Gold Diggers

A Novel

By: Sanjena Sathian

Narrated by: Rama Vallury

One of The Washington Post's 10 Best Books of 2021 * One of NPR's Best Books of 2021 * New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * Long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

“Dizzyingly original, fiercely funny, deeply wise.” (Celeste Ng, number one best-selling author of Little Fires Everywhere)

“Sanjena Sathian’s Gold Diggers is a work of 24-karat genius.” (Ron Charles, The Washington Post)

How far would you go for a piece of the American dream?

A magical realist coming-of-age story, Gold Diggers skewers the model minority myth to tell a hilarious and moving story about immigrant identity, community, and the underside of ambition.

A floundering second-generation teenager growing up in the Bush-era Atlanta suburbs, Neil Narayan is funny and smart but struggles to bear the weight of expectations of his family and their Asian American enclave. He tries to want their version of success, but mostly, Neil just wants his neighbor across the cul-de-sac, Anita Dayal.

When he discovers that Anita is the beneficiary of an ancient, alchemical potion made from stolen gold - a “lemonade” that harnesses the ambition of the gold’s original owner - Neil sees his chance to get ahead. But events spiral into a tragedy that rips their community apart. Years later in the Bay Area, Neil still bristles against his community's expectations - and finds he might need one more hit of that lemonade, no matter the cost.

Sanjena Sathian’s astonishing debut offers a fine-grained, profoundly intelligent, and bitingly funny investigation into what's required to make it in America.

Soon to be a series produced by Mindy Kaling!

©2021 Sanjena Sathian (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Sathian’s satire is pitch perfect...savagely funny. The comedic grotesque register gives way, at times, to an authentic and heartrending melancholia.... [M]agnificent - canny and moving and just plain fun.... Sathian’s movement toward fantasy in the story’s second half is a wise, satisfying turn. Her prose lifts off: there’s a delight she takes in writing humorously about magic that shows off the scope of her immense talent...[a] firm critique of secondhand striving and cutthroat ambition.” (Anita Felicelli, The Los Angeles Review of Books)

“This novel deftly weaves together magic and history to produce a compelling coming-of-age story.” (The New Yorker)

“Gold Diggers is a delightful concoction of the best of South Asia’s literary offerings, reminiscent of Hanif Kureishi’s irreverent humour in The Buddha of Suburbia and, more recently, the magic realism of Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West and Salman Rushdie’s work.... Sathian brings a golden touch to the 21st-century Indian American novel - stretching it through a reimagining of history and mythology, yet holding it close to her chest.” (Sana Goyal, The Guardian)

Not your typical coming-of-age tale!

Loved "Gold Diggers"! Being an immigrant and a parent to the second generation American in Atlanta Metro area certainly added more flavor and dimension to this story for me personally. Genre is hard to define, a bit of Bulgakov, a bit of Gogol, definitely not your typical coming-of-age piece. I look forward to reading more of Sanjena Sathian's books in the future! Was glad to hear that Mindy Kaling will be working on TV adaptation of this book!

Magic realism a realist can enjoy.

I would describe the style of this book as somewhere between Donna Tartt and Kevin Kwan. I enjoyed it a lot. The narrator was excellent.

Secon half is stronger

Both the writer and the narrator are better at their work as the book progresses. The rhythm of the storytelling improves. The narrator's pacing improves quite a bit, although the way he reads female dialogue is never not annoying.

incredible narration

The book threw me off, it's a lot of layers to digest and some of it made me squeamish, so I appreciate that. but it was incredibly narrated, with a dynamic voice and multifaceted accents that made it easy to listen to.

still trying to figure it out

very well written but not clear on the point. if the characters looked at their own results, they would have given up on their little plan

I did not expect to enjoy it!

I’m not a fan of the supernatural genre. So, I had to suspend my misgivings when I started to read the book. What I appreciate most is the universality of the themes— the angst and awkwardness of growing up and wanting to fit in, the immigrant stories, the tug-of-war between cultural traditions and embracing your new environment and finding a way to make it work, the gift of generations and family stories, of friendships in unlikely places, and many more. I enjoyed the layers. It made for a more interesting read!

Insightful but needed editing

Insightful about Indian-American experiences. Makes sense when you hear it. And I didn’t mind the magical “stuff” but the characters weren’t very likable. The premise of why gold was magical was terrific— and the parts about alchemy /alchemists in history.
A good editor could have taken out some of the silly plot connivances.

Loved it!

This book did exactly what I needed it to. I was craving a connection to my South Asian roots and also needing to be taken to another world and this did just that. Really loved the story and found it surprising and interesting. I also LOVED the narrator. Like how on earth did he do all these voices?! I’m so impressed. Great job all around.

Fantastic narrator

Very good story. Narrator is one of the best I’ve heard in a long long time overall a very enjoyable.

Highly recommended

Great story of immigrants in America... witty, self deprecating withDHMs that keep you thinking... fabulous narrator