The narrative centers on Tobey Harlan, a young man abandoned by his girlfriend while a LA fire encroaches upon his home. As he contemplates his next course of action, he decides to abscond with several paintings belonging to his father. The artist Di Stiegel, residing in New York City during the 1980s, is the granddaughter of Klaus Aaronsohn, an immigrant from the silent film era. Tobey steals Di's paintings many years after the 1980s have passed. Although the story exhibits some interesting moments and commendable writing, it frequently appears disjointed and lacks cohesion.

However, with the frequent changes in characters and the lack of return to Tobey and his narrative until the conclusion of the book, it became challenging to maintain interest and follow the connections between the characters. In fact, I found myself needing to restart the book several times, as recalling the details proved difficult if I paused reading for more than a few days. Maybe people who love that slow burn of the plot would enjoy this one.

I had the privilege of reading this Advance Reader Copy courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher Mariner Books.

very ambitious idea that is kinda weakened by the setup not quite fully working with the chaotic set of scenes all pushed together. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

SoI tried reading The Californians by Brian Casteleberry several times and I just couldn’t engage with the book, it’s a family story, several generations,. I found it very hard to follow. Maybe I will try it again in the future, but not for me.

This book just didn’t appeal to me, which is unfortunate because the plot sounded so intriguing. If you like breezy beach novels then this book will delight you. The book dragged a lot, and the characters were very whiny and self-indulgent to the bone.

An absorbing, intricately constructed, multi-generational story of the rewards and costs of personal transformation and the transformation of American movies, television, and art in the twentieth and early twenty-first century. It is also a story of selfishness and broken relationships in the pursuit of greatness as a filmmaker or an artist.

The characters in The Californians all have a family connection to California, and much of the story is set in Hollywood, of course, and in the California residential oasis, Palm Springs. California is the only place in America where this story could have been set. To that extent California is really itself a character in the story.

I had to read the book twice in order to “get it,” to appreciate its layers within layers, its elements that form something of an homage to a very great movie, “Citizen Kane,” and the cinematic quality of the scenes and writing throughout.

The Californians is a great book if you already know something about the history of American movies and television in the twentieth century and about American art in the late twentieth and early twenty-first. It is a great book if you are drawn to novels that have a complex structure, where plot and characterization are revealed in seemingly unrelated episodes presented in an artfully designed chronology. It is a great book if you admire an author’s skill in creating a kind of meta narrative: a series of what the author calls “interstitials” placed between each chapter, that add a perspective from outside the story in the form of imagined reviews of films and books that feature in the story, imagined correspondence between characters, and transcripts of imagined interviews of the major characters, and other tricks. And it is a great book if you enjoy reading scenes in which imagined characters deal with imagined behavior of famous people from real life.

Ultimately—and I doubt the author intended this—I realized from reading this novel that I probably would appreciate an artistic creation more if I knew less about its creator. This novel has changed the way I think about and approach aesthetic experience. That is the surprising and wonderful effect of The Californians had on me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5 stars)

Brian Castleberry’s The Californians is an ambitious, sprawling novel that spans nearly a century, following the tangled lives of two California families whose fates are intertwined by art, reinvention, and the forces of history. At its core, the novel explores how legacies—both personal and artistic—are shaped, distorted, and sometimes stolen.

The book primarily follows Klaus, a silent film director turned television producer, and his granddaughter Di, a contemporary artist navigating the wild 1980s New York art scene. Their stories, along with Tobey—a lost soul in 2024 who sets events in motion by stealing some of Di’s paintings—create a layered narrative that examines fame, commerce, and the creative impulse.

Castleberry’s prose is rich and often brilliant, capturing the shifting tides of American culture with a sharp eye. The novel’s structure, which jumps across timelines and perspectives, is both a strength and a challenge. While the braided storytelling creates compelling juxtapositions, it also requires careful attention, and at times, I found myself struggling to keep track of the numerous characters and their relationships.

The book is filled with complex, often unlikable characters, which may make it difficult for some readers to fully engage on an emotional level. That said, the novel’s exploration of self-invention and the costs of ambition is thought-provoking, and I appreciated its sharp observations about the art world and Hollywood’s ever-changing landscape.

Overall, The Californians is an intelligent, intricate novel that rewards patient readers. While it didn’t completely win me over, I admire Castleberry’s skill and ambition. Fans of multigenerational sagas and literary fiction with a structural challenge may find much to appreciate here.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Castleberry’s newest historical fiction spans 100 years covering the movie picture and art industries. The Californians tells the story of a family and human connections influenced. A perfect recommendation for readers who like character driven family sagas.

