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    Gold: A Novel
    Gold: A Novel
    Gold: A Novel
    Audiobook11 hours

    Gold: A Novel

    Written by Chris Cleave

    Narrated by Emilia Fox

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    The latest novel from Chris Cleave—the award-winning and international #1 bestselling author of Little Bee—is “a heartstring-tugger with an adrenaline-fueled plot” (People) that asks: how much are we willing to sacrifice for the people we love?

    IT’S THE ULTIMATE TEST OF A MOTHER’S LOVE . . .

    IF your dreams pull you in one direction and your heart in another, which should you follow? This is the question that haunts Kate Meadows, a world champion athlete whose eight-year-old daughter Sophie is battling a recurrence of childhood leukemia just as Kate is about to compete for her last chance at an Olympic gold medal. For years, Kate has sacrificed everything for her family and watched her best friend and closest rival, Zoe Castle, conquer the world stage. Kate has never won gold and will have to go through Zoe—who has everything to lose—to get it. Now her child is facing a life-threatening illness, and the stakes are higher than ever. How can she do what is right for her daughter without abandoning all of her dreams?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateJul 3, 2012
    ISBN9781442348998
    Author

    Chris Cleave

    Chris Cleave is the author of Everyone Brave is Forgiven, Gold, Incendiary, and the #1 New York Times bestseller Little Bee. He lives with his wife and three children in London, England. Visit him at ChrisCleave.com or on Twitter @ChrisCleave.

