Coming August 8 from Delacorte Press: California Golden: A Novel by Melanie Benjamin.
About the book, from the publisher:
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.Learn more about the book and author at Melanie Benjamin's website.
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.
The Page 69 Test: Alice I Have Been.
The Page 69 Test: The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb.
My Book, The Movie: The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb.
The Page 69 Test: The Aviator's Wife.
The Page 69 Test: The Swans of Fifth Avenue.
The Page 69 Test: The Girls in the Picture.
Writers Read: Melanie Benjamin (May 2019).
Q&A with Melanie Benjamin.
The Page 69 Test: The Children's Blizzard.
--Marshal Zeringue
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