Golden State – the Novel

Golden State – the Novel

“Mesmerizing and intricate, Richmond’s dissection of California on the violent brink of secession from the nation provides the backdrop for her deeper inspection of the fragile relationship between siblings…riveting.” Booklist, starred review of Golden State, the novel

"So imaginative, so heartfelt, so deftly made–a masterful braid of memory and urgency. Richmond is in top form, and has made a book of exquisite grace." Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Less

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About the Book

The state of California votes on secession in the wake of a divisive presidential election in this gripping, prescient novel of marriage, family, and social upheaval set in modern-day San Francisco.

Doctor Julie Walker, a general internist at the Veterans Administration Hospital in San Francisco, has just signed her divorce papers when she receives news that her younger sister, Heather, has gone into labor. Though theirs is a strained relationship, Julie sets out for the hospital to be at her sister’s side—no easy task since the streets of San Francisco have erupted into chaos. Today is the day that Californians are voting on whether or not to secede from the United States. It is also the day that Julie will find herself at the epicenter of a violent standoff with a former lover who has become obsessed with her.

Throughout the ordeal, Julie’s estranged husband, desperate for reconciliation, sends out coded messages from the radio station where he is the well-known Voice of Midnight.

The novel GOLDEN STATE takes readers on a journey over the course of a single, unforgettable day. It is both a literary thriller and a meditation on marriage, love, and loyalty. Like The Year of Fog, it is a page-turner with a philosophical bent.

Published:
Publisher: Random House Books
Excerpt:

1

12:41 p.m., June 15

The reception area of the tiny hotel is eerily empty. On the desk, a coffee mug smeared with red lipstick sits beside a small televi- sion, the volume turned up high, blaring news of the vote. Eleanor’s mug, Eleanor’s lipstick. Famously difficult Eleanor.

I leave my crutches behind and use the rail to pull myself up the stairs. At the top, I turn left. The first room is empty, the door open to reveal two twin beds, an old dresser, blood on the floor.

I continue along the hallway. The second door is closed. Room 2B. Heather’s room. Early this morning, while I was still sleeping on the couch of a radio station at the other end of the city, my phone began to vibrate. It was Heather, texting: It’s time. It seems like a life- time ago.

“Heather?”

I try the knob, but it doesn’t budge.

“Heather?”

I knock. Again, no answer.

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Finally, a scraping sound, furniture moving across the floor. The knob turns, the door opens a few inches, and there she is—red in the face, her T-shirt drenched with sweat, her eyes strangely calm. Her gaze takes in my wrecked face, my filthy clothes, the hastily wrapped bandage on my foot.

I squeeze through the doorway. On the opposite wall, a bureau is shoved against a tall window that opens onto a balcony. To my left, as far as possible from the window, stands the bed, the sheets twisted and wet.

“When I saw him coming toward the hotel,” she tells me, “I barricaded the door. When he left, I barricaded the window.”

She shuts the door behind me, then locks it. Together we shove the desk back into place.

“What happened next door?”

“He had Eleanor,” she says. “Sounded bad.”

Heather doubles over in pain, moaning. I limp to her side. She grips my arm so tight I can feel her fingernails through my sweater. Seconds pass before her face relaxes. She catches her breath, lowers herself onto the bed. “What’s the difference between a pregnant woman and a lightbulb?” she asks.

“Got me.”

“You can unscrew a lightbulb.”

I smile, happy to see the Heather I know.

In the bathroom, I wash my face and hands. I smell terrible and look worse. The skin under my arms is bleeding, rubbed raw from the crutches. Rummaging through Heather’s cosmetics bag, I am grateful for the small miracle of a rubber band. I gather my hair into a ponytail, drink cold water from the faucet, and rinse my mouth with toothpaste.

I scan the bathroom for anything useful. There’s a small bar of soap, two towels hanging beside the stained tub, an empty waste bin beneath the sink. I grab the towels and bin and hobble into the darkened room. I drag a chair up to the end of the bed and drape a blanket over Heather’s knees.

