Gold: A Novel

The library shelves, both in brick and mortar libraries and cyber ones, are filled with non-fiction books about the sport of cycling. Novels about the sport, however, are few and far between. "Gold" is one of them, perhaps one of the best among the few. The two main characters are young women, friends and also fierce competitors who vie for a place on Britain's Olympic track cycling team. The team can only take one of them to the 2012 Olympics in London, which creates tension throughout the novel and keeps us turning the pages to find out which one.Readers not familiar with track cycling will get a primer here. Author Cleave takes us into that milieu - the training, the tactics, the strategy, the bikes. But this isn't just a sports story. Mr. Cleave uses cycling as a catalyst to draw his own portrait of familiar themes of the human condition, played out between the two women and their coach, a lonely, late middle-age has-been (once a competitive cyclist himself) who lives vicariously through the success of his charges. His is not an easy task, trying to distribute his affection and loyalty equally between his two athletes. Read it, you'll like it.

Chris Cleave is an extraordinary writer, whose talents surpass most, which is why I'm extra critical of his work. "Incendiary" and "Little Bee" were gut wrenching, with raw emotion and detail; they didn't trail off like a fairy-tale ending."Gold", Cleave's third book to hit shelves is a fine read; however, it's nowhere near as good as his previous work. The story centers around two female Olympic cyclists in their early thirties, Zoe and Kate, who are training for the 2012 London Olympics. Training together since they were nineteen, the two ladies have more drama off the track than on, yet remain as close as sisters throughout each traumatic event that hits their life in their thirteen years together.Instead of taking the voice of his main characters as we're used to him doing, Cleave chose to write in the third-person, skipping from character to character, making it difficult to truly understand and feel each voice. His character development maintains strong yet leaves the character somewhat distant from the reader. To be honest, the characters didn't come across as believable. They were too simple and "Hollywood-like" to actually be realistic.In the end, "Gold" fails to live up to "Incendiary" and "Little Bee". His detailed descriptions of the track and cycling maintain the reader's interest; however, it's nowhere near his best work.

Especially with the Olympics this year, I found this book about Olympic training for the bicycle race to be fascinating. Zoe and Kate are two women who have trained together since early childhood. They have trained with their friendJack. All three have been hand picked for their temperaments by their coach Tom, who watches and lives their lives as they are enmeshed in the Olympic pursuit.I found most interesting the way that the more quotidian concerns of the world interrupt the pursuit of excellence. Even for these world class athletes, the world of sex, bodies, and relationships become a part of the story.I am a sucker for a trip into a different world, and this gave me an excellent read. It isn't as luminous as Little bee, but that is the curse of an author with the excellence of a previous novel. It is still worth the read. Cleave is a wonderful writer.

I bought this book because I'd read 'Little Bee' by the same author and was grabbed by the life-likeness of the characters and the authenticity of the dialogue. I felt I was right back amongst the people I knew when living in London 40 years ago. After starting 'Gold' I, at first, wondered why I'd bought it as I wasn't the least interested in cycling, especially pursuit events. However, once again I was grabbed by the characters and kept on reading as I got drawn into the plot and through them, was able to appreciate the thrill of the sport. The author says he, himself, raced to experience what he was to write about and it shows. I'll watch the velodrome events during the next Olympics with a greater understanding and excitement thanks to this book. However, there's more to the plot than competitive racing - the human dynamics are also riveting. To get inside the head and body of each character as the author does is nothing short of amazing, and his research is commendable, adding integrity to the story. This book confirms my belief that Chris Cleave is a great writer and I'm looking forward to reading more of his work.

"Gold" is a great read. As the story unfolded it was harder and harder to put down.Cleave does a great job of taking the reader into three separate but overlapping worlds: the interior world of the professional/ elite athlete in general, the physical world of competitive cycling in particular, and the internal world of the individual characters that make you care about this novel. Although the story examines what it takes to pursue Olympic gold, it also is a keen drawing of a set of inter-connected and terribly flawed human beings, of their dreams and their realities, and the fears that get to them in the middle of the night - just like the rest of us.Like Cleaves' other work, this novel has the journalist's nose for the telling detail as well as the compelling human element. A good read for the jock and non-jock, alike - and I know of what I speak. Seriously.

Chris Cleave is a brilliant writer. You have to keep reading, even if part of you doesn't want to know what happens, because another part of you is terrified that you already know.In "Incendiary" and "Little Bee", characters are drawn into an unknown realm, to their peril. He uses that to make us think about social issues, which adds the appeal of the books. In "Gold" there is again horrible tension as characters are drawn to things that we know will hurt them, but we don't really cross any social boundaries, which is a bit of a loss. It's still a gread read, but only 4 stars, where I give his earlier books 5.

