Thank you Netgalley, Melanie Benjamin and Random House Publishing for the ARC of California Golden. This is my personal review.
This book threw me into a place and time I was not used to being. It gave me a story about a mother and her two daughters who had a lot to deal with in the life they were living. Carol Donnelly was a mother but also a legendary surfer. Mindy and Ginger were her daughters who had to learn how to live a life of surfing and wanting to be daughters and at times the two live styles did not fit together for any of them.
Following the three in the story was choppy and hard to piece together for me as I was reading.
I liked the characters most of the time but at other times I had mixed feelings.

Mindy and Ginger are the daughters of Carol Donnelly, a pioneer of women's surfing in the early 50s, in this novel, that alternates through all three women as narrators. This book is about finding one's place in the world, defying societal expectations, and finding happiness as well. Mindy is determined to be conventional, and for a time finds success as a stunt double and bikini model in Hollywood, moving away from "true" surfing in the name of being conventional. Ginger ends up in an abusive relationship, living in a shack, barely surviving, after she and Mindy have a falling out on a movie set early on in the book. Carol is their distant mother, a woman who was dedicated to the sport of surfing at a time when women surfing was basically unheard of.

As I mentioned, this novel alternated through all three women as narrators, showing that despite appearances, they aren't all that different. Each struggled to find their place in society, and finding what will make them happy, regardless of what society at that time expected from them, as young women and mothers. Their relationships are strained, and accurately portrayed, but by the end of the novel they have come back around and found each other. I enjoyed the character development, as well as the overall setting of the novel, Southern California in the mid-century.

This book starts off strong, and stayed strong for me from start to finish, and I honestly devoured it in every spare moment I had to read. At face value, it's a novel about 3 women, but it's about defying the expected place for women of the time period, striving for happiness and self-fulfillment in a non-traditional role. Since I found it so good from beginning to end, I am rounding up from a high 4.5 stars to 5 stars overall.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

A woman whose passion for surfing takes her away from her husband and 2 daughters. When the husband also leaves, she returns and gets her daughters into surfing. One takes to it and one does not. This is the story of their lives on the California coast.

I loved the setting of this book - the Southern California coast, from Malibu down to Laguna Beach, my home beaches for most of my life. The descriptions of surfing and life in the 60s drew me in. Unfortunately, I did not connect to the characters much and felt like the story jumping around as it did did a disservice to each person's story and was confusing. The timeline was vague, and some chapters began and I didn't know who they were referring to. There were no real a-ha moments, no lines that jumped out as profound or unique, it was just sort of generic. Overall I'm sure there are people who will love this book and I'd recommend it to those who have a stronger interest in place over character development.

Truly wonderful book about 3 women and their lives during the 1960s California surfing culture.

Carol Donnelly is one of the very first female surfers in what is very definitely a white man's world. A star athlete in her teens, an unexpected happenstance derails her from the possibilities of being a star female softball player. Young, self absorbed and completely unfit to meet the expectations of women during the '50s (wife, motherhood, homemaker), for Carol surfing is her only escape and the only place where she feels genuine and alive.

Mindy and Ginger are Carol 's daughters. Together they form a female surfing family unlike anything that has been seen before in Malibu, the epicenter of California surfing. But Carol is an absentee mother, and Mindy and Ginger are largely left to their own devices when Carol flees her marriage and leaves them behind.

Told from the viewpoints of Carol, Mindy and Ginger, as each of them take very different paths, California Golden is an eye opening view into surfing culture in their times. It's one of those books that you just can't put down!

California Golden is an atmospheric tale of the early days of surfing and a family of three women who lived for the water.

Carol Donnelly never meant to be a mother or a wife. But in the 1950s, if you got pregnant, you got married….so, she did. Her two daughters take up her precious time, time that had previously been lent on athletic accomplishments. When they get a bit older (8 and 10), she begins surfing and spending all her time at the beach. The girls feel very unloved and abandoned, and older daughter Mindy is convinced if they can just be easy kids and surf just like mom, she won’t leave her and her sister Ginger.

The story gives us the day of Mindy and Ginger’s youth, surfing and being extras in surf movies on the California beaches. Mindy becomes a young woman obsessed with the right image after being pitied as a child for wearing the same threadbare clothes every day. Ginger becomes obsessed with a man who calls himself the Surf God, a man full of charm who leads her down a path full of cult-ish family and drug running.