“Are there any cops out there?” she asks.

“Just one terrified kid.”

She clutches the sheets as another contraction seizes her. Her face registers the pain, but she is silent. Thirty seconds pass before she collapses back onto the pillow, panting.

“Where’s the National Guard?” she asks.

“Sacramento and L.A., I guess.”

A foghorn wails in the distance—that familiar, soothing sound. “Scoot down,” I say. “Here comes the fun part.”

“When I said I didn’t need the bells and whistles, I didn’t quite picture it like this.” She moves toward the end of the bed.

“The baby’s going to be fine,” I say, mustering my calmest voice.

I lift the blanket to examine her. I’m not an ob-gyn, I’m a general internist. This is not what I do. Of course, I did it during my residency years—a month on the maternity ward at San Francisco General—but I was relieved beyond measure when my time was over.

Just to the west of us, beyond the barricaded window and the empty parking lot, is the Veterans Administration hospital. The six-unit hotel is normally booked with veterans’ families, waiting out heart surgery and organ transplants, but today the place is deserted. All but the most crucial surgeries have been postponed, and the whole campus is running on a bare-bones staff.

Both of us are startled by the footsteps on the stairs. Our eyes lock.

A knock on the door. I open my mouth to answer, but Heather brings a finger to her lips.

The knock again, more insistent this time.

“Dr. Walker?” I recognize the voice—Greg Watts from security. Relief washes over me. I shove the desk away from the door just enough to let him in. At sixty going on forty-five, Greg has the slim, athletic build of a runner. He looks me over quickly, grimacing.

“You okay, Dr. Walker?”

“Fine.”

He glances at Heather. “What about her?”

“We’re managing. It would be great if we could get a nurse and supplies.”

“Nobody wants to cross that parking lot,” he says. “Not after Eleanor. Not after he shot at you.”

“You crossed the parking lot.”

Greg holds up a cellphone. The blue Mute light is flashing. “Special delivery. He wasn’t going to shoot his own messenger.”

I look at the phone, uncomprehending. “What?”

“He wants to talk to you.”

“Shit.”

“He says if he can’t talk to you, someone’s going to get hurt.”

“Where is he now?”

“He broke into your office.”

I take a shaky breath. My office. I think of the photos on the desk, the art on the walls, the radios from Tom, the sand dollar from an afternoon on the beach with Ethan. If he wanted to get inside my head, he’s done it.

“Anyone else?”

“Betty Chen.”

Betty’s worked ICU for twenty-six years. A nice woman, a gifted nurse, very calm, four kids and eleven grandkids spread out all over the country. Every year, she and her husband travel by RV to Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, and Montana to see all of them.

“Better staff than patients.”

Greg shakes his head. There’s something he doesn’t want to tell me. “He’s got Rajiv.”

My heart sinks. Twenty-seven years old, in his final year of residency, Rajiv is my chief resident and my favorite student. In a couple of months, he’s getting married. I’ve been looking forward to the wedding.

I press the Mute button and take a deep breath.

“Hello?”

“So,” a familiar voice says, “I finally got your attention.”

COLLAPSE
Reviews:Julie Treveleyan on Booklist, starred review wrote:

Mesmerizing and intricate, Richmond’s dissection of California on the violent brink of secession from the nation provides the backdrop for her deeper inspection of the fragile relationship between siblings…riveting.

