GOLD DIGGERS by Sanjena Sathian

Drinking molten gold?  That I’d never heard of until I read this book, which is a tale of alchemy, deception, and thievery, along with a will-they-or-won’t-they love story.  It doesn’t sound too healthy to me, but historically, drinking gold has held the unlikely promise of eternal youth.  Here, however, the goal is academic achievement.  Neil, our first-person narrator, is a sophomore in high school when he discovers that his neighbor, Anita, is consuming gold jewelry that belonged to people her mother wants her to emulate.  Yikes!  The idea is that Anita will, in theory, absorb the previous owner’s ambition or happiness or clarity or whatever.  Anita’s mom learned about this practice as a girl in India, where her parents applied this process to their high-achieving son, while ignoring the academic prospects of their daughter.  Neil, also Indian-American, wants in on this magic lemonade, but his pursuit of excellence backfires, leaving tragedy and guilt in its wake.  This book emphasizes the immense pressure that immigrant parents place on their children to ensure that they excel.  An Ivy League college is a must.  In other words, this is not your typical tale of immigrants endeavoring to lift themselves up by their bootstraps.  On the contrary, they are usurping the talent of fellow Indian immigrants and sometimes trampling them in the process.