California Golden is Melanie Bejamin’s homage to the carefree days of the 1960’s where free to be meant sex, drugs and rock and roll, where in California, surfing, sun and sand, beach bums and bonfires were all the rage. But the story is so much deeper than frolicking in the water and winning surfing competitions. It’s about a mother and her two daughters whose lives are changed not so much by what they did, but more because of what was expected of them during that time. Had they been able to pursue their own dreams, rather that fit the societal norms, perhaps their lives would have been different.
Carol Donnelly broke the surfing mold for women back in the 1960’s. When the male surfers told her she couldn’t do it, she proved not only could she, but she could win competition against them. An athlete in college, Carol was on her way to Chicago to try out for the first all-women baseball team. She found out she was pregnant. So, she put her dreams on hold, went back and married, and had two children, both girls, Mindy and Ginger.
But in her heart, she still wanted to follow her passion and unfortunately had a difficult time relating to her two girls. She tried. But when she discovered surfing, she chose one over the other. She began taking them with her daily to the beach, even though that meant they missed school. She would forget to buy food or feed them at all. With her husband traveling she was left to be the adult. But the reality was she had never really grown up.
She decided perhaps her love of surfing could translate to her love for her daughters, so she decided to teach her girls to surf. Mindy caught on right away and became just as good if not better than her mother. Ginger not so much. So, Carol spent more time with Mindy and Mindy spent more time with Ginger. Both dropped out of high school.
And that’s when all three go in radically different directions. The girls leave home. Carol continues to surf, knowing she was not the mother she should have been.
Mindy becomes a champion surfer with an agent, partying every night, popular with the Hollywood in-crowd and waiting for her next break. Until she makes a mistake. Something looked down upon and perhaps career ending. She must make a decision.
Ginger just becomes lost. She hooks up with a beach bum whose only job is to hustle drugs and is into just about everything illegal. But Ginger knows in her heart he loves her and can’t let him go not matter what he does. It’s the first time she’s ever felt valued, and she won’t lose that feeling for fear she will never have it again.
The story chronicles the Donnelly women’s lives and what happens to them until they come together years later. They’ve all lived hard lives. But, perhaps it’s time to move past all the anger and hardship and misunderstandings and try for once to be the family they never knew how to be.
California Golden is the story of society influencing choices rather than following one’s heart, tragedies, hard times and becoming an adult. It’s about forgiveness and how ultimately love wins out.
Thank you #NetGalley #DelacortPress #MelanieBenjamin #CaliforniaGolden for the advanced copy.
Lisa's Cubby 
This sounds so good! It’s sort of giving me Daisy Jones and the Six vibes.
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