California Gold

by Jodie Chapman

'Stylish, vibrant, romantic – and written in beautiful prose - the characters' various realisations that the only thing any of us have is the moment we are living in will stay with me for a very long time' KATE SAWYER


Frank and Chrissy meet a few days into ’70. Frank has been travelling around California for a while with friends, when someone tells him about a house in the desert two hours east of LA where the walls are steel and the glass shimmers. Frank tells I have to see this house. When Chrissy picks him up on the side of the road, all blond hair and oversized sunglasses, it’s love at first sight.

Years later, as their shared dream of recreating a mid-century masterpiece of a home in Britain threatens to overwhelm them, Frank will often think about how this was where it started. What if he had carried on walking, kicking at the dust? What if she had driven to Palm Springs the next day or even the next hour? Every moment of tomorrow would have completely changed.

So begins California Gold, a portrait of a marriage, a family and the thin line between a dream and an obsession.

'Both a wide-screen romance and a dream that turns into obsession. An epic portrait of a complicated family, ambitious and compelling' JULIE OWEN MOYLAN

'A sweeping, sumptuously told tale that will entirely transport you. Compelling, evocative and cinematic…an utter joy' YOMI ADEGOKE

Genres: Fiction

373 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 19, 2026

About the author

Born and raised in England, Jodie spent a decade as a photographer before returning to her first love of writing. She lives in Kent with her husband and three sons.

Instagram: @jodiechapman
Twitter: @jodiechapman

Reviews

[Ceecee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+
Englishman Frank O’Hara and Chrissy Wharton meet in 1970 south of Los Angeles when he’s hitching a ride and she stops to pick him up. She’s definitely all California Gold and he’s dazzled. There’s an instant connection and they swiftly marry in Las Vegas in opposition to Chrissy’s wealthy parents who disinherit her. They head to England and set about re-creating a dream home in Kent, reminiscent of one Frank sees in Palm Springs which mesmerises him. Eventually ‘Mirage’ appears on the Kentish hillside. However, transferring a Californian dream to Kent could indeed be a mirage, and it will certainly come with a multitude of challenges that could impact them for years.

Well, this is a saga that’s for sure as it follows the family through the decades and I’m not surprised it took the author so long to write it as it’s so polished. It’s beautifully written, there’s nothing unnecessary or superfluous as I immerse myself in the emotional rollercoaster that is the O’Hara family. Their relationships are charted, how it changes and morphs into something new, it’s hard to get a handle on some characters but that’s how they are to those who observe them. The fluctuating dynamics and family conflicts are fascinating.

Overarching it all is the house, a character in its own right, mirroring what’s going on inside and reflecting it back in its appearance. It could be anything from gold to grey, filled with love and laughter or silence and ghosts, vibrant or disintegrating. This is one of the most powerful elements in the book in my opinion.

Each decade has its own specific feel along with the characters which gives a great sense of context and time. There are lots of other touches that I like, such as lack of speech marks at the start which captures the excitement, optimism and energy which then appear as life takes on a different tone.

I really like the ending as it’s a full circle moment.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Michael Joseph for the much appreciated early copy in return for an honest review.

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jodie Chapman is one of my go-to authors, whose books I will forever read. Another Life and Oh, Sister are both fantastic so I had high hopes for California Gold and it did not disappoint.

When Frank meets Chrissy unexpectedly on a Californian highway in 1970, he never expects that it will be love at first sight. But their infatuation with each other leads them to move back to Frank's native Britain, where they try to recreate Chrissy's family home on a Kent hillside. They name their home "Mirage".

This is a novel of love, heartbreak, grief and all the complicated intricacies of life and family. It explores themes of sibling rivalry, jealousy, and the repercussions of having parents who find it difficult to show their love. As we follow the family over the decades, Mirage essentially becomes the central character and plays a huge part in the family's dynamics. But, ultimately, is home ever just about bricks and mortar?

Written both beautifully and with incredible emotion, I can see why this took Jodie so long to write - it feels like she poured her heart into it. And it now has my heart too, I loved it!

[Mitsy_Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the blurb, I thought this was about a troubled marriage, but it’s so much more than that. I’d recommend going in blind, so I won’t say much about what happens. What I will say is that this book is quite unique, as it centres around a family home. The fictional house Frank and Chrissy build is inspired by a real house in California called the House of Tomorrow, once leased by Elvis Presley. The house feels so essential to the story that it sort of becomes a main character, which I found both special and a refreshing way to tell a family saga.