Andrea Tarr on Library Journal, starred review wrote:

[An] amazing, turbulent novel woven of disparate threads… Nearly every feature of this mesmerizing novel is provocative, as Richmond explores the fragmented, hopeful lives of complex characters. This is gripping, multilayered must-read fiction.

on Kirkus Reviews:

An interesting and sometimes-disturbing story exploring how a person’s anticipated path can change and examining the choices people must make in order to move forward. Skillfully written.

on San Jose Mercury:

Richmond delivers a page-turner.

on Coastal Living Magazine:

Golden State‘s fast-moving plot combines political turmoil, a birth, a hostage situation, and a woman’s struggle to find inner strength after divorce…a perfect summer page-turner!

on Bookreporter:

An exquisitely wrought piece of storytelling that is sure to linger in the mind long after the last page is read…in the hands of talented author Michelle Richmond, we very soon find ourselves completely invested and onboard…A many-layered page-turner that is emotionally resonant and satisfying, enriched by a playlist of songs composing a mental soundtrack that music lovers will embrace

on Family Circle:

A stirring look at the ties that bind husband-wife, mother-child and even sisters, and what happens when they’re torn asunder. Set in a San Francisco chafing with unrest both political and personal, the world Richmond creates is exquisitely charged with regret and hope.

Andrew Sean Greer, Puliter Prize winning author of LESS wrote:

So imaginative, so heartfelt, so deftly made–a masterful braid of memory and urgency. Richmond is in top form, and has made a book of exquisite grace. Certain to be on everyone’s list.

Tatiana de Rosnay, author of Sarah's Key wrote:

Golden State sweeps you up, whisks you away and doesn’t let you go till the very end. Michelle Richmond, author of the unforgettable “The Year of Fog”, does it again, and all I can say is “Merci!

Joshilyn Jackson, author of Gods in Alabama wrote:

Richmond is a writer of rare vision and grace, and GOLDEN STATE is her best book yet. I couldn’t put it down.

John Greenya on The Washington Times wrote:

There’s no denying the suspenseful thrill…..The writer does all things well, from plot to setting…to, above all, characterization

on Seacoast Reads:

Golden State is a book that deftly combines delicate matters of the heart with a heart-thumping hostage situation in the middle of a state and national crisis. The creative synergy isn’t so much about the suspense of one moment as it is about the life-changing events that can erupt without warning and change everything thought to be matter-of-fact. Life has no preparation manual, no guide to follow when there is disruption. What happens next is entirely up to those involved. Highly recommended to all


Golden State novel

Golden State novel audiobook

Winner of the Earphones Audio Award

Listen to an excerpt from the Golden State audiobook.

Author's Note

In 2014, I published a novel I’d been working on since 2008–a novel that takes place on the day Californians are voting on whether or not to secede from the United States of America. In the novel, the secession movement, long considered the impossible dream of a crazy fringe faction, has been mainstreamed after the controversial new president promises to build a border wall with Mexico, bomb Iran, and roll back environmental protections.

A Silicon Valley venture capitalist funds the effort to get secession on the ballot. No one really takes it seriously, except perhaps the young hipsters who stand on street corners, urging people to sign. And a lot of people do sign the petition to put a vote to the ballot, in part because they think it makes sense, and in part because they figure it could never really happen.

But then, the unthinkable happens: the secession movement gets its vote. When I started writing the book, I was inspired in part by the fringe secessionist movements in California and elsewhere. Some A few vocal Californians were calling for a Bear State moment, for the California Republic to go its own way. Their dream of an independent California was fueled by ideological differences with much of America, combined with California’s economic promise (it was then and remains today the sixth largest economy in the world).

The novel takes place on a single day, the day of the vote, when the city of San Francisco is in chaos. Agitators have come from outside the state to protest. There is violence in the streets, but there is also joyfulness. The buses have been shut down, the streets are clogged with protestors. Dr. Walker is torn about the secession. She loves her country, she loves her state, and her own situation is complicated by the fact that she works for the federal government. What would happen to the VA, she wonders, to her job, to the people she works with and the patients she cares for, if California were to secede? And what would happen to California’s miles of rugged coastline that are part of the National Parks system. And to Golden Gate Park? Would these lands be retained by the United States, islands under federal control within California?

At the time, they were intriguing questions. They’re more intriguing today.

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