in the digital age with humor and brutal honesty and offers insights into language, academics, and even the United Nations. But perhaps best of all is her thought-provoking portrait of a pioneer community in decline as anger and obsession fray bonds between neighbors, family, and fellow citizens. Agent: Claudia Ballard, WME Entertainment. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Daphne has never felt more alone. Her husband is stuck in Turkey due to a processing error on his green card application, so the full weight of caring for their infant daughter, Honey, rests on Daphne's shoulders. The hustle and bustle of San Francisco starts feeling oppressive, so Daphne escapes with Honey to Altavista. She hopes that the peace and quiet of the small town, where her grandparents have left her a mobile home, will let her concentrate on being the best possible mother. But after meeting two other inhabitants of Altavista, she realizes that her plan isn't as simple as she thought. When personalities clash, a chain of events escalates to an unsettling finale. Kiesling's first novel encapsulates the intense and often conflicting feelings of early parenthood: frustration, tenderness, isolation. By playing with punctuation and sentence structure, Kiesling immerses the reader in the fragile headspace of the anxious new mother. With a style reminiscent of Claire Vaye Watkins and Sarah Stonich, The Golden State sparks the lovely, lonely feelings inside us all.--Stephanie Copyright 2018 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

A debut novel about new motherhood and political unrest from the editor of the online literary magazine The Millions.Daphne has a beautiful baby girl and an amazing job at the Al-Ihsan Foundation in San Francisco. She also has a husband who is stranded half a world away because of an unfortunateand seemingly irresolvableissue with U.S. Immigration. One day, the pressure of juggling these irreconcilable realities becomes a bit too much, so Daphne puts her daughter, Honey, in the car seat and heads for the wilds of Altavista, California. This is her mother's hometown, and, after her mother's death, Daphne became the owner of her grandparents' trailer. In a narrative that takes place over 10 days, Kiesling offers a painfully honest portrait of motherhood and offers glimpses of a California that few ever seeor even know exists. Life with a new baby is an underexplored topic in American literature. One of the only authors who comes to mind is Lydia Davis. Kiesling is similarly honest about this strange, disorienting time, but, where Davis is a master of microfiction, Kiesling covers this territory in exhaustiveand, frankly, exhaustingdetail. On the one hand, this feels like a public service; on the other hand, anyone who has lived through this experience might not want to revisit it. The depiction of Eastern Californiaa land of cattle ranchers and desert, far, far away from the ocean and Hollywoodis both depressing and fascinating. Like so many American places, Altavista has seen better days. Resentment is a boom industry. The fact that Daphne is descended from a long-established family is offset by the fact that her husband is Turkish. There's even a group of secessionists, and the novel takes an unexpected turn when Daphne becomes embroiled in their revolution. This plot shift feels quite timely, but it also feels like it belongs to another book. Kiesling is a talented author, though, with a unique voice. She's very smart, very funny, and wonderfully empathetic. A technically uneven novel from a skilled and promising writer. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Lydia Kiesling 's debut novel, The Golden State , was a finalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Prize and longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize. Her essays and criticism have appeared in The New York Times Magazine , The Guardian , The Cut , Slate , and The New Yorker online, and have been recognized in The Best American Essays 2016 . In 2018 the was named a 5 Under 35 by the National Book Foundation. Kiesling lives in Portland with her family.