Her Golden Coast
One is meek. The other brash. Can two broken souls find a place they belong?
San Francisco, 2007. Laurie Lamont craves security. Having survived an abusive father and snared a job as admin for a Silicon Valley startup, the twenty-something stays focused on the three H’s – home, husband, and healthcare. But when she discovers her would-be spouse is secretly in love with another man, Laurie fears her dreams are destined to crumble.
Malini “Mal” Kumar is unapologetically herself. Loud, outspoken, and direct, the bold Indian woman flees her controlling family and their plan to force her into an arranged marriage. Facing a tough real estate market, the fiercely independent woman accepts a roommate offer from a female techie she barely knows.
Thrown by unfamiliar feelings, Laurie falls for Mal’s extraordinary strength, while Mal finds herself captivated by Laurie’s loving kindness.
With social forces conspiring against them, can these emotional opposites find their forever?
Returning to the boom-and-bust era of turn-of-the-21st-century California, author Anat Deracine delivers a thought-provoking tale of unanticipated love. With gorgeous, lyrical prose, she explores the beauty and terror of sapphic awakening at a time when same-sex marriage was illegal and women were afterthoughts in the toxic tech-bro-dominated world of the emerging online economy.
Her Golden Coast is an uplifting work of LGBTQ+ historical fiction. If you like strong queer characters, well-crafted turns of phrase, and deep themes of liberation, then you’ll adore Anat Deracine’s story of unexpected opportunity.
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Reviews:
Her Golden Coast is a razor-sharp insight into San Francisco’s tech scene. With astute observations on gender, class and privilege, it perfectly captures – and skewers – one of the world’s richest cities and the unique blend of people that occupy it. Behind the bite and wit, however, is a tenderly rendered queer love story that gives the novel a warm and beating heart. I’ll be thinking about Laurie and Mal for a long time to come.
Kia Abdullah, Author of Times Bestseller
Those People Next Door
From the first page, Deracine’s vivid descriptions and masterful storytelling draw you into the vibrant yet tumultuous world of Silicon Valley. The authenticity with which the author portrays the tech scene and the world of publishing—the ambition, cutthroat competition, and hypocrisy—is both eye-opening and captivating. What truly sets this novel apart is its fearless exploration of queer love in a modern context while grappling with themes of individual purpose, societal definitions of success and status, and the value of art (and artists). Deracine handles these themes with grace and sensitivity, providing a refreshing perspective that is both heartfelt and empowering.
The romance is genuine and profound, making you root for the protagonists, Mal(ini) and Laurie, every step of the way.
Osman Haneef, Author of The Verdict
and winner of the UBL literary award
Her Golden Coast offers a queer female consciousness to the Kerouac tradition of self-discovery at a breathless pace. It targets an audience of women (X-ennials and earlier) who came of age when sexuality and socioeconomic status had no real fluidity, and builds a place of hard-won permission for those who also struggle with or strangle within a capitalistic patriarchy despite the clear signs of its failing and dissolution.
Caroline Manring, Author of Manual For Extinction And Ceruleana, winner of the National Poetry Review Book Prize