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    Reviews for Gold

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    • 5/5
      Book Title: "Gold”Author: Chris CleavePublished By: Simon & SchusterAge Recommended: 17+Reviewed By: Kitty BullardRaven Rating: 5Review: Be warned this story will make you cry as well as exhilarate you. Two women meet at 19 growing up together in the world of competitive sports only to find themselves competing against one another in the Olympics. They soon realize they have to make one of the hardest choices of all… will they allow competition to kill their friendship or will they realize all they’ve been through together could never be worth the price of Gold. A fantastic read that will capture you and hold you tight to the very end!
    • 5/5
      Book Title: "Gold?Author: Chris CleavePublished By: Simon & SchusterAge Recommended: 17+Reviewed By: Kitty BullardRaven Rating: 5Review: Be warned this story will make you cry as well as exhilarate you. Two women meet at 19 growing up together in the world of competitive sports only to find themselves competing against one another in the Olympics. They soon realize they have to make one of the hardest choices of all? will they allow competition to kill their friendship or will they realize all they?ve been through together could never be worth the price of Gold. A fantastic read that will capture you and hold you tight to the very end!
    • 3/5
      A one-two-three punch to the gut and an adrenaline-fueled fast read. I wish there was a .5 to add above the five stars. But admittedly, the question behind the writing, "why and how do we make our choices for ambition versus family," is one that I have been ruminating on for a couple of decades. When family has shaped every choice you've ever made to the point where you wonder who you really are, this book carries nuclear power. I bawled my way through the last two chapters, but really, I'm fine now. I've had a couple of days to chill. LOVED this book! How Chris Cleave writes women so well? One can only wonder.
    • 3/5
      This is the story of Zoe and Kate, two competitive cyclists at the top of their game who have been racing against one another since they were teenagers. They are also best friends. They have a complicated back history which emerges gradually over the course of the book. The story is about the build up to the London 2012 Olympics and the tension hinges on who is going to take the gold medal. At the same time, Kate's daughter is suffering from leukaemia and that will be a significant sub-plot in the book.I didn't greatly like this book - though by the end I realised I had something more invested in the story than I expected. Zoe and Kate's friendship has zero credibility. Zero! Zoe is a screwed up individual who tramples all over anyone and everyone who gets near her and will do anything to win. Kate is a freakishly perfect, kind and forgiving individual who has sacrificed her chances for her daughter again and again. I didn't feel that either of them were real people. The book took me a week to read because I kept losing interest in it - plus it's so repetitive that I'd pick it up and think "haven't I read this part before?"Having said that, there IS genuine tension at the end and there are some good twists that you don't see coming. So while my initial thinking was to give the book two stars, I did enjoy it more than that.
    • 3/5
      I really enjoyed the writing style in this novel--the images in particular were exquisite! But I found the characterization unbelievable. Kate was too good to be real, too sacrificial and gullible. And on the other hand, Zoe was too horrible, even with all her emotional baggage. Sophie and Tom were the characters that I found convincing, and they were very much so.
    • 4/5
      Fascinating story of the human cost and sacrifice to win Olympic gold, based on two British cyclists.
    • 5/5
      So unbearably good. The birth scene gave me the shivers and the races were fabulous. I cannot countenance "alright" in published work, though.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyed this one quite a bit, particularly after the half- way mark when it became full of suspense and captured what the adrenaline of the racing experience must be like. It provided an insight into the world of cycling and childhood leukaemia through mostly believable characters.
    • 4/5
      I really don't like 5 point grading systems! This book rates 7/10. It is a good read. My wife suggests that this book is paced like track cycle sprint race, very slow at the start but gradually winding up to fast and furious finish. I agree, but the very slow start makes it hard to get involved and, I think, diminishes the impact. Also I could have done with much less of "Star Wars" and the epilogue was unnecessary. But having got my moans out of the way, I enjoyed it.
    • 2/5
      Zoe and Kate have been fierce competitors for most of their lives. They're also fast friends. Zoe already won an Olympic medal, while Kate was taking a break from competition to care for her infant daughter. Now, they have to compete against each other for one slot on the 2012 Olympic team. Drama ensues.My main problem with this book is amount of drama that Kate and Zoe bring to each others' lives. Yes, their situation is complicated--it would be difficult to be such close friends while pursing a dream only one can achieve. But the solution is to compete, and may the best racer win. It's not about who is more deserving, who already had their turn, or who has sacrificed the most.But, without the tension, there'd be no book, so obviously that wouldn't work here. I guess the bottom line is I liked the book enough to keep reading, but in the end hated that I'd spent so much time with insufferable, narcissistic whiners.
    • 3/5
      Thank you to Simon and Schuster for providing me with a copy of this novel to review.Zoe, Kate, and Jack are the three points of a love triangle. They are elite cyclists vying for their spot to win gold at the London Olympics. Jack and Zoe were a couple once upon a time, now it's Jack and Kate. No matter how the romantic entanglements play out, all three manage to remain friends. Complicating the quest for gold is Jack and Kate's young daughter Sophie who is sick with life threatening cancer. Kate has trouble focusing on her quest when her daughter may be close to dying. Her window to compete is shrinking and she has made many sacrifices in order to put Sophie first. She has one last chance to make her Olympic dreams come true but first she will have to defeat her friend and rival Zoe. Where Kate is restrained and proper Zoe is a tabloid darling. Zoe doesn't play by anyone's rules and when she races, she puts it all on the line because she has nothing to lose. A rule change means it will all come down to one last race between Kate and Zoe to see who gets the spot for the Olympics. Zoe will have to conquer her inner demons and Kate will have to set Sophie aside if either is to have a chance to win gold.The timing of this book couldn't have been more perfect. The Olympics are set to begin in a few short weeks and it was if the author decided to commemorate the event by crafting a novel. Although The timing was fortuitous the story was lacking. I really had to force myself through most of it. It was only when the relationship between Jack, Kate ,and Zoe was more fully explained that I found myself more interested. The book was formulaic in order to derive the most emotional response. Of course it would work out that Sophie would be at her sickest when Kate had to focus on her last competition. I really have to agree with the Entertainment Weekly review that came out on Friday giving it a C. The characters were one dimensional and I found that I didn't really care who won as long as the book was over. I hate to be so negative, especially about a book I was given. I have had Little Bee on my to be read pile forever. Hopefully I will be able to connect with that one more.
    • 5/5


