The Golden Gate, Amy Chua
The Golden Gate, Amy Chua
List: $28.99 | Sale: $20.29
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The Golden Gate
A Novel

Author: Amy Chua

Narrator: Robb Moreira, Suzanne Toren, Tim Campbell

Unabridged: 13 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/19/2023


Synopsis

"Moreira displays his many years of dramatic training and extensive theatrical experience as he animates characters as diverse as low-life thugs, the upper-class Bainbridge women, and even Madame Chiang Kai-shek. Tim Campbell and Suzanne Toren ably narrate the court deposition sequences. This audiobook is part hard-boiled detective story, part family saga, and wholly good listening!"- AudioFile

Amy Chua's debut novel, The Golden Gate, is a sweeping, evocative, and compelling historical thriller that paints a vibrant portrait of a California buffeted by the turbulent crosswinds of a world at war and a society about to undergo massive change.

In Berkeley, California, in 1944, Homicide Detective Al Sullivan has just left the swanky Claremont Hotel after a drink in the bar when a presidential candidate is assassinated in one of the rooms upstairs. A rich industrialist with enemies among the anarchist factions on the far left, Walter Wilkinson could have been targeted by any number of groups. But strangely, Sullivan’s investigation brings up the specter of another tragedy at the Claremont, ten years earlier: the death of seven-year-old Iris Stafford, a member of the Bainbridge family, one of the wealthiest in all of San Francisco. Some say she haunts the Claremont still.

The many threads of the case keep leading Sullivan back to the three remaining Bainbridge heiresses, now adults: Iris’s sister, Isabella, and her cousins Cassie and Nicole. Determined not to let anything distract him from the truth—not the powerful influence of Bainbridges’ grandmother, or the political aspirations of Berkeley’s district attorney, or the interest of China's First Lady Madame Chiang Kai-Shek in his findings—Sullivan follows his investigation to its devastating conclusion.

Chua’s riveting debut brings to life a historical era rife with turbulent social forces and groundbreaking forensic advances, when race and class defined the very essence of power, sex, and justice, and introduces a fascinating character in Detective Sullivan, a mixed race former Army officer who is still reckoning with his own history.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books.

About Amy Chua

AMY CHUA is the John M. Duff, Jr. Professor of Law at Yale Law School. She is an internationally bestselling author of several non-fiction titles, including her 2011 memoir Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, which was a runaway international bestseller that has been translated into over 30 languages. Chua graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and cum laude from Harvard Law School. After practicing on Wall Street for a few years, she joined the Yale Law School faculty in 2001. The Golden Gate is her fiction debut.

About Robb Moreira

Robb Moreira is an Audie nominated Bilingual Latino voice actor with over 150 books and audio dramas on his resume. Robb is an accomplished narrator who uses his voice to paint worlds through the author’s words akin to those created by radio shows of old. One of his favorites being The War of the Worlds. First person narration is Robb’s specialty and draws audiences into the stories being told.

About Suzanne Toren

Suzanne Toren has over 30 years of experience in recording.  She won the American Foundation for the Blind's Scourby Award for Narrator of the Year in 1988, and AudioFile magazine named her the 2009 Best Voice in Nonfiction & Culture.  She is also the recipient of multiple Earphones Awards. Her many credits include works by Jane Smiley, Margaret Weis, Jerry Spinelli, Barbara Kingsolver, and Cynthia Rylant. AudioFile also raves, “Toren brings a distinguishing warmth and power to her narrations. Her talents extend to both fiction and nonfiction, and in her recording career of 30-plus years she has given listeners heart-wrenching memoirs, lively history, engaging light fiction, and involving mysteries.” Toren also performs on and off-Broadway and in regional theatres.

About Tim Campbell

Tim Campbell is the Audie, Voice Arts, Independent Audiobook, and AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator of over 1,000 audiobooks. He also sings professionally with the Grammy Award-winning LA Master Chorale and Los Angeles Opera, as well as on TV and film scores such as Star Wars IX, Superman, Venom, and many others.He is most known for his versatile and varied characters and facility with accents and dialects. He's constantly inspired by the kindness and generosity of the audiobook community and is exceptionally grateful for the support of his wonderful family and friends.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Barbara

3.5 stars This review was first posted on Mystery & Suspense Magazine. Check it out for features, interviews, and reviews. [URL not allowed] The San Francisco area is a turbulent place in 1944. World War II is raging; Japanese-Americans are interned in detention camps; labor str......more


Quotes

“A successful, compelling mash-up of California history, ghost story, family tale, and social commentary.” –Library Journal (starred review)

"A riveting mystery. . . Chua skillfully creates tension around Sullivan’s complex investigation, tempting red herrings, and thoughtful examination of war-time social divisions." –Booklist (starred review)

"Thrilling. . . mind bending . . . a richly satisfying historical mystery that draws on its setting for more than mere atmosphere." –Publishers Weekly

“This saga—the story has as many twisting corridors as the hotel—allows Chua to dig deep into the privileges and invisible barriers at work in any haves-and-have-nots meeting, with memorable results.” –First Clue

“An epic, devastating, majestic mystery. The Golden Gate is clever, richly imagined and outright thrilling.” –Chris Whitaker

"All the elements I love in a mystery: A tough-guy homicide detective, an entrancing femme fatale, family secrets, a fabulous building in a beautiful city in a great time period, a touch of Agatha Christie, and a soupcon of Dashiell Hammett. And Amy Chua’s terrific writing provides the icing." —Lisa See

"A tough guy with room for gentleness… Detective Al Sullivan and his crew are a joy, introducing us to a Bay Area that is both intimately familiar and surprisingly new.” —Laurie R. King


Awards

  • Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominee
  • Library Journal Best Books of the Year