The summer of 1972 was a blur of asphalt heat, transistor radios, hippies, and the freedom of unsupervised, drink-from-the-garden-hose childhoods.
Against this backdrop, enter Barbie, a creative pre-teen whose spirit has been partially, but not yet fully, crushed.
When she catches an enormous, extraordinary gold-colored fish, a fish so beautiful and improbable it must be magic, she launches a secret mission to somehow earn the fifty dollars needed to have it stuffed and mounted.
What begins as a seemingly simple quest to taxidermy a fish becomes a journey through the tangled, morally ambiguous, funny, and often painful world of Barbie's family and neighborhood. As she takes on chores, entrepreneurship, and increasingly creative ways to gather funds, Barbie is surrounded by unforgettable characters: her sharp-tongued sister Karen, her exasperated mother Joan, her charming but troubled father Don, her fiercely loyal best friend Bridge, and her quietly observant next-door neighbor, Mr. Charles.
At its heart, The Gold Fish is about creativity, longing, friendship, family, and the strange things we try to hold on to when we sense that nothing else can be kept forever.
Through Barbie's eyes, one magical summer becomes a lesson in love, loss, independence, and the difficult art of growing up.
The Gold Fish is perfect for fans of character-driven literary fiction and evocative 1970s family sagas.
About The Writer
Barbara Ward Thall is an ex- advertising, branding, and tech executive raised in benign neglect in 1970s Baltimore.
She writes deeply personal, female-driven stories that tackle family dysfunction, gender, and classism with bite, heart, and edgy humor.
The Gold Fish is a literary novel adapted from her award-winning screenplay of the same name and inspired by actual events. Originally released on Substack as a serialized novel in 2024, The Gold Fish is now available on Kindle and on Audible as an audiobook.
Barbara developed her love for the audio format at Audible, where she served as the SVP in charge of global brand strategy and advertising, before retiring in 2019.
Currently residing in New Jersey and Cape Cod with her husband, Aaron, Barbara recently realized her lifelong dream of having a home on the water and owning her own dock.
She still occasionally drops a line in the water, but so far, she's never again caught a giant gold fish. But hope springs eternal.
Thomasine D.
New York, NJ
"Such beautifully flawed characters, but rendered with grace. So emblematic of that time period. I honestly didn't want to put it down."
Hear what others are saying about The Gold Fish
Kind Words
Stephen W.
North Caldwell, NJ
"I was left wanting more. It brought me back to a simpler time, yet contrasted with complex family dynamics. Poignant and hilarious."
Aran R.,
Montclair, NJ
"I truly adored this story. I grew up in the 70s too and felt like I would have been fast friends with all these characters..."
The Music
From the Motown grooves of The O'Jays, The Chi-Lites, and The Temptations to the voices of Carly Simon, Carole King, and Karen Carpenter and the wild experimentations of David Bowie, Yes, and Led Zeppelin, nothing evokes the 70s like the music.
Check out this chapter-by-chapter, nostalgic playlist that helped inspire the world of The Gold Fish.
Behind the Audiobook
It takes a village.
The Gold Fish was ridiculously lucky to be brought to life in audio by the talents of these industry titans and spectacular human beings.
Kat Jackson
Producer/Director
Multiple Audie award-winner, 20-year Audible veteran, and co-founder/Editor-in-Chief of Audiobook Rush, Kat not only brought a boatload of expertise, but a lightness and joy that made
the process a delight from start to finish.
Grammy award-winning and nominated recording engineer, Cat's quiet vigilance and attention to detail ensured every second of audio was dialed into perfection.
Cathleen Conte
Audio Engineer
Ari Fliakos
Narrator
Multiple Audie award-winner, Audible Narrator of the Year (Nathan Hill's The Nix), and core member of legendary theater company, The Wooster Group, Ari gave life to each character with sensitivity, compassion and his signature dry wit.
