I'm a big Melanie Benjamin fan but this one just didn't do it for me. Great writing, really brought the time and place to life, but I didn't find the characters particularly likable. Still worth reading, though!

Unintentionally I read this book right after spending time in California, Malibu and the surrounding areas. I had also recently been watching a series that takes place in the 70’s so I had the perfect mindset of time and place for this book. It takes place a little earlier but I think both factors actually enhanced my experience as a reader. This is admittedly my first book by our author and it was a really good one to read first.

I especially enjoy and seem to gravitate to books with sibling relationships and story lines. This book is a wonderful story about two sisters in California totally immersed in the culture of surfing, especially the very early days of women in the sport during the 60’s. In a time where the expectation of women is to be domesticated the family represented in our book are trail blazing in a sport that is still made up of primarily men. Not only does this book involve the sport of surfing, sunshine and swimsuits it also tells a story that I really enjoyed of dedication, ambition and competition. It has layers of chosen family and family that that doesn’t choose each other. At times it is raw, vulnerable and full of emotion and at other times it is hard core cut throat competition. I thought our characters were really well built with adequate back story and layers. The setting was so descriptive and well described I could easily put myself into the scenes in the book. Overall I really liked this book and would recommend it.

Many thanks to our author, Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with an advanced eGalley copy of the book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This will be released on August 8th, 2023 and I hope if you choose to read it you enjoy it also.

I must say this is the first of her books which i wasn’t crazy about. I enjoyed the time period but as a whole I didn’t love it.

Since she is without question my very favorite contemporary author, I must admit to being extremely disappointed with this book. It simply isn’t in any way up to get usually superior standard. I felt the characters were highly cliched, and the plot barely plausible. A great shame as I truly LOVE her work, and I look forward to the next one, hopefully up to the superlative standard if her others.

A wonderful story of the Donnelley sisters who grew up with a mom who didn't know how to be mom and spent her days trying to recapture her passions when she was forced into marriage by becoming pregnant, Mindy and Ginger spend most of their young lives trying to connect with their mom through her love of surfing and both end up taking very different paths. A touching story about love, loss, and the beautiful California coast.

I received this book from the Publisher
I found the story to be very surface
I would have preferred characters with more depth
If you want to learn about surfing and competition this book is for you
I found it difficult to finish

California Golden takes you back to the 1950s and 60s, to the hey day of the California girl and surfing. The story is about two sisters and their desire to keep their family together. One aspect I really enjoyed was that the story was told from three different points of view, Mindy the older sister, Ginger the younger sister, and Carol the mother. Carol only cares about surfing and often forgets about her girls at times. It is the 1950s and although the standard is to be the perfect housewife she would rather be in the ocean. Mindy comes up with a plan to keep her mother from leaving them and being forced to go to an orphanage. She convinces her sister that they have to learn to surf so that they can always be with their mother. Mindy embraces her new role and becomes an amazing surfer but the weight of trying to keep her family together brings forth a desire to become her own independent person. The drama continues from there as Ginger desperate to belong and be loved goes down a dangerous path.

There was so much to enjoy about this novel. I was immediately invested into what was going to happen to the girls. The novel alternated times so that you got background on the characters motivation and what was happening. Their childhood really touched my heart and I was rooting for both of them. I also loved the time period of the book. It really spoke volumes to what life was like during this time period. Plus even though the book said California it was set in Vietnam and Hawaii as well. I loved that the author brought all of the locations into the book. Lastly, I really want to get out in the ocean and try surfing. This is an incredible work of historical fiction filled with drama and an emotional impact. I highly recommend it!

Thank you to Ballantine Bantam Dell | Random House Group and NetGalley for this ARC.

California Golden highlights the 60’s era--the drug scene, surfing lifestyle, and the hippie movement. The novel spans three decades of the Donnelly women--Carol, Mindy, and Ginger and their troubled relationships.

Carol becomes bored and discouraged after marrying her high school sweetheart at a young age. She longs to be unattached and quickly abandons her husband and two girls for a surfing life in Hawaii. Her mother begs Carol to come home to let her know her husband has left her. Daughters Mindy and Ginger learn to surf to gain their mother’s attention. But Carol’s obsession with surfing at all costs leads to her demise with her daughters to fend for themselves. Mindy takes the acting route, and Ginger becomes pregnant and lives in a commune.

Author Melanie Benjamin showcases a fascinating viewpoint of each woman and her struggle with ambition, domestic abuse, and motherhood. California Golden is a riveting character-driven novel of the 60s era. I thank NetGalley for allowing me to read and review it. #NetGalley #historical fiction

The synopsis of this story really appealed to me - sun, surfing and the 60’s in California. Overall, this was an enjoyable historical fiction novel exploring the complex relationship between a (surfer) mother and her two daughters. The time period is interesting with all that went on during this time … Something different in this genre. It did turn out to be much heavier than I expected. I enjoyed reading the author’s notes at the end.

Melanie Benjamin is a remarkable writer of historical fiction. California Golden is a strong story of a mother raising her daughters with resentment. She had plans when she got out of school and Mindy and Ginger derailed those plans. The sisters relied on each other, never their mother. This is an excellent story of mothers, daughters, sisters, jealousy and surfing. This book takes place in the 1960’s which were my childhood years. I recognized a lot of the California culture with it’s the drugs, hippies, surfing and communes. It’s hard to believe that those years are already classified as “ historical” when they are still so fresh in my mind. This book was a nostalgic read and brought back memories. Thank you to NetGalley and Dell Publishers for the privilege of reading the digital ARC. This opinion is my own.

