Gain : A Novel

Gain
Author(s): Richard Powers

Gain braids together two stories on very different scales. In one, Laura Body, divorced mother of two and a real-estate agent in the small town of Lacewood, Illinois, plunges into a new existence when she learns that she has ovarian cancer. In the other, Clare & Company, a soap manufacturer begun by three brothers in nineteenth-century Boston, grows over the course of a century and a half into an international consumer products conglomerate based in Laura's hometown. Clare's stunning growth reflects the kaleidoscopic history of America; Laura Body's life is changed forever by Clare. The novel's stunning conclusion reveals the countless invisible connections between the largest enterprises and the smallest lives.

Review(s):

“Powers is a writer of blistering intellect.” —Richard Eder, Los Angeles Times Book Review

“[Gain] is erudite, penetrating and splendidly written.” —Bruce Bawer, The New York Times Book Review

“Richard Powers has proven himself a visionary writer.” —Greil Marcus, The San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle

“Gain only confirms that Powers is, in fact, a major American novelist.” —Adam Kirsch, The New Republic

ISBN:  9780312429096