July 2012

You probably know Chris Cleave as the author of LITTLE BEE, which was a bestseller and book group favorite. His latest, GOLD is set in Manchester, England, with the protagonists Zoe and Kate, two world-class female cyclists who have known each other as both friends and rivals since their first day of Elite training. They are both in the hunt for their last Olympic gold. The chance to even be in the race has eluded one of the women for two Olympics, and at her age, this is her last shot. She has a young child who is desperately ill, and balancing the emotions that swirl around her as she tries to calculate her daughter’s odds for survival with her training raises the stakes and the tension.

Full of flawed characters each in pursuit of dreams, GOLD is a page turner. Timed perfectly to hit bookshelves around the Olympics, it offers informed insight into the lives of elite-trained athletes --- and just what goes on in between the four years when we are glued to our televisions watching the actual competitions. I see a golden future for this one.