I won’t say anything more, but this book really is incredible. It made me cry a couple of times 🥹 My heartstrings were pulled in all directions. For all the characters. The writing is rich and evocative. It pulled me in from the very first line to the last. If you love an epic family story that spans decades, I really think you’ll enjoy this. It’s one of the most moving books I’ve read this year.

One thing to note: the first quarter of the book (Part 1) doesn’t use quotation marks for dialogue, which is woven into the paragraphs. I know that can feel a bit disorienting for some readers. If that’s you (me too), I’d really recommend the audiobook. It would be a shame to miss out on this beautiful story!

5/5 🌟

[Saffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again Jodie Chapman has written a compelling and immersive novel. California Gold begins in 1970 when British backpacker Frank meets American Chrissie in California. Following their marriage they return to the UK and build a house based on Frank’s dream Palm Springs house. What follows is a heartbreaking family drama that I raced through over the course of 24 hours, I was completely drawn into the complex lives and relationships of the family as we follow them over the decades. It was an emotional read and I cried a few times, So much of the relationship between Frank and his children resonated with me, I felt anger towards Frank but eventually empathy for him and the overwhelming grief he experienced and could not process.. The house ‘Mirage’ serves as a metaphor for the disintegration of their lives and I felt so much sadness witnessing it. However the novel ends on a hopeful note and it is a satisfying and compelling read that I’d highly recommend.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.
4.5 stars

[Jo_Scho_Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

California 1970. Frank O’Hara meets Chrissy by chance on the highway and by the time they reach the desert they’ve fallen in love. It’s a random meeting that results in marriage, family - and a very important house on a hill back in the UK. And it’s the house that’s probably the centrifugal force of the story here; filled with magnificence and meaning, as life ebbs and flows around it, that it starts on a trajectory of self-destruct. Do the O’Hara’s even stand a chance here?

This is one of those sweeping multi generational novels. I don’t tend to read that many of them these days. Is there less demand for them? There shouldn’t be as this was an utterly glorious read, filled with decades of moments and memories . I loved getting to know the characters within this incredibly dysfunctional family. Saying that, I wanted to shake many of them for their inability to show emotion, and their ability to let things slide, almost to the point of decay. Indeed, the house is the perfect metaphor for this family. Like them it stays silent; unmoving yet all-seeing, ruined but still remarkable.

California Gold is a beautifully, well written tale; tender and triumphant. It’s vivid, evocative and packed with emotion. I loved it.

[Zoe Giles · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

“All his life, Frank's glass had been half empty, and then someone came along with too much in their cup. They poured into his without asking, and look how they overflowed with more.”

🥺🥺🥺

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

California Gold by Jodie Chapman is a deeply emotional, character-driven novel that really resonated with me. It delves into themes of love, longing, architecture, family, and the long-lasting consequences of the choices we make.
The story begins in the 1970’s with Frank, restless and drifting, who hears of a striking desert house that feels like a vision of possibility. His encounter with Chrissy, who embodies that same effortless glamour, only intensifies the allure. Their bond forms quickly, driven not just by attraction but a shared hunger for ambition, and reinvention, as their obsession with modernist design and the ideal of a perfect life starts to define them.
Years later, back in Britain, their attempt to recreate the iconic desert home becomes a symbolic project, meant to anchor them and prove something about who they are. Frank clings to the belief that if he can build something beautiful enough, it will compensate for what he lacks within. His inability to confront his own emptiness frustrated me at times, but I also saw it as a deliberate portrayal of someone mistaking structure for substance. Chrissy becomes far more than this golden girl Frank first encounters. Her disappointments feel deeply authentic, and the push and pull between her and Frank captures the fragile balance between loyalty and self-preservation.
I especially enjoyed the subtle sibling moments between Alice and Jesse; those exchanges added a warmth that balanced out the heavier themes. Though Clover didn’t resonate with me as much, the depth of character development across the novel was impressively layered.
Chapman’s writing is deliberate and spare, allowing emotions to build in the silences between characters. The contrast between the bright, expansive Californian scenes and the more muted, constrained British chapters beautifully reflects the tension between possibility and limitation.
For me, the novel ultimately suggests that the most complex structures we build are the ones inside ourselves and I loved every moment of it.
Thank you @michaeljbooks for the copy ❤️
Publishing 19/03/26