Wonderful book about two sisters Mindy and Ginger growing up in the 1960s surf era. I loved this book. It explores the first famous female surfers and the whole California teeny bopper surf phase...This story also explores two absent parents and how two little girls grew up to survive. I really enjoyed how well the author explained the time period. While this book battles tough topics I couldn't put it down. Wonderful summer book that immersed me in the time period of my mother's teenage years and I really enjoyed the experience.

(book for review courtesy of NetGalley)

Melanie Benjamin's California Golden encompasses the 1960s through the lives of two sisters. Their mother, Carol, abandons them for surfing but as the sisters cling together for stability they are separated by a random choice. Mindy, The confident older sister, becomes a surfer like her mother, and has a brief moment of fame as "the girl in the curl." Ginger, the shy younger sister, follows an unstable surf bum into a world of drugs and hippie communes.
All three women face a world where their choices are limited, bit bring about drastic consequences, and eventually redemption and peace.

This was exceptional historical fiction - I didn't realize until the end and the author's information that this is the same person that wrote The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, which I LOVED.

Set in California in the 1950's and 1960's, it encompasses the beach and surf culture from the POV of the Donnelly girls (Mom Carol, daughters Mindy and Ginger). Racism and sexism are portrayed realistically for the times, but it does not feel like it is a novel about those things - it is an exploration of the times, but mainly the relationship between Carol and her daughters and their lives. As I was reading from Mindy and Ginger's point of view, I was wishing someone would write a book from the mom's point of view in these circumstances because I was so curious what was going through her head .. then voila! Carol's POV was part II of the book.

Highly recommend - you can feel the California sunshine in your bones and the sand between your toes while you are reading this.

This book completely hooked me and It is still 2 days latter swimming around in my head. I read this book as fast as I could I had to know what happened to the 3 women.
I just reviewed California Golden by Melanie Benjamin. #CaliforniaGolden #NetGalley
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This beautifully crafted story takes place in California during the late 50s through early 70s. Carol Donnely never wanted to be a wife or a mother. A natural-born athlete, she had dreams of being a baseball player. When that dream was shattered, she discovered surfing. From that day forward, nothing else was important to her.

While other mothers were staying at home raising children and baking cookies, Carol dropped hers off at school wearing the same outfits several days in a row. Blissfully unaware of her husband or her responsibilities, Carol lives only to surf.

Carol's daughters, Ginger and Mindy, do their best to survive with a mother who does not seem to know they exist and a father who is only aware of their mother and his hopeless love for her. They spend their days trying to not get taken into custody by DFCS.

When their father finally walks out, the girls are left on their own. Their mother continues to only care about the surf. In order to get her to notice them, the girls start learning to surf. Mindy becomes a great surfer in her own right. Ginger is terrified of the water and only surfs to make her mother and sister happy.

This story reveals what happens when Carol is forced to try to parent daughters she has no interest in. When Mindy becomes a champion in her own right,, there are unexpected consequences. When Mindy takes off with her new career, Ginger is left on her own. Having never made a decision on her own before, her life becomes a portrait of the California Dream when it is left too long in the harsh sun

From the shores of California to the shores of Hawaii and even across the ocean to Viet Nam, this story covers the surfing craze of the 60s, the hippies, the surfers, the soldiers, and the golden people. However, we don't just see the beautiful blonde people with perfect white teeth. We see that dark underbelly of the culture as well. The drugs. The surf bums. The communes.

This story is very hard to put down. Full of unexpected twists and turns, we see how women have been forced to fulfill certain roles in society. We see what happens when children are raised by mothers who are not able to love. It also shows the bitter reality behind that golden California sun. This is a beautifully written novel. I highly recommend it.

A historical story based on the early day of surfing in California and Gidget fever nationally. California Golden features the stories of Carol and her daughters Ginger and Mindy who al break new waves as female surfers.
It's early 1960 and the male dominated sport (and world ) leaves very little room for women but all three persevere in different ways to carve a life.
#RandomHouse #MelanieBenjamin #CaliforniaGolden

I adored this story! Its not my typical genre, and I surprised myself how much I enjoyed it. I really got Taylor Jenkins Reid / Malibu Rising vibes. It was deeper than I expected and I felt myself really diving into this story and the characters.

Southern California during the 1950s and 60s was a surfer's paradise--for men. Then Carol Donnelly came on the scene, blowing everyone out of the water with her skill and boldness on tany wave. By that time she was already married and a mother of two little girls, Ginger and Mindy. Carol is never a very attentive mother and becomes even less so when her husband abandons them. She hauls Mindy and Ginger from surf spot to surf spot, never allowing them to put down roots and generally ignoring them. Mindy is a talented surfer and Ginger is good, but they are pulled in different directions when Carol moved on entirely from her motherhood role.

Melanie Benjamin gives us insight into each character's motivation. Ginger is the most difficult to understand and relate to, because she, the tender one, makes one destructive decision after another. Mindy flirts with fame but is ultimately practical, seeking stability. Carol is aloof, squeezed into decisions completely opposed to her being by time and place. I only found Mindy, with her practical bent, as someone relatable, but, then, she takes steps that do not make her relatable at all.

Benjamin's first two novels were deep, insightful, satisfying examples of quality hostorical fiction, but she seems to have gone the Taylor Jenkins Reid school of fiction, which is fine. But we already have TJR, and now no one like the author of "Alice I Have Been" or "The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb," books I shared with many friends. "California Golden" has a good sense of place and a nice take on the surf culture of California and Hawaii. It will appeal to readers who want to groove on the '60s surf scene and discover something about what it felt like to grab a wave with the sun on your back and the sand ahead.

Melanie Benjamin never disappoints!! I was immediately pulled into the story and found California Golden "unputdownable"! I have read and enjoyed all of her previous books but this one may be my favorite!

My first 5 Star read of the year! I enjoyed everything about this book. I could feel the sun on my skin, the smell of suntan oil and feel of the surf board.