advanced praise for golden state

"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 and                              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 New York Times Notable Books  Ordinary Money, Particles and Luck, and 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 

Advanced 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. There's something for everyone and a lot to discuss. 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.”

Kay ★★★★ "Had a hard time putting it down."