      I really like Chris Cleave's writing style. I didn't expect to like Gold as much as I liked Little Bee but in fact I loved it, more so than Little Bee. Now I need to go read Incendiary.
    • 4/5
      Another book club book and one that I probably wouldn't have picked up on my own. I didn't love this book but I didn't hate this book either. I found it to be interesting but not one that I loved. Gold is about 3 cyclists going for GOLD at many different Olympics. You have Jack, Kate and Zoe. All three first meet when they were young and just starting out in cycling. Then there is Sophie, Jack and Kate's daughter who is fighting Leukemia. Kate gives up going to the Olympics after Sophie and once she is diagnosed with Leukemia it looks like her hopes are gone forever.Gold follows all three with flashbacks and to the present. You learn how each individual was shaped into the adult they are now. Seeing how each one had a different beginning and what drove them to get into cycling. The things they do with and to each other during the book makes for some entertaining and heartbreaking moments.
    • 2/5
      This was certainly compelling--I couldn't put it down--but I felt kind of gross afterwards. I thought it was cheap and manipulative (they're Olympic Athletes! their Daughter has Cancer!) and when I read in the author's note that he did research that included being in the room with the oncologist when parents were being told their child's diagnosis? Well, I was disgusted, frankly.
    • 4/5
      Friendship, true friendship, is a strange thing. Those outside a friendship often wonder what it is about two so seemingly different people that binds them to each other for years, decades, or even a lifetime. Sometimes, such as in the case of Kate and Zoe, the friends share one burning passion that no one else "gets" the way that they get it - individually and together. But even then (sometimes, especially then), how the friendship survives for so long can be a mystery.Kate and Zoe, who met when they were both nineteen, are stars in the world of track cycling. They are so good, in fact, that over the course of three Olympic competitions, they are Britain's best chance at Olympic gold. Of the two, Kate has the most natural talent and ability in the sport. Zoe, however, has a level of drive and determination that makes her every bit Kate's equal on the track. Head-to-head competition between the pair more often than not ends with Zoe reaching the finish line slightly ahead of Kate.As the 2012 Olympics approach, Zoe has become Britain's darling of the track cycling world. She has turned her good looks into a lucrative advertising contract, and her pretty face appears on giant billboards all over the country. Now 32 years old, she and Kate are still competitors, training partners, and despite the odds, friends. But things are not necessarily what they seem. Their story complicated by the intimate history they share, and their friendship is about to be tested in ways neither girl can control.Author Chris Cleave, in a series of flashbacks, reveals, bit by bit, the shared past that explains how (and, more importantly, why) the obsessed Zoe and the self-sacrificing Kate have managed to remain "friends" for more than a decade. Theirs is a friendship that even the coach they have shared for twelve years, a man who knows the girls as well as anyone can ever know another, finds difficult to understand. Gold may be anchored by the relationship of the Kate and Zoe characters but the novel's wonderful supporting characters transform it into a truly memorable piece of writing. As it turns out, in addition to their passion for track cycling, Kate and Zoe share a few other things: a coach who sometimes struggles to maintain his objectivity, a man (and fellow racer) who is the key romantic relationship in both their lives, and a little girl who loves them both. Each will help determine whom Kate and Zoe will be when all the competition is finally over - if it ever is - and if they survive the process.Bottom Line: Gold will appeal to those who enjoy "literary novels" as well as to readers interested in competitive cycling and sports training. It is a well-written novel about a rather unusual topic.Rated at: 4.0
    • 3/5
      I read this after reading Cleave's excellent novel, Little Bee. I found this disappointing in comparison. It was interesting to get some insight into the demands of high-level competitive cycling, which is undoubtedly similar to other high performance sports. However, I found the characters rather one-dimensional. The emotionally troubled super star. The emotionally balanced super star. The man caught between them. The coach who blew his big moment by a hair's breadth. Little development here.
    • 5/5