“The Californians” is one interesting novel. Taking place during various stages of California’s modern history, we see various forms of art mesh with culture and family. Castleberry has crafted a story that not only shows a brief history of the state, but also examines our relationship with art. It’s a bold novel, one that takes a little bit of time to settle into, but once you’re over the initial introductions, this book flies by. I personally found Klaus’ storyline to be more interesting (then again, I also have an adoration for old Hollywood, so it’s no surprise that I connected to his storyline more).

There were moments where I found myself a little lost within the story, which I know would clear up on another reading, which I am honestly excited to do, since I really had a good time with this read. Castleberry’s writing is gripping, which makes for a read that you simply won’t want to put down.

California, the "land of dreams". It's the place where thousands come to fulfill the dreams of stardom, of striking it rich, of becoming someone they aren't.

The Californians by Brian Castleberry is the story of 100 years of American history, focusing on three characters.

Tobey is at the bottom. College dropout, newly single, and has a temporary job as at a waiter, he's just lost everything due to the Northern California wildfires. He's convinced that if he steals and sells three paintings by Di Stiegl, he will be able to restart his entire life.

Klaus Aaronsohn, a German-Jewish immigrant, living in New York on the Lower East Side, loves the silent movies of his era. Rebranding himself as Klaus von Stiegl, a German aristocrat film director, he makes his way from a film studio in Astoria to the lights and trappings of Hollywood.

In the new money yuppie era of the 1980s, Diane "Di" Stiegl, born and raised in Palm Springs, becomes an artist in the dirty streets of New York, the once home of her grandfather, Klaus von Stiegl. As America elects a former movie star to the presidency, Di's life falls into all the trappings of the 1980s—drugs, AIDS, and the flash of celebrity.

While the theme of this novel could be considered 'reinvention', I found the story disjointed. Yes, it's clear to see the strings connecting the three characters, but it was just lacking in some meat.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital copy of this audiobook; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

To be honest, I only listened to about 1/2 of this book. I did not connect with it at all. It meandered and seemingly pointless information was provided for each of the multiple POV. At around the 40% mark, I skipped to the last 10% of the book just to see how it ended, so I did not read the whole book.

Characters fell flat, none of the protagonists were likeable, and despite the title, there's so much about this book that does not scream California. The writing was uneven and downright choppy. The whole thing was just not a pleasant experience for this reader.

I will not be featuring this review on my blog or social, but I will be posting on Storygraph and Goodreads.

This was a very unique story, I give the author a lot of credit for originality. It did not land well with me, unfortunately. I felt it was poorly detailed and there was too much vulgarity (I am not a prude either).

Thank you to Netgalley the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Mariner Books for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The Californians by Brian Castleberry is a work of literary fiction that follows three members of intertwined families whose lives have been heavily influenced by the arts. While the title “The Californians” is accurate in the sense that all of the characters spend at least some of the time in the state, the story is tied much more closely to their engagement with the arts (photorealistic painting, cinema and television, environmental performance art) and their family ties.

The book follows Tobey, an adrift youngest son of a wealthy developer, hoping to start over following a wildfire. He conspired to steal the paintings of the second narrative focus, Di. Di is an artist from a family of free spirits and grifters whose contemporary art is deeply influenced by her life in 1980s New York. Her grandfather, Klaus, is the final character followed by the narrative. An immigrant and film director, he is sent into a spiral of disuse and frustration after being blackballed. The story is largely character driven. The plot, especially that of Tobey, seems somewhat inconsequential. It feels more like a scaffold used to tell their life stories. For those looking for a plot that moves in a linear, fast paced way, this book is much more atmospheric and may not satisfy.

The presence of American pop culture acts as a fourth main character in the novel. A variety of major, defining 20th and 21st century movements all seem to play against the main characters, pushing and pulling them along. Silent film, the emergence of the “talkie,” Louis B Mayer, the red scare, McCarthyism, Ronald Reagan, Andy Warhol, Basquiat, cocaine, AIDS, NFTs, and Bitcoin all play starring roles in the narrative. It really felt like a litany of pop culture topics influencing the narrative.