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely ate this up!! I loved that the book follows Chrissy, Frank, Beth and kids throughout their lives over decades, and the ending was super full circle. It’s crazy how we see the kids suffer because of choices made by their parents, and this book demonstrates it in all its glory. Many moment of the book were super emotional for me, and touched on a lot of different topics like grief, generational trauma and I think a lot of longing. I think out of all the kids I felt the most sorry for Alice, seemingly alone but surrounded by others and dealing with complex family structures. Clover and Jesse had each other in a way but not Alice. The house for me felt like a character in itself the way Jodie describes it, a real Mirage. Thank you to NetGalley for this arc. 🏠🏚️🌴🎨

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Jodie’s third novel and is spectacular. There's a natural flow to Jodie’s writing that pulls you in, I couldn’t put it down.

What I loved most was how the book explores the idea of "gold”, not just in the literal sense, but as a metaphor for what we value, chase, and sometimes lose along the way. It's thoughtful without being heavy-handed, and emotional without tipping into sentimentality.

California Gold is the kind of novel that resonates on multiple levels, whether you come for the story, the characters, or the writing itself. A beautifully crafted, deeply affecting read, absolutely deserving of 5 🌟

Go and read it immediately!

[Rhiannon Fallows · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is it folks. This is my book to beat for 2026 and has taken the top spot from Heart the Lover. This one deserves all the hype and many MANY stars so I’m here to start that hype train and I sure as hell hope you all get on board. If you don’t then I’m sorry to say that you are missing out!

The scene is set in 1970s sun soaked California. Chrissy and Frank have a chance meeting at the side of the road and thus begins a whirlwind romance that takes them from sunny Palm Springs to a slightly more mundane and grey backdrop of a field in the British countryside. Frank is a complex character, very reserved, but so utterly besotted with Chrissy that he’s determined to give her whatever she wants. Chrissy is the all American firecracker keen to make a life for herself in the UK beyond the reach of her wealthy family. In the Kent countryside they set about recreating the Californian home that they had their first romantic encounter in.

The less you know about where this goes the better. But my gosh it’s good. It’s about marriage and what different marriages can look like. It’s about an obsessive vision of what the future should look like based on ideas from the past. It’s about family, complex sibling relationships and even more complex parent/child relationships. It’s about creating a house and a home.

It’s a largely character driven novel and Jodie Chapman’s writing is absolute perfection. I’ve loved her previous novels (go read them if you haven’t) but this is even better IMO. Each character is nuanced and imperfectly perfect. I felt for everyone and was equally frustrated with everyone at the same time. It’s a bloody excellent family saga and I really bloody well hope it gets the recognition it deserves!

All the stars and go read it now please. Well as soon as it is out, which is 19th March. So pre-order it and thank me later.

Thanks so much to the publisher for our advanced copies.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written family saga spanning 40 years, starting in Palm Springs but largely set in Kent. This is a character driven novel with the family home Mirage (a replica of The House of Tomorrow, a mid-century modern house in Palm Springs where Elvis and Priscilla Presley chose to honeymoon) one of the most central characters.

Author Jodie Chapman asked herself the question what would happen if you took a house like that - built for the desert heat - and transplanted it to a damp and muddy field in dreary England? The story of California Gold is her answer.

I love Jodie’s writing. I was only on page 8 when I reached for my phone and added her other books to my To Buy list. I knew that quickly that this was a book I was going to love.

California Gold is beautiful and tragic, art-filled and thought provoking. I wanted to bash the family’s heads together at regular intervals, while also seeing how generational trauma repeats and reveals itself in the most seemingly inevitable of ways. I found myself looking up the art and sculpture that was mentioned, and appreciating architecture all the more for the stories it can tell.

The story also reflected some parts of my own personal family story that I wasn’t expecting, where my own childhood family home is a ghostly legend that I carry around with me, and perhaps a burden in some of the ways that Mirage turned out to be. It has given me a lot to ponder, and perhaps allowed me to let some of that burden go.

This is the first book of Jodie Chapman’s that I have read. It certainly won’t be the last. All I need to do now is book my ticket to Palm Springs!

