This historical crime novel is written in a “hard-boiled” noir style, and takes place in Berkeley, California in the 1930s and 1940s (it goes back and forth in time).

The main story is set in 1944 and concerns homicide detective Al Sullivan. (His given name was Alejo Gutierrez, but he anglicized it when he became a cop to be “above the suspicion line.”) The change works well enough on the surface, but inside Al is acutely aware of his background and the sympathies it imparted to him. Nevertheless, he observes that after he changed his name, life got a lot better:

“I don’t know what that says about this country. Or about me. Sometimes I feel guilty - sometimes worse than guilty. But then I tell myself it’s not me, it’s America.”

The 1944 portion begins with the murder of Walter Wilkinson, a politician who had come in second to FDR for president in 1940 and was planning to run against him again. Al was having a drink at the Claremont, then the largest hotel on the West Coast, when he was called up to Wilkinson’s suite. Wilkinson had been killed and there were plenty of suspects.

Three of them happen to be the granddaughters of Mrs. Genevieve Bainbridge - matriarch of one of the oldest blue-blood families in the Bay Area: “Everyone had heard of San Francisco’s “Bainbridge girls,” famous for their supposed good looks.” Ironically, another granddaughter had died in the Claremont in 1930 in a presumed accident when she was aged seven, and she is said to have haunted the property ever since.

Witnesses claimed not only to have seen a Bainbridge granddaughter coming out of Wilkinson’s room the night of the murder, but a Chinese woman as well, and the trail leads to China's First Lady Madame Chiang Kai-Shek.

She isn’t the only historical persona in these pages. We also learn about August Vollmer, the first police chief of Berkeley, California, and a leading figure in the development of the field of criminal justice in the United States in the early 20th century, and Julia Morgan, the famous architect who built Hearst’s castle in San Simeon. A number of seminal events in the history of the area are also explored, including background on the Golden Gate Bridge; the development (exploitation) of the area after the discovery of first otters, then seals and beavers, then gold; racial politics; Japanese internment; residential redlining; destruction of the redwoods, and much more.

The murder plot is loaded with false leads and red herrings, adding to the suspense.

Evaluation: I enjoyed this novel more for the early history of the Berkeley, California area than for the “crime” aspects of the story. I thought the “hard-boiled” aspects were a little too derivative and obvious. But I loved learning so much about the place and times.

I loved this one and felt it had whispers of the brilliance on Amy Tan . I loved reading about california in history and San Francisco and the awful way we have a continue to treat immigrants.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book

The Golden Gate is historical fiction that I’ve never read before. The history of California, internment camps, racial disparities mixed with a riveting murder mystery. The characters were unique, and the story was hard to put down.

Reading about my country’s history in a place I have no familiarity with is enlightening. This is a fictional story filled with information about the settlement of San Francisco and the many countries who ruled California. Cultural and class prejudices were very predominant during this period. The descriptions of the magnificent Claremont hotel were breathtaking, as were many others. I felt the author did an excellent job capturing authenticity of the era. The story incorporated politics, communism, unions, inequality and social status distinctions.
Not intended as a criticism, a purely personal preference, I’m not a fan of dual timelines. The back and forth between cases and time periods was distracting for me in the beginning of the story. The continuity was occasionally choppy, even abrupt, it became much smoother as the plot developed.
The first person narrative by the detective whose name was inexplicably kept secret for a fourth of the book also annoyed me. I did begin to relate to his character and appreciated his moral compass and perseverance in the murder case. The interpretation and enforcement of the law during this period of history was highly subjective and rife with opportunity for mistakes, apathy and negligence.
The Bainbridge women were conniving, loyal to their secrets, beautiful, mysterious and liars with deep skeletons in the closet. It was impossible to predict the outcome with all the misdirection and plot twists. I enjoyed the suspense from an author I haven’t read before.
A digital advance reader copy of “The Golden Gate” by Amy Chua, St. Martin’s Publishing, was provided to me by NetGalley. These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without any compensation.

Finished ✔️ The Golden Gate by Amy Chua.
4.5 ⭐️’s
Publish Day: September 19th, 2023
Kindle Unlimited: No
It’s Amy Chua’s debut novel and was pretty good
Sweeping, evocative, and compelling historical thriller that paints a vibrant portrait of a California buffeted by the turbulent crosswinds of a world at war and a society about to undergo massive change.
It held my attention the whole way through.
Brilliantly written and told.
Yes, I’d recommend it.
#DeesReading #DeesRecs #DeesBookRecommendations #BookNerds #BookNerdProblems #BookNerdsUnited #BookProblems #BookProblems101 #BookNerds101 #Bookworms #BookwormProblems #BookwormProblems101 #BooksOfFacebook #DeeTheBookReviewer #DeesReadOfTheDay #DeesBookOfTheDay #DeesBookReviewsOfTheDay #BookReviewer #NewToMeAuthor #AmyChua #ReadOfTheDay #BookOfTheDay #TheGoldenGate #NetGalley

Writing: 4/5 Plot: 4.5/5 Characters: 5/5

An extremely convoluted ( in a delightful way) murder mystery set against an intricately detailed history of the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1930s and 40s. Walker Wilkinson — a rich industrialist and possible presidential candidate — is shot in his room at the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley. Mixed race Detective Al Sullivan lands the case which offers him suspects and witnesses that range from the very rich to the poor and dispossessed — from political figures to steel workers to Chinese / Black / Mexican / Japanese workers. Chua — an historian, this is her first novel — weaves in famous figures such as Madame Chiang Kai Shek, Julia Morgan, Dr. Margaret Chung, and August Vollmer with perfect integrity and context. Background history is delivered in a more or less integrated way ranging from laws and policies to the history of crime labs, the threat of Communism, the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Kaiser shipyards (before it was just a medical plan!), and even the geology of the state. I was aware of some of the historical references — e.g. the Chinese Exclusion Act — but not some of the others such as the Mexican Expulsion of 1931 and the Mann Act (aka the White Slaves act) which was often used against those in interracial marriages. Chua’s non-fiction books focus on “the disparate impact of capitalism on different ethnic and immigrant groups” and that theme is front and center of this well-written and engaging historical mystery.

