Mai Sennaar's They Dream in Gold is a really beautiful novel. It sends us on a journey both in time and place, spanning the 1940s to the 1970s taking in culture and music along the way. I found it imaginative and exciting.

Bonnie's husband is missing. Mansour's Spanish tour was only supposed to last three weeks, but it's been months since he and his band left. Heavily pregnant and feeling lonely and discombobulated living with Mansour's family, Bonnie retreats into memories of her husband and reflects on all the places and experiences that conspired to bring her to her current predicament.

Mai Sennaar's sparkling debut begins with the disappearance of Mansour, a man around whom his wife, mother and sisters all orbit, and the story is structured around the evolution of his musical career - but it is really the story of women - those in Mansour's family and others whose lives have intersected with his in all manner of ways. If you come to this novel expecting a twisty mystery focused on solving Mansour's disappearance, you may be disappointed, but They Dream in Gold is a far more interesting novel because of this broader focus.

As Bonnie - and the reader - waits to learn Mansour's fate, Sennaar takes us on a journey spanning forty years and three continents. Through beautiful, almost poetic prose, she tells of Bonnie and Mansour's childhoods - at once wildly different and uncannily similar - and weaves a rich tapestry of love and loss, music and family. She deftly creates a sense of place within a few sentences, whether the narrative is unspooling in 1940s Senegal or 1960s New York. The music, the food, the religion and rituals, the social mores - all are powerfully rendered, allowing the reader to sink into each setting wholly. Like the best historical fiction, They Dream in Gold uses its characters to illuminate a perhaps forgotten space in history, and will likely provoke many readers to carry out their own further reading.

Sennaar, who splits her time between Baltimore and the Senegalese capital of Dakar, pays tribute to the depth and breadth of the African diaspora and the diversity of 'Black culture' in her story. Mansour's family are Senegalese specifically, he identifies as African more generally, and Bonnie is a Black American. With part of the story being set in mid-20th century USA, against a backdrop of escalating racial tensions, I was fascinated by the way in which Sennaar highlights the nuances (and the major, often overlooked, differences) which differentiate their experience. For example, Mansour, growing up in Senegal, was never othered for his Blackness; he has not been abused or oppressed because of it; he is not descended from enslaved captives. Mansour's is a story of suffering and marginalisation, but not because of the colour of his skin. One particular moment which stands out for me is a clash between Mansour and his Black American bandmate Keifer over the direction their music should take - because he has not grown up Black in America, Mansour cannot relate to the anger Keifer believes should infuse their music. The idea that Black people are not a monolith is still an under explored one, and the joy and care with which Sennaar shows this is remarkable.

Some of the plot points and themes, particularly those relating to the music industry, could be too niche to be accessible to the lay reader, but Sennaar's ability to infuse these elements with the everyday struggles of relationships, family and the challenges of finding out who you are meant to be as a young adult makes the story universal. Bonnie and Mansour's relationship feels so real - from the initial intrigue and passion to the later frustrations, tension and deeply felt love. Bonnie's love for Mansour poured off the page, and her pain at not knowing where he is is palpable.

There were moments when I found the non-linear timeline, change of narrator and introduction of new characters confusing, but I trusted Sennaar's ability to craft a narrative which was cohesive despite its ambitious scope, and I found that everything soon made sense.

A wonderful, unique debut novel; I will look forward to reading this author's future work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A gorgeous, lyrical novel with a wonderful immersion in music. Really enjoyed Mai Sennaar's writing!

The voice throughout this book is lovely to read, and the cultural and generational insights had me inspired long after reading.

Mansour and Bonnie have fallen in love after meeting by chance in New York City in the late 1960’s. Mansour’s music career has been taking off, and he has been traveling the world performing. Bonnie is pregnant and stays back while Mansour goes to perform in Spain. However, when he is due to arrive back, the day comes and goes. Days turn into months. Bonnie finally finds a lead and sets off to find out what happened to Mansour.

I’d say most of the book surrounds Bonnie and Mansour independently and their family members. The book focuses heavily on their past lives and the lives of their family. This book is character driven and great for readers who love a slow character burn. While Mansour being missing is swirling the entire book, most of the book is more exploring the history and relationship of the various family and friends of Bonnie and Mansour.

