*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Talking about this book? Use #TheGoldenBoy #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!
Description
An Instant National Bestseller | B&N Discover Prize Finalist | Giller Prize Longlist
Barnes & Noble Best Fiction of 2026
An unexpected letter sends a man and his wife into their pasts—and offers them both a shot at redemption.
After an involuntary retirement from his high-flying Hollywood career, Stafford Hopkins has retreated to a luxury estate on Maui, along with his wife Agnes, both grimly resigned to life in a paradise where neither feels fully at home.
Stafford is ready to retreat into himself, too, when a letter arrives with shocking news. Stafford has been named guardian of four children he didn’t know existed: the grandchildren of his late childhood friend, Bobby Shepherd, whose ghost Stafford can no longer ignore.
Returning to both the hardscrabble farming town and the dark secret he’d tried to forget for decades, Stafford is forced to confront his past in order to rebuild his future—and to redirect the fates of his family and the four young people suddenly in his care.
Slyly funny and deeply moving, The Golden Boy is a captivating debut about love, mercy, and second chances.
"The Golden Boy is not just an astoundingly ambitious novel, but also—and more importantly, in my opinion—a wildly entertaining one, by turns hilarious and heartbreaking. Bravo, Patricia Finn!" ―Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls and the North Bath Trilogy
An Instant National Bestseller | B&N Discover Prize Finalist | Giller Prize Longlist
Barnes & Noble Best Fiction of 2026
An unexpected letter sends a man and his wife into their pasts—and offers them...
An Instant National Bestseller | B&N Discover Prize Finalist | Giller Prize Longlist
Barnes & Noble Best Fiction of 2026
An unexpected letter sends a man and his wife into their pasts—and offers them both a shot at redemption.
After an involuntary retirement from his high-flying Hollywood career, Stafford Hopkins has retreated to a luxury estate on Maui, along with his wife Agnes, both grimly resigned to life in a paradise where neither feels fully at home.
Stafford is ready to retreat into himself, too, when a letter arrives with shocking news. Stafford has been named guardian of four children he didn’t know existed: the grandchildren of his late childhood friend, Bobby Shepherd, whose ghost Stafford can no longer ignore.
Returning to both the hardscrabble farming town and the dark secret he’d tried to forget for decades, Stafford is forced to confront his past in order to rebuild his future—and to redirect the fates of his family and the four young people suddenly in his care.
Slyly funny and deeply moving, The Golden Boy is a captivating debut about love, mercy, and second chances.
"The Golden Boy is not just an astoundingly ambitious novel, but also—and more importantly, in my opinion—a wildly entertaining one, by turns hilarious and heartbreaking. Bravo, Patricia Finn!" ―Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls and the North Bath Trilogy
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Average rating from 65 members
Featured Reviews
Reviewer 1846476
5 stars
5 stars
5 stars
5 stars
5 stars
It is not often that I am less than a hundred pages into a book, and so enthralled by the writing that I check to see if the author has more books for me to read. I was shocked to learn that this was Patricia Finn’s debut into the fiction world, and just know that I will be first in line to get this book in physical copy and to read anything else written by the author. This book was a journey, a complex world of characters and family and history. I cried, I gasped, I had the full reading experience including staying up late to read because I couldn’t stop thinking about this book. The prose is beautiful, with wonderful descriptions. The dialogue is unlike most, but when I connected it to the way you would read dialogue for TV it all made sense. In some books ongoing exposition and information about the past can feel mundane, but not here. As we travel through the events of the current day, we also learn about the past and I’m left wanting more from both. If I could give this 6 stars I would. Thank you so so much to the publisher for the e-arc, I truly feel changed by this book and can’t wait to share it with everyone.
5 stars
5 stars
5 stars
5 stars
5 stars
Was this review helpful?
Featured Reviews
Reviewer 1846476
5 stars
5 stars
5 stars
5 stars
5 stars
It is not often that I am less than a hundred pages into a book, and so enthralled by the writing that I check to see if the author has more books for me to read. I was shocked to learn that this was Patricia Finn’s debut into the fiction world, and just know that I will be first in line to get this book in physical copy and to read anything else written by the author. This book was a journey, a complex world of characters and family and history. I cried, I gasped, I had the full reading experience including staying up late to read because I couldn’t stop thinking about this book. The prose is beautiful, with wonderful descriptions. The dialogue is unlike most, but when I connected it to the way you would read dialogue for TV it all made sense. In some books ongoing exposition and information about the past can feel mundane, but not here. As we travel through the events of the current day, we also learn about the past and I’m left wanting more from both. If I could give this 6 stars I would. Thank you so so much to the publisher for the e-arc, I truly feel changed by this book and can’t wait to share it with everyone.
This site uses cookies. By continuing to use the site, you are agreeing to our cookie policy. You'll also find information about how we protect your personal data in our privacy policy.