Our most recent alumni author, Lydia Kiesling from the SAS Class of 2001 has published her first novel, The Golden State. Lydia is currently editor of The Millions, an online literary magazine. Her book has received rave reviews from Kirkus, Slate Magazine, The New Yorker, and The Library Journal to name just a few and is long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.
Amazon describes the novel as follows:
"Keenly observed, bristling with humor, and set against the beauty of a little-known part of California, The Golden State is about class and cultural breakdowns, and desperate attempts to bridge old and new worlds. But more than anything, it is about motherhood: its voracious worry, frequent tedium, and enthralling, wondrous love."
Sarah Blackwood writes in The New Yorker, "The novel beautifully depicts the golden light of California, the smell of the fescue grasses, the thinness of the air, and the way that Daphne and Honey often feel overwhelmed by the scale of the spaces they find themselves in. The result is less an untroubled analogy between the landscapes of motherhood and the American West than an invitation to think more deeply about how limited our canonical literary imaginings of each have been."
Lydia's writings can be found in a variety of outlets including, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Guardian, Slate and was recognized in Best American Essays 2016.
While a student at St. Andrew's, Lydia wrote for the School's literary magazine, The Andrean. She performed in school plays like The Music Man and The Sound of Music. Lydia competed in cross-country and belonged to the yearbook staff as well as the environmental club.
Lyda will be a panelist in the Brooklyn Book Festival in September.
Congratulations, Lydia!