May seems to be my month for Cleave reads, as per last year's review of his (link) LITTLE BEE. This time 'round, it was GOLD, an often heart-wrenching story. In the author's ending notes, he expressed hope that his readers would find it a happy tale. Hmmm. Interesting. Let's just say that it took a long, long time to reach "happy".
The lives of the five-character ensemble intertwined in an occasionally predictable way that kept this reader judging Mr. Cleave's perception of the true(?) meaning of "friendship", as Zoe and Kate competed in veladrome cycling. You'd think the biking scenes would have made my pulse pound, but rather it was the story of little Sophie. She was the binding Force and her story pointed, in my opinion, towards the true meaning of winning life's gold.
Time itself becomes personified, taking its rightful place as the sixth main player, not necessarily in numerical order. As our most precious commodity, it truly defines boundaries for making correct choices, hopefully made at the right times.
In comparing the two novels, I found BEE to be much more compelling... couldn't put it down. Clearly, though, what keeps me reading this author is his incredible ability to wordcraft. He has a unique style, a wonderful vocabulary, and a way of combining the two to read like poetry. Once again, my iBook note column is adorned with pinks and blues.
INCENDIARY, his first book that I somehow missed, is already queued up on my iPad.
A recommended read, after which you'll further understand...
"May the Force be with you."
"May the Force be with you."
