Super Short Summary

In Claire Vaye Watkins’s speculative fiction Gold Fame Citrus, Luz and Ray, former model and soldier, navigate an apocalyptic California devastated by a prolonged drought, scavenging in an abandoned Hollywood mansion. After rescuing a neglected toddler named Ig, they embark across the perilous desert, seeking refuge and survival amidst shifting sands and deceiving prophets’ false promises of salvation. The story addresses issues such as cruelty, drug addiction, dehydration, nuclear devastation, mistreatment of refugees, and systemic racism.