I first heard of Gold from that little website I’m just a teensy-weensy bit obsess with, Goodreads. I love how it connects readers from all over, and my friend from way back in elementary school and junior high added it to her Goodreads list and she’s one of those friends whose recommendations I always trust. I am also excited to announce that the book just became available in paperback this month, you can buy it from Amazon here or Barnes & Noble here. Here is the synopsis from its Goodreads profile:
What would you sacrifice for the people you love? KATE AND ZOE met at nineteen when they both made the cut for the national training program in track cycling—a sport that demands intense focus, blinding exertion, and unwavering commitment. They are built to exploit the barest physical and psychological edge over equally skilled rivals, all of whom are fighting for the last one tenth of a second that separates triumph from despair.
Now at thirty-two, the women are facing their last and biggest race: the 2012 Olympics. Each wants desperately to win gold, and each has more than a medal to lose.
Kate is the more naturally gifted, but the demands of her life have a tendency to slow her down. Her eight-year-old daughter Sophie dreams of the Death Star and of battling alongside the Rebels as evil white blood cells ravage her personal galaxy—she is fighting a recurrence of the leukemia that nearly killed her three years ago. Sophie doesn’t want to stand in the way of her mum’s Olympic dreams, but each day the dark forces of the universe seem to be massing against her.
Devoted and self-sacrificing Kate knows her daughter is fragile, but at the height of her last frenzied months of training, might she be blind to the most terrible prognosis?
Intense, aloof Zoe has always hovered on the periphery of real human companionship, and her compulsive need to win at any cost has more than once threatened her friendship with Kate—and her own sanity. Will she allow her obsession, and the advantage she has over a harried, anguished mother, to sever the bond they have shared for more than a decade?
I. loved. this. book. It was funny, it was intense, it was tragic, it was sentimental. Here’s an example of one of the funny parts:
Kate’s daughter, who has an aggressive form of cancer, is obsessed with Star Wars and her imagination throughout the book is a recurring motif. I am a huge Star Wars fan myself so this part was so entertaining and fun. It was a great move on the author’s part because although her storyline is emotionally heavy, her inner-monologue’s humor both brightens and brings a child-like perspective to the novel.
The racing, which takes up most of the book, was so so interesting. I am NOT an athlete. I did marching band in high school (not really a sport) and haven’t really participated in real athletics since I was in elementary school. I am not disciplined when it comes to exercise or health. Why am I telling you all this? Because these girls ARE. And it not only leads to a certain body time but also to a certain frame of mind. Without giving too much away, this element was by far the heart of the story to me. I think of the girls almost as magnets placed with their opposing sides facing each other. Are they friends? Yes. But they are always repelling each other, they can never get too close. They are ALWAYS thinking about racing. They are always competing. How close can they really get when only once can win the Gold? (See what the author did there?)
Of course, because this book is wonderfully written, it gets tragic. How? Again, without spoiling it, with this element of the ever-repelling friendship established, Chris Cleave throws his characters into some deeply personal situations. How the characters struggle through these situations with their emotional limitations stemming from their competitive racing frame of mind is what makes this book stand out from any of the others.
But this book isn’t just about inter-personal relationships, that type of suspense that only an intense race can bring is also abounding. Who will win?! Like I said, I am NOT an athlete yet the relationships between these characters are some of the most multi-faceted, deep, and fascinating I’ve ever read.
I would especially recommend this to an athlete who could connect with the characters on that competitive level, but don’t worry anyone will find this book interesting.
Are you an athlete? Have you ever read a fictional book about sports?