FICTION

Gold Fame Citrus

Riverhead. Sept. 2015. 352p. ISBN 9781594634239. $27.95; ebk. ISBN 9780698195943. F
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OrangeReviewStarIn a not-too-distant future, the nation is in the grip of an ecological disaster. Plagued by severe water shortages, the residents of California (already dwindling in number) are subjected to a forced evacuation. Luz, a former model who spent her childhood as the government's poster child for the oncoming crisis, is hiding out in a starlet's abandoned mansion in Laurel Canyon with her competent companion Ray, who has recently gone AWOL from the U.S. military. After rescuing, or possibly kidnapping, a neglected toddler from a criminal gang, they attempt to flee the lawless frontier for what they hope will be greener pastures inland. When their plans fall apart, Luz comes under the sway of the charismatic leader of an outpost in the desert, who, like many so-called prophets, might not be what he seems. In her powerful depictions of the scorched and merciless landscape, Watkins realizes a genuine nostalgia for our lost living world, and the American West in particular.
VERDICT This debut novel (after Watkins's multiaward-winning story collection, Battleborn) follows a recent spate of similarly disturbing ecodystopias. Yet, with its damaged and complicated heroine and multiple voices, shifting perspectives, and unconventional narrative devices, it is a wholly original work. [See Prepub Alert, 4/13/15.]
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