Huge thanks to the publisher Michael Joseph for sending me an advanced copy of this book.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young Frank O’Hara has a dream: to give his new American wife Chrissy the House Of Tomorrow, a mid-century glass-and-white-concrete mansion that’s straight out of Palm Springs, dropped into the English countryside like an alien spaceship exploring strange new worlds. Their meet cute is pure cinema: he’s hitchhiking on the West Coast of America seeking a new life, wearing an Elvis shirt that’s already out-of-date, and she’s in a yellow convertible escaping expectations. Of course they fall hard and fast for each other, are married within weeks, and the American Dream seems right within their grasp – but will their love get lost in translation? California Gold is a wide-screen epic of a novel, following forty years and three generations of the O’Hara family as they try and try again to escape their version of The House Of Tomorrow: the ominously-named Mirage, constantly reminding us that their connections, their beliefs in each other are built on the flimsiest of foundations. Or, as Taylor Swift puts it: you’re on your own, kid, you always have been. Frank and Chrissy’s glossy, high-contrast, anything-is-possible Californian dream becomes a nightmare, dulled by British snobbery, tradition and the weight of expectation. There’s always a cost to living an extraordinary life, and in this case it’s the next generation who have to pay the bill. This is Chapman’s third novel and her stylish cinematic writing has reached new, dazzling heights: a superb, shimmering, stoically-life-affirming read.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was offered this on @netgalley by the lovely @michaeljbooks having read and loved Oh Sister by @jodiechapman a couple of years ago.

This story starts in 1970s California where Englishman Frank meets the beautiful Chrissy in California. Their whirlwind romance leads them to the House of Tomorrow, the glass and steel house where Elvis and Priscilla Presley spent their honeymoon.

Within days they marry (to her parents dismay) and return to the UK where they build their own version of House of Tomorrow planning to live there forever….

The story follows the lives of Frank and his family over the next forty years. It’s a saga full of detail and emotional depth, resentment, distance, and emotional pain ripples through the generations, leaving each sibling scarred in their own way. For me, youngest daughter Alice was the most heartbreaking, and her suffering stayed with me long after finishing.

The House of Tomorrow was never just a building, its was a promise and a commitment, and dreams like buildings, when untended, can fracture under the weight of time.

It’s deep and slow and at times a hard read, but like Oh Sister, I highly recommend

*Out Spring 2026*

[Lidija Hilje · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Chrissy and Frank meet in California in early 1970, they fall in love not only with each other but also with The House of Tomorrow, Elvis and Priscilla’s honeymoon hideaway in Palm Springs, which they become determined to recreate in England. But this endeavor will come with challenges neither of them has imagined or expected, and when the unthinkable happens, the consequences will ripple through their newly-formed family for decades to come.

With sparse, almost factual prose, that somehow still ripples with emotion, Jodie Chapman paints a devastating portrait of how emotional inheritance can upend a family’s life, and what it takes to free oneself from it in order to move on.

Stylish, elegant, and immersive, CALIFORNIA GOLD is Britain’s brilliant response to Ann Patchett's Commonwealth and The Dutch House, Ann Napolitano's Hello Beautiful, and Eric Puchner's Dream State.

A family saga not to be missed, it will stay with me for a long time.

[Hannah Wilkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has completely taken up residence in my brain… my top read of 2026 so far.

At the centre of the story is Frank and Chrissy, who meet in California in 1970 in a cinematic, sun-drenched, hitchhiking kinda way… and fall into an immediate, electric love. From that moment, everything spirals outward, what starts as a whirlwind romance quickly becomes something bigger… a shared dream. A dream to recreate a specific mid-century modern house they’ve seen in the Californian desert… but in England. In a muddy field. Because of course. And that house, Mirage, becomes another character in this story.

The book then stretches across decades, following their marriage, their family, and the generations that grow up inside this slightly surreal, sun-soaked vision transplanted into grey British reality. It’s about what happens when a dream becomes the foundation for a life, and then slowly starts to crack. About how a place can hold memories, identity, pressure, expectation, all at once.

And that’s why I CRIED about a house guys. Because it’s not just a house, it’s the emotional core of the entire story.

The writing is soooo good! Like... I cried over architecture. How?! You can feel the heat of California, the chill of England and the tension between those two worlds. It’s vivid without being showy and emotional being dramatic. Human character-wise, everyone feels equally real. They are messy and selfish but also full of love. I was so invested in all of them. There is an early twist which really took me by surprise, I was so invested even at this point that it felt like a proper gut-punch!