      After thoroughly enjoying Little Bee, I was excited when I had the opportunity to review Chris Cleave's new novel, Gold. While my expectations were high, honestly, Cleave actually exceeded those expectations and delivered something incredibly heartfelt, emotional and delightful to read.Just in time for the 2012 London Olympics, Chris Cleave offers a new novel about a part of olympic-level cyclists who have been best friends for years. Through all their training, determination and focus, Kate and Zoe have stuck together and supported each other through national competitions and even the Olympics. Now, they are facing the most difficult trial of their lives: the 2012 Olympics amid the trials of age, responsibilities of family and the unexpected difficulties that life tends to throw in your way. While Kate is naturally talented at the sport, she is dealing with her daughter Sophie, who is battling possible leukemia remissions. And Zoe, always competitive, is so desperate to win the gold, even at the expense of her friendship with Kate, that it could cost her her sanity.Gold is an incredibly well-written and emotional novel that captures the drama of the Velodrome linked with the trials of family life and friendship. Even though I actually read an Advanced Reader's edition of Gold, Cleave's writing was already tight and crisp. Every sentence resonates with the reader and draws them deeper into the story. I especially enjoyed the sections where Sophie narrated, much of which centered around Star Wars reference which really appealed to the nerd in me.Speaking of Sophie, it was incredible to see how she got lost in the world of Star Wars as a way to cope with her leukemia and other family issues. It's a very normal human response, especially for a child, and Cleave builds an incredible character through her quirky narration that make readers fall in love with her. And Sophie isn't the only character here that is well-constructed. Kate is an honest and realistic woman that has to balance work and home life while still trying to follow her dreams. Zoe, on the other hand, does seem a little contrived at times -her somewhat insane and compulsive personality is primarily tied to trauma over her brother's death, and all of her issues are conveniently tied to this one incident. At times, this can come across as somewhat contrived and her personality seems a little over-the-top, but I didn't think it was outrageous enough to harm the novel overall.By the end of this book, I was on the edge of my seat and was almost in tears. The characters and their struggle became so real to me that I wanted to be part of every moment. Though this is not Little Bee, Gold is an excellent novel that delivers an incredibly emotional story with engaging characters.
    • 3/5
      This novel is about 2 female brirish cyclists who are preparing for the London Olympics. It was also about their relationships and choices they made to compete.
    • 5/5
      This is the story revolving around the world of cycling and childhood leukemia. It is a story of love and friendships and relationships and the challenges that develop in the lives of everyday people. It is the story of Zoe, Kate, Jack and Tom and the hopes and dreams of each of them. It is also the story of Sophie and her struggle with leukemia at a very young age and the challenges she faces to go into remission and work to become a cyclist herself. The twists and turns involved in telling this tale keep the reader on the edge and turning the next page. I highly recommend this book.
    • 3/5
      About two female British cyclists as they prepare for the London Olympics and their relationships with each other, their coach, and families. It was a good page turner for traveling, but not quite satisfying.
    • 3/5
      Couldn't finish this book either; good story of sporting rivalry but the eight year old with cancer was all too sad.
    • 3/5
      I really struggled to read this book, cos I liked the other hand so much. But the characters seemed 2d and I'm not a big fan of competitive cycling. Zoe did some truly awful things and the other characters just didn't seem to react, possibly cos their life was so taken up with other things. I didn't really like any of the voices in this tale - they felt off the shelf.
    • 5/5
      I read Gold in two sittings, ignoring everything else to get to the end of this fantastic book. Some books are meant to be savored, this one was meant to be read as fast as the cyclists it portrays.Zoe and Kate are described as best friends though this isn't exactly true. They have been competing in races since they were nineteen. The book starts at the Olympics in Athens, where Zoe is competing but Kate is not, she is back in London with her infant baby. We are then fast-forwarded eight years later, Kate and Zoe are on an outing with Kate's husband, Jack who is also a cyclist, and Sophie, their 8 year old daughter who has leukemia. Sophie is obsessed with Star Wars and keeping her parents from knowing how sick she feels so she can avoid seeing worry on their faces and because she wants her mom to make it to the London Olympics.We are then taken back to how Zoe, Kate, and Jack met and the complications in their lives. Kate is competitive but a good person but Zoe is so driven, she does horrible things to mess with Kate's head, wanting to win at all costs. But she always feels terrible because she really cares for Kate. Jack is a catalyst that Zoe has used in the past, but now Kate and Jack are happily married though drained between training and caring for Sophie and trying to stay positive for her.The novel moves back and forth in time, giving us more insight into what is a complex relationship the three of them share and the reasons for Zoe's self-destructiveness.I have never read anything by Chris Cleave before though I knew of his work. He created great characters and a complex back story while moving the story ahead at a fast pace. That isn't easy to do and he did it brilliantly. he even manages to create a a complex character, Tom, the coach of Zoe and Kate and while delving into his psyche, the story doesn't slow for a bit and comes together perfectly. I definitely recommend this novel and I am adding Cleave's other works to my future reads.
    • 3/5
      ?This had its moments, but it did hit one of my annoyances.

