Susan Straight constructs her latest novel from interconnected stories set in the Southern California that exists in its canyons and fields, on its freeways and backroads, and via its service entrances. It's a very real look at California -- this American mecca, to which people have flocked for centuries. The characters in Mecca (a real town in Riverside County, Calif., by the way) are descended from Mexicans, Spaniards, Native Americans, enslaved Africans, many of whom have lived in and worked this land for generations. Chapters alternate among the characters, with some narrated in first-person, others in third. The chapter that gutted me most thoroughly, however, was written in second-person. While other readers found the interconnected but fractured narrative confusing, I thought it worked beautifully, the way a secondary character in one story/chapter stepped into the spotlight in a subsequent chapter. Southern California is confusing. What these characters must do to get by day to day in this place, it's confusing, and far from fair and just. I thought Straight successfully portrayed this. 

[Thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for an opportunity to read an advanced reader copy of this book.]

Johnny Frias a California Highway Patrol officer spends his days montoring the freeways. His life is constantly interrupted by spreading wildfires in this Coachella Valley a dry barren wasteland that is home to thousands and was at one point in time a vision in the desert, conjured by ambitious businessman who saw opportunity for agricultural growth of citrus groves. Johnny Frias worked on the groves he is the son of California and Indian parents. His mother is Matelasse a light skin black woman who traces her ancestry back before California became a state.

The novel is vast with stretches from
Venice Beach, Huntington Beach, San Bernardino, Colorado Desert, lands of the Coachella to Joshua tree.
There in lies the problem with the novel. With so much vastness it is difficult to get a hold of the storyline as it constantly changes with multiple characters coming into the story.

"Mecca" by Susan Straight is a gorgeously crafted, heartbreaking novel. Its characters will haunt me for months. There are multiple storylines told from multiple points of view, but at its core, "Mecca" is about racism and prejudice. Ms. Straight's descriptive writing places a reader right in the middle of the characters' lives. I felt the characters' terror as they escaped from the California wildfires; their sadness at the loss of a child; their helplessness at the loss of a job; and their hopelessness when ICE shows up. This is the story of another Southern California, behind the glitz, glamour, and fake façade of Hollywood.

Susan Straight's writing is hands down some of the finest I have ever read. I will not be surprised if "Mecca" is shortlisted for multiple literary awards in 2022.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the privilege of reading an advanced digital copy of this tremendous novel in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Farrer, Straus and Giroux for an ARC of an amazing character driven, well written book.
Mecca is about the first inhabitants of California and dealing with the attitudes and prejudices of the white population that have moved in to the darker skins that have lived there.. Though the family has lived in the area for hundreds of years they have to deal with ICE because they are dark skinned. This is their history and story and an interesting intriguing story it is. This is a family and friends that have been together so long they are all treated as friends. They know the different canyons, the Santa Ana winds, and the heat of the deserts. They are ranchers, farmers, and business owners that are living in these canyons.
I loved this book after I discovered the format and the characters. Such in-depth characters and lives and made the story of California come alive.
Again, thank you #NetGalley and #Farrer,StrausandGiroux for the opportunity to read this. I’ve found another favorite author.

I enjoyed this book. This is my first book by this author which I enjoyed and look forward to reading more from her in the future. This is a story about a fight for life and land. The characters are true to life and really bring the story to life. This is a well written story that is engaging as well as hard to put down. It took me on an emotional roller coaster in parts. I enjoyed the growth of the story as well as the characters. A story that has twists and turns that you don't want to miss. An easy and entertaining story that is worth the pick up. I highly recommend this book.

This is a powerful book that I did not want to end. I was truly invested with the characters and what happens to them all. Latinos, blacks, American Indians, those living here illegally all trying to survive in the time of covid and the free reign of ICE. The sheer prejudices left me reeling and I was in turn angry and sad. I feel we as a nation have taken such steps backwards in the last few years and this story underscores all of them. This would be a great book club book as it asks so many questions and raises so many issues

Six stars!!! Susan Straight's new book (out March 15, 2022) blew me away. The descriptive writing is amongst the best I've ever read. You can tell the author has lived her entire life in Southern California. She captures the places and people with absolute perfection. All the major literary awards will have Mecca shortlisted this year.