There are dark topics beneath the Cali sunshine- abandonment, abuse, cults, drugs. All are written with a light hand. It is easy to see the missteps leading down these dark paths, but still hard to understand or relate to the decisions made. I felt pity for the characters more than anything else, as it let like they never had a chance to make a better decision.

The beaches of California and Hawaii make a gorgeous setting for this story of youth, fame, and reaching for something better. The contrast between the sister’s lives is dramatic and interesting. The third person POV always makes it harder to connect with a character, and I definitely felt that here. I found the historical details interesting and felt like I learned a bit more about the Vietnam War, which becomes the setting for one part of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

California Golden
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️From RANDOM HOUSE PUBLISHING: 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.

**********************************
My Review:
Overall this book was an I retesting look at California, Hawaii, Vietnam, relationships, and parenting (or lack thereof) in the 1960's. It was hard to like any of the main characters but I grew to appreciate Mindy who was selfless and kind in the end. Her little sister Ginger was naive, easily swayed, and with the most wrong man. I was frustrated with her choices.

The book focused on looking for love, acceptance, belonging, and family. These are good themes but details were lacking that may have helped me understand the three women more.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because I like family drama and I love historical fiction. (And I learned a little about surfing).

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an advance digital copy of California Golden in exchange for my review.

I am a sucker for a great family drama story. One that makes the reader relate to the trials and tribulations of the characters in this family and how their interactions with each other really show the ugliness and confusion being a family means. This is that book.

As a baby boomer and a California girl I enjoyed the summer beach scene and the descriptive surfing scenes. The writing was skillful and the pace moved right along. As the book progressed I have to say that I became fatigued with the repetitive, relentless bad decisions made by most of the characters; I found it difficult to relate or even sympathize and while I kept up hope for a happy ending I was disappointed.

"California Golden" by Melanie Benjamin takes place in 1960's California. The matriarch of the family, Carol Donnelly, was a female surfer back when surfers were male. She winds up with two daughters, Mindy and Ginger, who alter the course of her life somewhat. The girls are close as children but their lives go in different directions as they grow older. Mindy becomes a surfer star and then finds parts in film. Ginger finds a loser guy and more of a drifter life. Eventually fate brings them together again in a way I did not see coming.
The California (and Hawaiian) surfer scene was well depicted though some of the details (Mindy meeting up with a guy she knows from California by chance in Vietnam) seemed a bit too contrived.
At times this book was unputdownable, and at times it was slow but overall I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was the perfect summer read. California Golden took me back to a time before I was born. The Beach Boys, Jan and Dean and Beach Blanket Bingo. I could hear Frankie Avalon singing to Annette Funicello.
This story spans the course of time with two sisters, Mindy and Ginger. We see the ups and downs in the age of Surfing and these women coming front and center. The drama within the family and their mother gives a unique spin on the story.
This novel is just an example of why Melanie Benjamin is my favorite author.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review has been posted to goodreads and will be posted to indie store sites and Amazon, Barnes and noble, bookbub, etc on day of publication.

I’m giving this book only 3 stars because it’s more a beach read than historical fiction as the description claims. The reader has to dig deep to find the “history” which the author explains at the end. But this book is nothing like the books written by Kristi Harmel, Fiona Davis & recent historical fiction books but Lisa Scottoline & Jodi Picoult.

California Golden (2023) is the story of women competing in a man’s sport -surfing. It begins with the waves crashing on that golden California shore and ends with the golden edges of that dream permanently tarnished. The Donnelly girls all costar in this surfing safari, mother Carol and daughters Mindy and Ginger.

Carol was the original surfer chick when no other women were on the waves. But her dreams were dashed as she got locked into 1950’s suburban life with Tupperware parties and two young daughters. But Carol was not the PTA mom in Van Nuys. She was hardly around and eventually abandoned her family to go to the place it all started – in Hawaii – where no one took her seriously till they had no choice.

The two daughters were inseparable as twins – until they weren’t. Mindy, like her mother, took to the waves, winning surf championship after surf championship until a moviemaker wanted to star her in Gidget type movies. Mindy D, the girl with the curl, became the new sensation and a mini-celebrity -until years later when her time passed and she had to beg to accompany a USO tour to Vietnam and come to terms with who and what she left behind.