I enjoyed this book, for the most part - Chris Cleave is very good at ramping up the emotion and he also has a lovely turn of phrase, describing common things in unusual ways. I definitely wasn't bored and it was fascinating getting a glimpse inside this driven, obsessive world - unlike other readers I didn't feel the book was too 'sports heavy' and I felt he wove the information about cycling seamlessly into the narrative.However, what tends to grate on me about Chris Cleave's books in general is a sense that they seem a bit calculated and contrived. He is good at picking a 'now' topic and putting it out there at just the right time. Every character has a heartrending situation to deal with - whether a poorly child (in my opinion the most heart breaking aspect of the book) or a dead brother or mental health problems. It reads a bit like an X Factor list of sob stories. I know this is the stuff of fiction and I can't really put my finger on why it annoys me, but it does. I think the author is capable of much more than he has shown us in The Other Hand, Incendiary and now Gold - my feeling is that he needs to trust himself to fill a story without resorting to 'drama of the week' tactics. Just my opinion though.

Kate and Zoe are training for the 2012 London Olympics. This will be the last chance they have to compete as they are both in their early thirties and reaching retirement (from professional sport) age. They met young and have the same coach, Tom, who has worked tirelessly to ensure that these two women achieve the best out of their bodies. Kate and Zoe are friends, they are rivals. The book is about whether their biggest rivalry is on the track, racing against each other on their bikes, or off the track. Is it only about sport? Or is it about family? Love? Kate's husband Jack? Or their daughter Sophie?Apart from a short prologue and epilogue this book takes place over just a few days (with several flashbacks, obviously). The attention to detail necessary to allow the whole story to unfold in this time span is phenomenal. And yet not one page, paragraph or sentence is boring.Both female characters are complete with personality traits, flaws and irritations. Both are one hundred per cent credible and likable. I found myself rooting for both of them, stuck in the horrible position Tom (the coach) is in when he knows only one of them can win. The ending for me was enormously satisfying.I don't know much about professional sports and even less about cycling. Assuming that Cleave has done his homework, I feel I know a lot more now. Another major element of the book was Sophie's illness. This was tough to read at times, but equally you want to know what is going to happen next. At the end of the novel Cleave pays tribute to the real athletes of the Olympics, "May their victories be remembered, and their characters celebrated, forever." and to The Great Ormond Street Hospital for allowing him to do research there. "Caring for sick children is the Olympics of parenting."I would strongly urge anyone to read this thrilling and pacy, yet sensitive and heart-warming, book.

Gold by Chris CleaveThree athletes, one trainer, one sick child; all the main characters in Gold, by Chris Cleave, have equal weight. Their stories are cleverly woven together to give all five a 'central role'.The book is written with great attention to chronology with flashbacks revealing the back-story at just the right pace.At times Zoe is harder to like but there is always the hint of a trauma that will explain what is driving her. Kate is almost too good to be true, but empathetic. Jack, could be seen as selfish but his flaws are human and understandable. His attraction to Zoe is genuine so he turns to her when he and Kate fall out.Their trainer,Tom the ex-champ who is determined to have the reflected glory of Olympic champions to compensate for missing his own gold medal by one tenth of a second.A bit corny in places but a touching story, never maudlin and ultimately optimistic,Themes associated with each character include serious illness in children, the dedication involved in top level sport, competition and sacrifice. Overall, if there is one theme it is perhaps commitment.

I have read Gold and also The Other Hand and I must say that I prefer Gold. I found The Other Hand utterly unbelievable and it completely failed to grip me - it was too contrived. Gold at least gives insight into the physical, emotional and psychological strength and perseverance that drives athletes to the height of achieving gold at the Olympics. I also liked the relationship between the five characters - like the five circles of the Olympic emblem, tied together and unable to break away.What bothered me about Gold was that I didn't think an athlete who was putting her body through the type of demand necessary would get pregnant that easily. And if she did, I can't believe that another athlete who's goal is also gold would do what Kate did. I guess it can happen but again a little too contrived for me ... but not as much as The Other Hand.

This story is set in the world of olympic track cycling and certainly had a lot of authentic detail around the regimes of the track and the diets and training of elite athletes. The story was nicely paced and featured a number of viewpoints of the main characters, which gave different nuances to the same story. It was very much a character driven novel and had a lot of back story interwoven throughout, which was used to throw light on the characters' pasts and therefore to explain why they were they way they were now. Unfortunately, I could not feel particulary sympathetic towards them. It is a measure of the quality of writing though, that I continued to be interested enough to keep reading whilst not liking the characters that much. I don't want to give any spoilers but would say that when I finished the book, I thought of how well it good translate to a movie, with a typical 'Hollywood' ending. I would have preferred a less neat finish, that would somehow have been more realistic. Although set in the world of cycling, the plot and story could have been set in virtually any competitive sport where indivuals are striving for their personal racing best - track, swimming, tennis, golf, skiing... the list could go on. Read the book and then think about what sport could have been used!