      It's a tale of elite cyclists as they approach the London Olympics. Jack, Kate & Zoe meet in their late teens and their lives and cycling careers are woven together for the next 14 years. The relationship between Zoe & Kate is complicated by rivalry and their own characters. Kate more balanced, the gifted rider, Zoe angst ridden but more determined. It seems that whatever they do, Zoe does it to win, and is completely and utterly selfish in that regard. To complicate matters further, Jack & Kate have a daughter, who is ill with Leukeymia. So there's then a tug between family and personal desire.

      It's written in a epistolic manner, with flash backs to fill in the gpas and uncover more of the complicated backstory that exists between the three. It is well writtten, in that the story is uncovered and moves forward, such that you're never quite sure if things are as they seem or not.

      The thing that annoys me about this is the levels of angst and complication in the book. I know good news doesn't sell papers, and this strikes me as the book version of the same thing. They've all got a childhood trauma or similar going on, they've got a very complicated relationship dynamic, there's a very ill child - it's just a bit too much to be entirely believable set of co-incidences. I accept that elites are probably not normal - if they were they'd be sitting on the sofa watching the Olympics, not at it winning gold, but I'm not sure you'd necessarily want to be friends with any of the main protagonists - it would be far too wearing for any normal sized ego to deal with.
    • 4/5
      A circle of elite cyclists and their demons train for the London Olympic team. Kate and Zoe are friends and rivals. Kate is married to Jack, the third of their cycling threesome. All three face hurdles in getting to the Olympics. Zoe is a ruthless competitor who is starting to wonder about the purpose of her life. Kate and Jack's daughter is fighting cancer. Through the books we get the trio's back-history as they train. The writing in this book is technically good, and Cleave does a nice job drawing characters. Still, I found that the book failed to satisfy. At times I found it slow-moving, and the end was too saccharine for my taste. I could see the whole thing being a Lifetime movie. It was interesting to read about how elite athletes experience their bodies, how they are conscious of what every single cell is doing at every moment. That said, there was much more technical information about cycling than could possibly keep my attention.
    • 5/5
      I wasn't sure if I would like Chris Cleave's latest book Gold as much as I loved his first book, Little Bee. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he had done it again--written a story that sucked me in with characters that I couldn't stop thinking about. The story revolves around a trio of athletes and their coach. Kate is the speed cyclist who at the beginning of the book is trying not to fall apart while watching Zoe, her friend and rival cyclist compete in the Olympics. The reason Kate is on the couch and Zoe is on the bike is Sophie, the infant daughter of Jack--another speed cyclist who at various times in the book is involved with both Kate and Zoe. All of the characters have life stories explained in flashbacks, but the most interesting is that of Zoe, the driven competitor who at times acts so horribly I wondered why as a reader I had any sympathy for her at all. Yet I was utterly fascinated by her story and how it was all going to play out. Gold would make a great read or listen (the aubiobook version is fantastic) for anyone. It would also be a great pick for a book discussion group--I can't wait to have my group discuss it so we can pick apart the strengths and weaknesses of these characters and why we reacted to them the way that we did.
    • 4/5
      I am a fan of Chris Cleave, having enjoyed The Incendiary and The Other Hand, so I looked forward to reading Gold with pleasurable anticipation. And I wasn?t disappointed.On the surface this story is about Jack and Kate, Olympic cyclists preparing for the London games. But of course there is much more to it than this ... which is why I rather agree with the publisher?s comment that what a book is about is only part of the story, and not necessarily the most important part. What really matters is the underlying message and how this relates to the reader?s experiences of the ?real world?.I really enjoyed this book. For me, the messages were about what it takes to succeed, how much of yourself you have to put in, and that