Some random quotes:
“In California, we have county coroners, and they’re elected, which is not exactly a recipe for competence.“

“That depends on your view of relevance. Yours, Mr. Doogan, appears to be quite cramped.”

“You can’t trust newspapers, but there’s one subject they’re good at — hate. First they whip it up, then they report on it.“

“There’s a suspicion line in every society, Miriam, and you’re either above it or below it. The people above that line, they never even think about it. They walk the streets like they own them. They take for granted that the law is there to protect them because it is.”

Emily Dickinson, but quoted in the book and I love it: “To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.”

The Golden Gate by Amy Chua is a magnificent debut novel.
One of the most compelling historical thrillers I’ve read lately.
Set in Berkeley, California, in 1944 Amy Chua weaves a nice story intricately together, along with a timeline to create a spellbinding tale.
A riveting story, gracefully written and eagerly consumed.
With strong leading characters who totally stole the show. I was hooked onto every word.
TGG was a page-turning debut bringing to life a historical masterpiece.
The vivid descriptions and storytelling painted a vibrant portrait of a California buffeted by the turbulent crosswinds of a world at war.
If you love history, you will love this book!
This book weaved a stunning of history into a thrilling story.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Minotaur Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Twists, turns, noir, eerie, all in this novel. A great story surrounding the murder of a politician in his hotel. The setting is San Francisco; both sides of San Francisco. The wealthy who live atop Nob Hill and the poor who do their bidding. The story takes place during the shameful era of Japanese internment. The author includes a great deal about the history and politics of WWII America, especially California.

Although I found the book fascinating, I feel it was just “too much” and a bit overwhelming. There are too many subplots. I think they should have been eliminated, especially the subplot surrounding Madame Chiang Kai Shek.
Additionally , there were too many characters. Despite liking the book, I did find it confusing.

I loved the character of Al Sullivan, the intrepid detective in charge of the case. Honestly, I hope I get to meet him and his niece Miriam in future books. He is the perfect vehicle for mysteries during this period in the fascinating mosaic of San Francisco.

Thank you Netgalley for this novel.

oooh so much to unpack. first, what stood out to me about this novel is that it's not just a mystery novel—the little nuggets of historical info really make it feel like you're in 1940s berkeley, and the details (which readers who are less of a history nerd than i am may find a little digressive and annoying, but which i appreciated immensely) were illuminating. i also really appreciated the nuanced commentary about the bainbridge sisters—they were rich, and they were flawed, but they were human, too. i also didn't really guess at the ending until the end, which is kinda rare for me, having read all of agatha christie's books and many modern mysteries to boot. overall, an exciting debut, and i can't wait to read more!!

thanks to st. martin's press and netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

This book has so many layers that I am going to provide the synopsis given by the publisher as it is hard to "describe concisely in one sentence" as many book review outlets want

Synopsis:
************
Amy Chua's debut novel, The Golden Gate, is a sweeping, evocative, and compelling historical thriller that paints a vibrant portrait of a California buffeted by the turbulent crosswinds of a world at war and a society about to undergo massive change.

In Berkeley, California, in 1944, Homicide Detective Al Sullivan has just left the swanky Claremont Hotel after a drink in the bar when a presidential candidate is assassinated in one of the rooms upstairs. A rich industrialist with enemies among the anarchist factions on the far left, Walter Wilkinson could have been targeted by any number of groups. But strangely, Sullivan’s investigation brings up the spectre of another tragedy at the Claremont, ten years earlier: the death of seven-year-old Iris Stafford, a member of the Bainbridge family, one of the wealthiest in all of San Francisco. Some say she haunts the Claremont still.

The many threads of the case keep leading Sullivan back to the three remaining Bainbridge heiresses, now adults: Iris’s sister, Isabella, and her cousins Cassie and Nicole. Determined not to let anything distract him from the truth—not the powerful influence of Bainbridges’ grandmother, the political aspirations of Berkeley’s district attorney, or the interest of China's First Lady Madame Chiang Kai-Shek in his findings—Sullivan follows his investigation to its devastating conclusion.

Chua’s page-turning debut brings to life a historical era rife with turbulent social forces and groundbreaking forensic advances, when race and class defined the very essence of power, sex, and justice, and introduces a fascinating character in Detective Sullivan, a mixed-race former Army officer who is still reckoning with his own history.

This book has a lot of layers: It is a millefeuille of a book.(Yes, I love my baking show analogies). It is not just a mystery, it is a look into racism, political change, how being an heiress is not all it is cracked up to be and how California has changed over the decades: not necessarily for the better.

I will highly recommend it to my readers of mysteries, historical fiction, social change and lovers of rich women getting what they deserve. as it's just a darn great read!

How can this be a debut fiction book?? Well, this incredible author is also a lawyer … and A TIGER MOTHER … so said recently one of the most profound things I have heard in a while.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT A FOREIGN ACCENT IS? IT'S A SIGN OF BRAVERY.

#shortbutsweetreviews