I’ve seen her compared to TJR in terms of her ability to blend character intimacy with a strong sense of time and place. And I would agree, but for me there’s even more heart in Jodie’s writing. It feels less polished-Hollywood and more raw, lived-in and willing to sit in discomfort. I adored this book!

[Sam Whittaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely blown away by California Gold. I've love Jodie Chatman's other novels but with this she has taken her writing to another level.
It starts as a love affair as Frank and Chrissy begin a passionate and heightened relationship which leads them across the ocean to build the house of their dreams in the English countryside.
However, without spoilers, most of the book focusses on the next generation as their children realise that their family is collapsing around them much like Mirage, the magical house that they grew up in. Jodie writes such incredibly believable characters and family dynamics. Certainly no one is perfect and some terrible errors are made but you still want them to make it though. The house itself is such an important backdrop that it is almost a character in its own right.
This is a difficult book to explain without giving key plot points away but please read it - it is such a wonderful and rewarding book.

[Ritu Bhathal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an intricately woven story beginning in the 70s, when British Frank met Californian Chrissy, and they fell into a deep relationship, with its roots in a house they travelled to see: the House of Tomorrow, all glass and steel.
They end up back in England and manage to create a replica, named Mirage, which is a sight to behold, then the rest of the story follows them, through highs and lows, and introduces us to Beth, and siblings, Clover, Jesse and Alice.
There is tragedy, and then emotional disconnect, crossed wires, and the effects a moment's choices have on future generations.
An emotional rollercoaster of a ride.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House, for an ARC.

[Liam Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and the UK publishers for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

By about 20%, I knew I was really going to enjoy this book. I love a book that dares to do something not many other books are doing, and it truly shocked me.

This was a complex look into family relationships across generations and time, into grief, illness, loss in many different forms, and I was engrossed. It can take a bit of getting used to the sweeping changes to the time periods, but once I was there, the pay off was worth it.

I loved the metaphor around The Mirage and what it tells us about what's going on underneath the curtain so to speak.

[Hannah Symonds · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this story we follow the O’Hara family over a period of forty years. There are a number of different family members over the years but I did not get confused about who was who as Jodie has written it so well to do that job. It was packed to the rim and I was hooked straight away. I don’t know how but it felt different to the books I normally read, I thought about it when I was not reading it. Every page is unpredictable and I did not get a sense of what was to come. A book that will stay with me for a long time to come. I look forward to what Jodie writes about next.

[Ophelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you can’t say anything nice… you can at least be honest.

Plenty of readers seem to have connected deeply with this novel, but I wasn’t one of them. I kept waiting for the moment when the story would pull me in or the characters would come alive, yet that moment never arrived. I read to the end hoping something would click, but the plot, the people, and the emotional arc all stayed strangely distant for me.

I’m not sure what I missed, but this simply wasn’t a book that resonated.

[Helen Latto · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story from many different angles, the story of a fractured family and how all of their intertwined relationships affect them all in different ways. Sad at times but also hopeful, I found it an enjoyable read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Chelsea Knowles]

DNF at 18%. I tried this from 11/01 to 21/01. This just isn’t the story for me. I haven’t really got any interest in reading it and I just don’t want to continue. It’s not a bad book at all. The writing is good, the characterisation strong and there are some interesting things mentioned in this, for example there was a point about war in this that I appreciated. That said, I don’t want to carry on with this.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.*

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 stars and more!

It’s a family saga, it’s character driven and you get attached to these characters. It’s about love, marriage, siblings and belonging. It tackles a lot, there’s everything in this book. I knew from the first chapter that I was reading something truly special.

I’ll be recommending it for years. Unforgettable ❤️

[Jodie Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why yes I'm giving this story that took up three years of my life five stars

[Lucy Skeet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another banger from Jodie!!! Thanks so much to MJ for my copy

[Bookish Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. A captivating family drama spread over several decades. It's dark, moody and full of intrigue.

[Nikkimoniquereads · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful character driven Novel that follows the family through the decades. The characters are so well drawn out and the house has its own personality in its own right.

The story starts with Frank and falling in love with Chrissy in Palm Springs and follows them as they try to build a life in England and try to recreate the house in California where their romance started.

I thought the story portrayed marriage really well showed what different marriages can look like. I can imagine so many people relating to this part of the story.

I particularly loved the complex family dynamics and how generational trauma can manifest and affect a whole family.