press
Paste Magazine's 30 Best Fiction Books of 2015: "Golden State delivers a minefield; one misstep and the story will explode. But Kegan walks the line between sanity and chaos, writing a tale with a flawless conclusion"
People Magazine's Best New Books:
“[An] intense, provocative novel...will resonate with anyone who’s ever watched a loved one self-destruct.”
Entertainment Weekly's Top Ten Must List
"Golden State reads like a minefield; one misstep and the story will explode. But Kegan walks the line between sanity and chaos, weaving a tale with a flawless conclusion. The results are devastatingly beautiful." —Frannie Jackson
The Sullivan County Democrat: "A strikingly intelligent first novel, both entertaining and deeply moving."
San Francisco Chronicle: "Top Shelf"
Kirkus Reviews: “Riveting new novel”
Largehearted Boy: "...a compelling and thought-provoking book.”
Review District: "I couldn’t put this book down...If you’re looking for your next book club pick, Golden State is sure to provoke an intense discussion."
advanced praise
"Stephanie Kegan’s Golden State signals the arrival of an exciting new voice in contemporary American fiction. Here is a California novel like no other, where an influential family’s turbulent legacy, and one woman’s decision, ultimately shapes the destiny of an entire state. In a landscape that is at once as serene and Edenic as it is volatile and combustible, Stephanie Kegan’s writing is deft, finely calibrated, and emotionally resonant. With a cast of characters that feel so familiar they could be our own kin, nothing is spared here as we witness the lengths Natalie Askedahl--wife, mother, sister--will go to in order to protect the ones she loves most."
- Alex Espinoza, author of The Five Acts of Diego Leon
& Still Water Saints
"In prose more readable and brisk and light-filled than any I've read in a long time, Stephanie Kegan has created an intimate portrait of a woman whose lifelong love of her big brother can’t be compromised even by his monstrous crimes. Golden State is a moral story of the supremacy of love over law, rendered moving by the tenderness of the ordinary domestic day-to-day life wherein these atrocities come to be revealed."
- Louis B. Jones, author of NY Times Notable Books
Ordinary Money, Particles and Luck, & California's Over
"Kegan’s masterful, stirring portrait of familial love raises moral questions that’ll have you twisting in your seat, asking yourself, 'What would I do?'"
- Will Allison, NY Times bestselling author of
Long Drive Home
reviews from GoodReads
AUDREY ★★★★★ "I loved this book! It is totally engrossing and I really just wanted to stay home and read it and find out what happened next, and who did what, and why, and then what..."
LORI ★★★★★ “I loved the way Kegan wove together the backstory of the family, California history, current day realities, grown-up siblings and the pressure put on a long term marriage...Read this as soon as you can, then get a bottle of Napa's best and call your girlfriends. You're going to want to talk about it.”
ANN ★★★★★ "Great book! It's rate fiction that puts you inside the head of a character the way 'Golden State' does.”
LYNN ★★★★★ "Startlingly beautiful tale of family ties, lies, and wavering bonds made this a new favorite
TERRY ★★★★★ "This is a beautiful novel. The story hooked me on the first page, never let go, and kept me thinking after I finished it."