I did enjoy how this book switched from different perspectives to weave together a wonderfully rich tale. This was an enjoyable read and it was very easy to get lost in.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

A gorgeous, gripping and deeply lyrical love story, spanning time and continents. Worth reading for the beautiful prose alone, though I found the book's exploration of the life-changing significance of music resonant and affecting. I cannot believe this is a debut novel. Just wonderful.

Ohhhh, this book would be such a good movie!! The descriptions were so vivid, I could see, hear and smell everything. And the writing style? Lyrical, almost like a song. Which is actually perfect, considering how much of this book revolves around music.

It's a multi-generational story, set in several countries, with some romance and mystery sprinkled in. I was actually expecting to have more of the latter two, but I don't mind what we got instead.

We got to know each family member on a deeper level, while jumping through the timeline. At first I thought it would be a bit confusing, but it actually wasn't, I had no trouble following what was going on.

I've seen a few reviews saying they were confused because of the audio, so reading this in print or ebook would probably be better. I'm so curious about the audiobook now though, perhaps I'll check it out whenever I decide to reread this.

Now for the romance, I love how Bonnie never gave up on finding Mansour, but I do wish that got resolved earlier in the book. Still, their moments together were so sweet, I could feel their love for one another through the pages.

They Dream in Gold also covers some heavier topics, so please be aware of that going in.

The story was highly engaging, though it was definitely the writing style that was propelling me forward, I can't praise it enough. Character wise, my favourite was Bonnie, but if you asked me to pick a second favourite, I couldn't, because they're all so well-written.

Overall, this was a great debut, and I'm excited to see what this author comes up with next. And, if you're a fan of Caleb Azumah Nelson or Donna Hill, I feel like you'll love Mai Sennaar too.

*Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

This is a brilliant debut novel. It is a generational family saga, mainly following Mansour and Bonnie but over the course of the story, reveals their history and family complexities.
This spans Africa to America, Switzerland and France and deals with the effects of diaspora and separation on families, and with themes of resilience and how music and food sustain their souls. The different timelines and perspectives at time felt like they interrupted the main story and got a little confusing on who was who, but the various histories did add layers to the story. While the plot is slow it is also compelling, and I would recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and Picador for the e-arc.

In 1968 New York City, Bonnie and Mansour’s lives intersect as he rises as a groundbreaking jazz artist and she works at his record label. Their shared history of moving from place to place, marked by personal loss, creates a deep connection between them. As their romance blossoms and Bonnie becomes pregnant, Mansour takes her to Switzerland, where his family resides, ensuring her care while he tours Spain. However, when Mansour goes missing, Bonnie and his family embark on a search that reveals the complexities of their intertwined lives and personal histories.

This book explores the lives of two generations, vividly capturing the backdrop of various countries through the perspectives of its main characters. It delves into themes of ambition, perseverance, and reconciliation with the past. The narrative is enriched with beautiful prose and profound emotion, particularly highlighting the strength and resilience of the women. Their unwavering love for their families and themselves resonates deeply throughout the book, making it a compelling family saga that many will find relatable.

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i think i maybe just wasn't in The Headspace to read this, I'm sorry! Found it a bit confusing, muddled, meandering. wanted some sharpness to deliver on how scenic it was.

A fabulous debut novel, beautifully written. This family saga - which starts in 1960s New York and introduces to Mansour and Bonnie. Jazz is a running theme to the novel, and provides a musical backbone to their story. It is affecting and tender novel well worth getting stuck into.

This is an extraordinary and joyful debut, both complex and beautiful which captures a period of time in the late 1960s marked by profound cultural shifts. Senagalese born Mansour and French born American Bonnie meet in New York during the race riots in 1968. From these two central characters, we learn about separation, power, the African diaspora; being raised by family rather than by your mother; of survival, imprisonment, resilience and determination to find a voice and a soul to love and cherish. Mansour is a singer and music permeates this lyrical story- it is the pulsing rhythm of his and Bonnie's lives. And food as nourishment of the soul and connection to your past and community is deliciously described.

Mai Sennaar's writing is layered, drawing Bonnie's family tree of black civil rights lawyers, her Great grandfather murdered for his work, her mother escaping America to dance in Paris but caught in the second war and ultimately losing her daughter for years and Mansour's family, his mother's death in Senegal when he was two, raised by his mother's twin, Mama, and their forced separation. Sennaar explores and explains this historical pattern of children separated from their mothers in a really interesting way, describing this legacy with a tender understanding. Written economically but rich with sensory description, this is an extraordinarily good book that tells an important story in a vivid, moving and uplifting way. This is a must read.

