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Novels that feature sport often put people off reading them, particularly if you are not au fait with the sport in question. However, while the characters in Chris Cleave's ''Gold'' are athletes, specifically cyclists aiming for the 2012 London Olympics, it's more about the characters themselves. In fact, if you are looking for a book to read to avoid the brouhaha of the Olympics this year but still want to get a taste of what all the fuss is about, this would be a superb choice.
Cleave isn't subtle in tapping into the emotions of the reader. His main character, Zoe, is an emotionally damaged athlete with two Olympics under her belt already, partly because her main rival, Kate, who is the more naturally gifted athlete has, for various reasons, been forced out of the previous two Olympics. Zoe has sheer bloody-mindedness on her side though while Kate is an example of those nice people who don't finish first. For both of them, this is their last chance for Olympic glory. It's the last games too for their coach, Tom, a former Olympian himself whose obsession to with the sport has also caused him to let real life pass him by. Kate's partner, Jack, has also grown up with the three cyclists and is a winning athlete in his own right.
Kate and Jack also have a young daughter, the plucky and charming Sophie, who is suffering from Leukemia, and is the main cause for Kate missing the two previous games, and whose battle for life threatens to do the same again. I'm usually slightly wary of novels that rely on an ill child to generate emotion but she's a terrific character in her own right and her way of coping by imagining herself as Luke Skywalker in ''Star Wars'' is nicely done. The inference that for Sophie finishing first in terms of survival is similar to the athlete's obsession with 'gold' is clear.