Meanwhile mom Carol bristled at being told she was too old for surf moviedom and disappeared again. Little Ginger was afraid of the surf and glommed onto a surfer, Tom, eventually clinging to him as they lived like vagabonds in a shack and later in a Laguna Beach commune. Tom beat her and said he really wanted the older sister. Ginger didn’t want anything but him – no matter what.

The novel tracks the trajectory of their intertwined but separate lives, they’re rises and falls through life. It tracks them through the Fifties and the Sixties and shows each of them in their glory and their imperfections. It is a well-written, charming, and often heart-wrenching tale.

California Golden was a pleasant surprise of a book. I enjoy historical fiction, and while I’ve not read any of Melanie Benjamin’s books, I’ve heard great things. This story follows two sisters growing up in California in the 50’s and 60’s. Both are struggling to find their own identity in the shadow of their surfer goddess of a mother. Set against the background of surfer culture, the counterculture, and the Vietnam War, you see two girls mature and follow completely different trajectories. Thank you for NetGalley, Random House Ballantine, and Melanie Benjamin for the ARC!

All the California dreamin' vibes with this fantastic historical fiction book about mothers and daughters and the complications of pursuing your dreams at a time when women are expected to be good wives and mothers - not famous surfers.

I really, really enjoyed this latest from Melanie Benjamin! She had interesting quotes at the start of the chapters, told a story about the complicated relationships between a mother and her daughters and how her dreams for herself got sidetracked when she got pregnant at 19.

Alternating POVs from each of the women, my heart ached for them all at different points as they experience loss in different ways set against a drastically changing America of the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s. If you love this time period, strong female characters, authors like Kristin Hannah or the movie Blue Crush this book is for you and is the perfect read for the summer.

Great on audio too narrated by Christine Lakin. Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and @prhaudio for a complimentary digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review. I also enjoyed the author's note included at the end in which she talks about how she struggled coming up with the idea for this book and definitely did NOT learn how to surf in the name of research lol.

I really enjoyed ready this story of Mindy and Ginger growing up in California during the surf era. I always wondered about the surfers and living in huts etc and this cleared that up for me.

This book really made me mad at some of the points in the book and at others I was so happy. I rarely feel emotions so strongly when reading yet they were there.

I would recommend this book highly.

Loved this one! Sunny dreamy California in the 1960s. Surf culture was rising. Two sisters, Mindy and Ginger fries up watching their mother Carol Donnelly be the opposite of everyone else’s mother. She surfed. She didn’t pick them up from school or swim lessons on time. She left them to go surfing in Hawaii and they weren’t sure she’d return. She did, though, because her adoring husband had had enough and left the girls. She raised the girls in the water, surfing. Mindy was a natural and as the oldest, she was confident and assured. Ginger was beautiful, but lacked confidence and didn’t love to surf. What follows is a story of how their mothers choices changed them and their family dynamic. Mindy found fame while ginger found an abusive partner and a cult. No more spoilers. Read and find out. Did the sisters survive? What happened to Carol? Definitely five stars!

California Golden is that kind of book that is perfect for the beach or a lazy vacation. The vibes are 70s surf culture mixed with the wild ride of that era in general. The author’s writing style is not my favorite, but the story itself and the characters, for me, made it more palpable. I really enjoyed the characterization of this family and sisters who had a real relationship with negative and positive times. The story was emotional, felt real, and had a lot of heavy feelings along with a light vibe that somehow worked. I enjoyed it overall!

This book is the best hazy summer read with its sunny location in Malibu California, and the late 60s-70s early surf culture.

It is a story of women in the early days of the sport seen through the eyes of two sisters whose mother is at the forefront of women in a mostly male-dominated sport. A mother who is distant both in being around and emotionally when she is.

As you read, you follow the sisters and their relationship with each other. It is a real relationship, with ups and downs in their differences in personality and their abilities on the surfboard.

It is an emotional read, with tragedy and courage. Well written and well-paced. It is a book you will find hard to put down.

This story is unwashed in the history of the 60s and 70s, from the obvious surf culture history to the Vietnam War to the early days of the Whiskey A Go-Go.

I loved everything about it, and def recommend picking up California Golden and spending the day soaking up the sun while reading.


** This book releases on August 8th. Thank you Net Galley and Random House for the advance copy **

The premise to this summer read sounded excellent, but unfortunately I hated the writing style and the characters fell a bit flat for me..