This was a delight to read. Sharp, clever and with a complex layering of themes, ideas and techniques that never get in the way of this being an intensely enjoyable and very readable book. The twin histories of Bonnie and Mansour are so engaging and their similarities and differences, their meetings and partings all weave together like the music that they make and which pours through this book. It was such a fresh, exciting novel to read. I loved it.

This book is a beautiful family saga, telling the struggles and strength of two families. Bonnie and Mansour meet in 1968 in New York City. A jazz artist, Mansour falls for Bonnie, who works at his record label, as they travel the world for his gigs. Bonnie becomes pregnant, and is whisked off to Switzerland to be with Mansour’s family. But one night, Mansour falls to call her and seems to have disappeared. So begins their search for him, and a slow understanding of each Bonnie and Mansour’s complicated paths in life thus far.

I found this book to be tender and emotive and incredibly real. While I didn’t quite ‘get’ the musical, jazz thread running throughout the story, I really enjoyed the slow unfolding of two narratives here. It was a little hard to follow via e-reader, since the chapters denote years and I like to flick back and forth, but I just loved rummaging through generations of time-capsuled stories, deftly blended in with a missing persons storyline.

This was such a beautiful read! It had us feeling such strong emotions and attachments. I did find the book was a tad long-winding initially but it does get better once you push through

This was a sprawling historical fiction story told through the eyes and experiences of a couple from different cultures, Bonnie and Mansour. Their life and love story is central to the book, but I felt pulled to the strong female characters and the writing really sang their songs. As the book moves through the years, Bonnie and Mansour are rarely together but the tie between them is so evident in the way that the world keeps making them collide with each other only to pull them apart again, almost to see if they have the fortitude to find their way back.
Many countries and some large cultural events are woven into the pages and they give great grounding and context for what the characters are going through. It's a time of flux, both globally and personally and the story ebbs and flows as progress speeds up and slows down. The parts with Bonnie in Switzerland, pregnant and not knowing where Mansour is, drip languorously off the page and the inertia is stifling, whereas the parts in Brazil, with the music festival, are vibrant and colourful.
It's amazing writing and I really enjoyed it, especially seeing Bonnie grow into a force to be reckoned with, learning from the women she came from and observed.

Mai Sennaar, an American author who currently lives between Baltimore and Dakar has been successful with playwriting, film work and the book of a stage musical but this is her debut novel. It is another example of an author, who through developing skills in other areas, seem to more or less have this novel-writing lark pretty much sorted out at the first attempt.
It's a work of good scope both in terms of location and time, taking in the USA, Switzerland, France and Senegal from the late 1940s to early 1970s.
The central character and for me the most vibrant is Mansour who survives a childhood of loss and upheaval to seek salvation through music arriving in New York at the end of the 1960s with long-time Irish friend and musical partner Liam in tow, establishing themselves as a duo, in what was for me, the most involving section of the work. Through this he meets Bonnie, who we first encounter in scenes set some months later heavily pregnant in Switzerland, staying with Mansour’s relatives who are all anxious because of his failure to return from a European tour.
Bonnie is Black American, Mansour from Senegal and this meshing of the different cultures was something the author wanted to explore she informs us in her opening note. Mansour is a fish out of water in the US, not confident with English and attempting to make a name for himself at a time of racial tensions, especially following the murder of Dr Martin Luther King.
The narrative ebbs and flows in time with different characters in focus. I would say there is a little too much to-ing and fro-ing in time. I think the novel takes a while to settle but the writing is imaginative, strong and often very evocative. The importance of food and music makes it a pleasingly multi-sensory experience. I felt a couple of minor characters would have benefited from more development within the text as I wasn’t always sure how they fit into the main proceedings but overall this is, without doubt, an impressive debut. The author tells her story very well and has loads of potential to become a really note-worthy novelist.
They Dream In Gold is published by Picador in the UK on August 8th 2024. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

Told from 2 voices of different generations of the same family. The story flows between these two perspectives, which makes sense in this respect, but bear in mind if you prefer a linear read. This book falls into the literary fiction for me. Beautifully written, the pacing is slow and encompasses neglect, trauma, racism and crime.

This is a glorious debut, deeply enjoyed from start to finish. Mai masterfully explores the global music scene of the late 1960s, capturing the essence of an era marked by profound cultural and musical shifts. I will highly recommend this book to aeveryone.