The Golden State

Almost without knowing what she's doing, Daphne abandons her well-paid university job, collects her 18-month-old daughter Honey from child care, packs up the ancient Buick she inherited from her grandparents, and heads from San Francisco to their abandoned mobile home in rural Paiute County. She's melancholy about the death of a graduate student killed in an automobile accident overseas. She misses husband Elgin dearly—he's stuck in Turkey after accidentally losing his U.S. residency status. Plus, she's frazzled by motherhood and the associated challenges of raising her baby on her own. But the high desert, with its stark beauty and hardscrabble neighbors, may only amplify her loneliness. First novelist Kiesling nails the particular travails of new mothers, puts a human face on immigration issues, and adds some contemporary political commentary with Daphne's interactions with a group that wants to secede from California. There's so much to love about this novel, it's possible to forgive the frequent use of long, run-on lists, a stylistic choice that becomes a bad habit. Ignore this quirk and focus instead on Daphne's honesty, insight, and efforts to sort out the best path forward for herself and her family.