Title: Gold by Chris Cleave
Hardcover, July 3, 2012; Simon and Schuster
Genre: fiction
I'm reading Gold, a novel about Kate and Zoe, two friends in England who are also rival Olympic speed cyclists. Zoe is single and Kate is married with a sick child, Sophie, which limits the time Kate can spend on track cycling. So far, Sophie seems to be just as important a part of the story as the two women.
" Look, Zoe. You've done all the hard work. You've made it to the final. Your worst-case scenario here is to be the second-fastest rider on the entire planet. The very worst thing that could happen in the next ten minutes is that you win an Olympic silver medal."About the author: Chris Cleave studied at Balliol College, Oxford. His debut novel, Incendiary, won a 2006 Somerset Maugham Award and is now a feature film. His second novel, Little Bee, is an international bestseller. Cleave lives in London with his family.
"Exactly."
"You're scared of getting silver?"
She thought about it, then nodded. "I'd rather fucking die." (page 6)
This sounds good. I cant even imagine how gut wrenching it is to win second place by mere fractions of a second in the Olympics.
ReplyDeleteI have this one on the shelf but haven't gotten around to it. Perhaps your review of it, when done, will be the spur I need to sit down with it.
ReplyDelete