A storm in the Sahara inspired Baltimore-based Mai Sennaar’s terrific debut novel. She describes dust settling over western Europe: “A subtle amber muting to the sky… this strange sight, this strange colour, burrows so far into the subconscious minds of the people that for a few nights, they dream in gold… rare evidence that the world is one.” It’s a potent motif for our interconnectedness.
Spanning two decades and several continents, They Dream in Gold is a glorious exploration of the global music scene in the late 1960s. The main focus of this sprawling, intergenerational tale is the love that develops between Mansour, a gifted Senegalese singer, and Bonnie, the young Black American woman he meets in New York who becomes his manager.
