Early in Gilmore’s high-spirited debut novel, Mae West makes a cameo appearance, returning home to Brooklyn and showing off the mirrored ceiling above her bed to her neighbor’s rapt six-year-old grandson.

“Gilmore has crafted a fine, sweeping novel of Jewish immigrant America, a ‘golden country’ in which History made people, while people struggled and made History. Deftly written, continuously interesting, and enjoyable, Gilmore’s novel illuminates the rewards — and the cost — of the American dream.”

–Yann Martel, author of Life of Pi

“In Jennifer Gilmore’s gleeful overthrow of the Jewish American novel, the most significant force in her characters’ lives isn’t guilt, or God, but the gilded temptations of organized crime, and redemption is attained through such unexpected means as a household cleaning solution. As tender as it is irreverent, Golden Country is a glittering debut.”

– Susan Choi, author of American Woman

“Sharp and funny, Jennifer Gilmore’s debut novel roller-coasters through the first half of the twentieth century, showcasing not only her intelligence, her wit, and her intimate knowledge of Jewish culture but also an uncommon depth and humanity.”

– Adam Langer, author of Crossing California and The Washington Story

“Golden Country is a brilliant re-creation of mid-twentieth-century New York City and the way it shaped and was shaped by Jews who came to seek their fortunes in a land that turned out to be paved not with gold, but with comedy and tragedy, unexpected success and not always undeserved failure. Like E. L. Doctorow’s Ragtime, Golden Country manages to catch the spirit of history through the lives of individuals. Jennifer Gilmore’s characters are wonderfully human, and it is exciting to watch their lives change as they move from the slums into the interconnected worlds of school, business, crime, and the theater.”

– Alison Lurie, author of Foreign Affairs and Truth and Consequences

*Starred Review* In a powerfully moving and ambitious debut, Gilmore follows the lives of three immigrant families, the Brodskys, the Verdoniks and the Blooms, who all begin their American journeys in shtetl-like Brooklyn and end up somewhere unexpected between the 1920s and the 1960s… Talented and compassionate, Gilmore is a writer to watch.

>*Starred Review* …Gilmore deftly documents the history of the era, from the Depression to the invention of television, but her real strength is in her characters, including spirited Frances Golden, an aspiring actress who first introduces a very young Miriam and David at the 1939 World’s Fair. Readers who enjoyed E. L. Doctorow’s Ragtime (1975) and Tova Mirvis’ The Outside World (2004) will embrace Gilmore’s tale of individuals who test their mettle in a bittersweet era suffused with sorrow and success.

*starred review* “[An] affecting debut … While assimilation, from nose jobs to New England colleges, comes into play, Gilmore’s sweeping narrative goes much further, covering the political and social markers of almost five decades. Gender relations, as well as the impact of class ascendance on both individuals and families, are deftly and sensitively covered…the novel’s historical backdrop—the lure of the Mafia in Brooklyn’s impoverished Williamsburg community, the Great Depression, the 1939 World’s Fair, the invention of television, the magic of Broadway musicals—makes this a memorable and often powerful book. Highly recommended.

Although Jennifer Gilmore didn’t set out to write a historical novel, she’s surely succeeded marvelously with Golden Country, creating a sweeping multigenerational tale about Jewish immigrants in New York City. “I wanted to write something large in scope that couldn’t be contained in a single week or year or decade,” she says.

Jennifer Gilmore might just be the Jewish answer to Jhumpa Lahiri. Her absorbing novel, Golden Country, captures the sadness and wonderment of the immigrant experience, following the intertwining lives of three new-to-America Jewish families,from the tenements of 1920’s Brooklyn to fabulousness and fortune.—Jenny Comita

With a voice at turns wise and barbed with sharp humor, Gilmore warns: be careful what you wish for, the American Dream can sometimes be a nightmare.—Elissa Schappell

Gilmore’s chapters are jam-packed with historical facts about the mid-20^th century interaction of business, the arts and technology. But the novel’s heart beats with the pulse of human interactions and the missed connections of its well-drawn characters.—Liza Nelson

…her lively prose captures both the exuberance and disillusionment of the immigrant experience.

Even Goyim will be charmed by Gilmore’s ambitious debut novel—an interwoven epic about Jewish immigrant families that captures the shtimung of early 20^th-century New York. Think Ragtime without the wasps.