Today we listen back to our very first episode of the Gulf Coast Life Book Club. Duchess Goldblatt is a character who exists only on Twitter. Her creator remains anonymous. She wrote a memoir called Becoming Duchess Goldblatt, which tells the story of how she created the character and how it helped her emerge from an emotional morass. The book continues to be hugely popular—it would make a great gift. Duchess Goldblatt continues to inspire great love and devotion among her followers.
We also hear from Lysley Tenorio,the author of The Son of Good Fortune.This novel tells the story of Excel, a young man growing up in San Francisco, and his mother Maxima, a martial artist who was a B-movie action star in the Phillipines before they moved to the US. Excel was born on the plane as his mother immigrated. They are both undocumented, meaning one slip and their lives could be upended. It's a tremendous read.
Since this interview aired, Son of Good Fortune is being developed into aseries on Amazon, headed up by Riz Ahmed and Lulu Wang.
Buy Becoming Duchess Goldblatt.