I feel almost foolish trying to pen a review as my prose is so ordinary compared to what I just finished reading. So I won't say much more - just trust me, get a copy of this book, settle in, and allow yourself to be carried deep into Susan Straight's world.

You should be aware of a few aspects of the book going in, though.

The novel reads as a connected set of short stories. The first chapter transition somewhat jolted me as the story suddenly changed to entirely different characters. The divergent characters and stories eventually intertwine, so stick with it.

I was glad I read a Kindle version; when a character comes back into the story, I used the search function to remind me of the previous story. The large cast of characters and multiple settings run together and apart with complicated zones of intersectionality - much like the SoCal freeways. Mecca isn't easy, but it is a profoundly fulfilling, rich read.

I am most grateful to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There are parts of this novel that are absolutely beautiful. The setting is so immersive and detailed, which is one of the elements I love most in literature. and Straight's description of mundane weather events like wind are breathtaking. Other parts are completely confusing, populated with too many characters and information. I really liked Johnny Frias, who is the purported main character and yet I didn't feel like I got to know him any more than other characters. For supposedly being the main character, he doesn't even factor in to the final chapter/story. I love stories with connecting threads like these and I loved the deep sense of community that Straight was able to imbue this novel with even if I didn't understand every nuance of every story. This is also one of the first books I have read that has directly dealt with the coronavirus and I appreciated the care Straight took with the subject. The ending is not for people who want resolution, and I found myself a little frustrated but I look forward to reading more of Straight's work.

Thank you to NetGalley, Farrar, Straus & Giroux for the ARC.

The opening chapters of this series of interlocking stories features John Freis, a California highway patrolman who represents the embodiment of the history of Southern California. He carries in his dna the mixed heritage of Mexican settlers with Indigenous people who have inhabited the land ever since there was land to inhabit, and every day faces the insults of scofflaws he lights up (pulls over) during the course of his job. The rollout of this complicated history begins during the administration of a person who has made it acceptable to some (usually wearing MAGA caps) to denigrate those they deem inferior, those who could actually better lay claim to the land they both inhabit. Susan Straight has created a masterpiece, each segment fitting in with one another, with a fitting eye for tragedy, humanity and familial connections. Carried through into present day, these characters endure elements of heartbreak and strength including the climate change induced firestorms, life under the pandemic, and the prevailing Santa Ana winds. Although it it the first, this is definitely not the last Susan Straight book I'll read.

I fear this was not the book for me. Every time I picked it back up it took a long time to get back into the story. Some scenes were very powerful and vivid, but then many didn't really have a function to the overall narrative (not a problem per se of course, but I found it distracted and made the book too long).

There was also a certain repeated hammering home of obvious points (e.g. the continuous reminder that not all non-white Californians come from Mexico... When confronted with such ignorance, the main characters in the book then simply say or think that their family has a long history in California going back to the 18th century. But to me the right answer would have rather been: I am not from Mexico, but so what if I were?).

Anyway, I am sure this will appeal to many readers more than to me, because it does have evocative writing and an interesting plot.

Many thanks to Netgalley and FSG for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The book starts out introducing Johnny Frìas, a California Highway Patrolman and native Californian who many assume is Mexican, born of illegal immigrants and who faces a lifetime of derogatory racism because of it. For me however, the book soon veers of course introducing characters that I had trouble connecting to one another until about three quarters of the way into it. I put this book down many times but eventually did finish. I had higher hopes for this but it just didn’t live up to expectations.

Many narrators tell their stories in this tale of Southern California. The characters weave in and out of the lives of each other, although some not for a long stretch. Johnny Frias, a CHP officer with a secret, is the root of must of this, as is Bunny, the woman who he killed to protect. It's a melange more than a plot driven read. Know that there is a fair amount of untranslated Spanish dialogue. I admired this slice of life of often unseen Southern Californians more than I enjoyed it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of literary fiction.