This novel is a solid portrait of a family deeply entrenched by the 20th and 21st century art establishment. Whether it’s making art or stealing it, it is the central conflict of almost every interaction. For people who love character pieces and have an interest in reflections on American culture, it could be a good choice. Unfortunately, the book does at time struggle with pacing, especially when splitting focus between the characters. The story can also be a little light on plot, focusing much more on building vignettes and characterization.

3/5 stars.

Highly enjoyable. I love when a narrative splits between multiple characters and multiple timelines and gives the reader a chance to know each of the primary characters before weaving their stories together and showing how they're all interconnected, and this one did it well.

This was a hard one to get into. I found it extremely difficult to follow, and struggled to connect with the characters. 2.5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Californians starts off as Tobey Harlan is escaping a wildfire with his neighbor and his ex-girlfriend's cat. With nowhere to live or work any more, he heads to his rich father's house for shelter. Tobey's story drew me in, but don't get too attached, because you'll only revisit his story briefly at two other points in the book.

Most of this novel alternates between the stories of a famous artist (Di Steigl) who cuts her artistic chops (and struggles with drug abuse) in 1980s NYC, and her grandfather, Klaus von Stiegl, who was a famous silent film director/producer. "Interstitial" chapters offer additional perspectives about the main characters through faux journalistic writings or other POV.

Solid writing makes this an enjoyable read, though the story dragged quite a bit in the late middle part. It also felt like we were offered excruciating detail about the lives of Di and Klaus, with Tobey's story acting as a mere footnote (I wanted more on Tobey, and his neighbor!). The connections between the three main characters are loose, but the tangled web between them is fun to unravel.

Really bad. Really, really had. I truly don’t see this book doing well in publication. I wanted to love it. It’s extremely ambitious. It just doesn’t get there with its goals.

This tale weaves in and out of different time periods and we get a flashback to an earlier time in one of the characters life. This is an epic tale that feels a little overwhelming at times and meanders a bit at times. New to me author and I will be interested in checking out future books by him.

This review is a tough one for me to write. I loved this book, but along the way I got lost a bit trying to keep the characters and their relationships straight and returning to times and places the story hadn't visited in a while. Granted, I read it while traveling internationally and coping with jet-lag and sleep-deprivation, but still, it was a lot to keep in mind and my plan was to finish it, go back to the beginning, and skim through parts but unfortunately I read it as a NetGalley ARC uncorrected proof and it disappeared from my device the minute I closed it after finishing the last sentence, so that wasn't possible. So those are the caveats, now here's the review.

This is a solid 3.5 star story and, were it not for the author's choices I'll get to in the next paragraph it would have been a 4 star story.. It wove together the lives of two loosely woven families through 100 pivotal years in California history, moving from silent films to the present day. It got points for creating interesting, sympathetic (though not always likable) characters. It took us into times and places so well they had color and sound and scent. The fundamental themes and plot were intriguing. There was humor. It was thought-provoking. I read the portion about Di's meteoric rise in the art world on day I visited the Louvre, the Musee D'Orsay, the Picasso and the Rodin museums, a lovely dovetail between life and literature.

The author chose to jump around in time, place, and character arc. It works great in a movie. It works well in a novel if the author knows how to balance all the elements. There are authors writing today who are brilliant at it, there are many who suck at it, Castleberry is pretty good at but not great; I'm an avid reader, a retired journalist, and I'm pretty good at following a story that jumps around, but I did spend more than a moment or two at the beginning of some chapters thumbing back to remind me who a character was. Example: one character (Mrs. Pomeroy I think was her name, Kay's friend) who appeared in the final quarter of the book and dipped into many of the characters' lives was a mystery to me and I'd planned to go back, find out who she was in the early days, and move forward but I couldn't because the ARC disappeared from my device right away. My glitchy memory can't provide any valid reason for her to play such a role in the final quarter of the book. Is she the Greek chorus of the story? I dunno.

I liked Castleberry's writing and style enough that I'll check out his other titles. I recommend this book, but feel I would have preferred reading it in print so I could review past sections more easily.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the ARC of "The Californians."

I like the idea of this book -- a sprawling generational story showing America over the last 100 years. But the execution just didn't quite work for me. I couldn't quite connect with any of the stories or characters; any time I started to truly care, we switched POVs. It felt to me like the story needed pruning.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

This was slightly haunting to read in the weeks after the tragic wildfires overtaking California at the start of this year. The premise and concept were very interesting, but I felt like there was a lot of telling and not showing in the writing of this book.