although rewards are not always commensurate with the effort you put in, somehow the battle brings its own rewards.Cleave manages to strike the right balance with his characters. The storyline about Sophie?s battle with cancer manages not to become either saccharine sweet or too grim, and I love the way all the adults have to come to terms with the fact that they can?t keep on with their chosen careers for ever and have to look for new directions.A fantastic read, highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      While I am not a big chick-lit reader, I do enjoy the occasional foray into the genre, and I thought this would be a good one to read because of the Olympics-level racing aspect of the story.And I did enjoy that aspect, especially during this summer of the 2012 Olympics in London. The rest of the story fell flat for me. I couldn't connect with the characters. Sophie's voice as an eight-year old just didn't seem authentic to me, although I did enjoy her Star Wars fantasies. There were cliches and overblown metaphors. But what bothered me most was the soap opera feel to the plot. No spoilers, but I really disliked the last 50 or so pages.This author also wrote "Little Bee", about which I've heard good things, but it if is like this book, it won't be on my to-be-read list.I was given an advance reader's copy of this book for review.
    • 4/5
      Over a week after finishing Chris Cleave's Gold I'm still undecided about it. But with the Olympics starting this weekend, it's still very much in my mind. With only five characters, the story is as intensely focused as the competitions themselves. In, fact, had it not moved with the breathtaking speed of an Olympic race, it would have been stiflingly claustrophobic.It is a surprisingly emotional book, very melodramatic in places. Zoe and the child Sophie are the strongest characters in this story, and they are very different. Zoe is the complete competitor; no price is too high to pay for victory. While we learn her dismal history through flashbacks and conversations, her almost total self-absorption makes her a very unsympathetic character. Considering the number and variety of dirty tricks Zoe has played on Kate, her only serious challenger, the continuing friendship of the women is astonishing. Sophie has the almost preternatural sensitivity of some very sick children to her parents' emotions, and does everything she can to shield them from the unavoidable effects of her sickness and its treatment.Envisioning Kate as a serious competitor on the world stage was difficult for me; she's just too nice. I wonder how many Olympic athletes can focus only on beating their own previous personal best without needing to demonize and demolish the competition? Zoe is baffled early in their acquaintance that Kate seemed to walk 'with a space beside her, leaving room for someone to fill it if they wish.' Zoe, touchy as a cat, walks alone and hisses and spits at those who attempt to befriend her.The author is unquestionably talented, and sometimes I felt that my emotions were being blatantly manipulated. The pacing was excellent, there is a sense of racing ever faster to the finish line. The ending was just unbelievably over the top. So did I enjoy it? I'm still not sure, but know that I won't forget it anytime soon.Note: I received a free review copy of this book.
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed Chris Cleave's novel The other hand. Have still to read Incendiary. I like the different subject areas he writes about in his novels this one particularly. It concerns the world of Olympic cycling so it is a good release in this year of the London Olympics. The story of Kate (married to Jack), and Zoe all cyclists and their coach Tom is told in the lead up to the Olympics with flashbacks used to reveal the journey of their relationship up to this time. Both girls are training to make the London olympics. At age 32 it will be their last chance to compete. We are brought deep into their lives and become part of their daily struggles. Kate and Jack have a daughter Sophie who is facing her own fight to win against leukemia, so must balance their desire to win gold against this daily battle. Zoe has demons in her past that have left her with a tremendous desire to win at all cost, often putting friendship with the others to the test.. The friendship between the three has its stresses and strains, and the plot has many twists and turns that kept me guessing as to the end. I became compeltely immersed in this well written book and was racing the races with them. A really good read.