Yet another brilliant novel by Susan Straight who has mastered the art of donning the voices of others and moving their lives into ours. Her voice is musical, with lives and places unfamiliar yet made familiar until the reader assumes their challenges right along with the characters in her pages. A book of intertwined lives, of people interacting in good faith and bad outcomes, of lives lived in public yet dwelling with long held secrets and sorrows. A book that will sink its teeth into the reader for months to come. Recommend.

This book is a California epic, told from the perspectives of the indigenous people who we rarely here from. This books talks about race, history, family and destiny. It is elegant, beautiful and sad and extremely powerful. A story not to be missed.

In an honest review as requested for this book, I nearly closed it up and went on to another book several times. That alternated with being really engaged in the characters and wondering how they were going to be connected. In the end, I cannot give it a thumbs up. I needed the ending to have a better connection with all the other characters. I needed Johnny Frias to have a more prominent place throughout since he seemed to me to be the primary protagonist. I needed a more satisfying closure. I gave the book three stars because of the times when I was completely wrapped up in the story, but that feeling waffled with the first feeling of wanting to leave it and go on to another book. Thanks for letting me read it.

Told from various character viewpoints, Mecca will pull you in as the stories of each gently intertwine. Mecca is a cultural experience that teaches, reveals, and invokes empathy and understanding of lived experiences of the characters. This book will make your heart ache, stir your rage at the injustices, and make you yearn for more at its end. The only thing I disliked about the book was (1) that it had an end; and (2) how it ended. I wanted to keep reading and felt a sense of loss when I realized I had read the last page. Mecca is a cultural experience in and of itself and is a definite five star read that will take the reader on a cultural journey. #Mecca #NetGalley #JennReviews

I really wanted to like this book because I am a Californian and proud of it. The writing style just doesn’t work for me. The sentences are choppy and the way the switch between characters was done felt jarring. I’m honestly not even sure what the book is trying to achieve. If you have liked other books by this author, though, you’ll probably like this one too.

The various doings of extended family in southern California as told with great verisimilitude by a homegirl in the era of Covid. A compelling read as transparent as life.

Mecca is set in a Southern California the is too seldom represented in fiction, the canyon country of Orange County, inhabited by working immigrant communities (mostly legal) who face constant prejudice. Even Tony Frias, the protagonist of the opening section, who is a policeman with the California Highway Patrol. constantly encounters racism in his encounters with he public. As Tony's retired training officer observes, "California thinks they're the most liberal and they fuckin love everybody. But they'll ask you where you're born just like people do in a small town in Texas. Same old shit." This brief quote also shows how well Susan Straight evokes the dialect of the community she focuses on.

We meet a wide and varied cast of characters in the novel's twelve sections, mostly invisible to the rest of us, who are brought vividly to life. At the same time I, at least, found it hard to distinguish between the numerous Latina women in the book. Characters tell their own stories and re-enter the narrative in the stories of others. The novel is intricately plotted, something I simultaneously admired and found confusing. It introduced me to a lively community that fascinated me even as I lost track of who had done what by the closing actions of the novel.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a complimentary ARC.

There’s a scorching wind inhabiting every page of Susan Straight’s blistering new novel, #Mecca..This story of modern day Southern California and the diverse people who make it home blazed through my mind with a fiery passion unlike anything in recent memory. Like Mecca in Saudi Arabia where Muslims flock annually to pay homage to Muhammad, Straight’s Mecca is a shrine to freedom in The United States, and symbolically represents a holy sanctuary that is their home. These are people with far reaching family and friendship bonds who don’t wither despite the area’s both literal and figurative heat, where a loose muffler can cause a spark which sets off a massive blaze, or can quarantine in their unairconditioned homes while waiting for the virus to vanish. Throughout, #Mecca is a lyrical masterpiece of hope and resilience in people who live much of their lives in adverse conditions. Kudos to Susan Straight for creating this brilliant and important work of art.