‘One of the most exciting writers working in Ireland today’ SALLY ROONEY, author of Normal People ‘Terrific’ RODDY DOYLE, author of Love ‘Truly brilliant’ MEGAN NOLAN, author of Acts of Desperation
The first new novel in five years from “one of the most versatile and accomplished writers of her generation” —Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker. Jessica Speight, a young anthropology student in 1960s London, is at the beginning of a promising academic career when an affair with her married professor turns her into a single mother. Anna is a pure gold baby with a delightful, sunny nature, but it soon becomes clear that she will not be a normal child. As readers are drawn deeper into Jessica’s world, they are confronted with questions of responsibility, potential, even age, all with Margaret Drabble’s characteristic intelligence, sympathy and wit. Drabble once wrote, “Family life itself, that safest, most traditional, most approved of female choices, is not a sanctuary; it is, perpetually, a dangerous place.” Told from the point of view of the group of mothers who surround Jess, The Pure Gold Baby is a brilliant, prismatic novel that takes us into that place with satiric verve, trenchant commentary and a movingly intimate story of the unexpected transformations at the heart of motherhood.
Pure Gold brings together 25 former players, staff members, and coaches to provide first-person insight into the all-time winningest coach in NCAA Division 1-A college football: readers travel the interstates and back roads with Barnes and Bobby Bowden as they spread the word of FSU football; longtime secretary Sue Hall describes the so-called CEO of Florida State football; Tom Osborne, a legendary college football coach himself, reveals what it is like to coach against Bobby Bowden; former Bowden assistant and Georgia head coach Mark Richt retells the life-changing effect Bowden's first meeting with FSU players following the death of Pablo Lopez had on him. FSU president T. K. Wetherell, who once played football under assistant coach Bowden, remembers what it was like to take orders from Bobby. Wetherell reflects on his playing days and on the time he saw Bowden at his most vulnerable, in the days that followed the tragic death of his grandson, Bowden Madden.He and others who know the veteran coach well take readers from the Bowden Era of rebuilding to the celebration of two national championships and beyond -- through recent seasons in which Bowden has faced more criticism and received more accolades than at any time during his career.Wetherell summarizes Bobby's legacy thusly: "Ultimately, you remember him not for a football win, but for the character he brings to the table."
Buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich. Revelation 3:18 NIV Prospectors throughout the ages have sacrificed everything to search for the gold that would make them rich. For many, this was a fruitless journey. As Christians, we, too, are searching for gold—God’s priceless gift of grace. Learning to accept God’s grace is the most important thing you can do to become, grow and mature as a Christian. But first, you must understand every facet of grace. Davis has done a marvelous job of correlating intangible grace with tangible gold—the greatest historical and universally valued commodity. Christians can now grasp the biblical concept of grace in a practical, real and meaningful way. Pure Gold picks and shovels through the mountain of Scripture, leading the seeking Christian, a spiritual prospector, to sift the soil of their soul and discover within the brilliant Rock, God’s pure gold, grace in Christ Jesus. Possessing the treasure of God’s grace enables us to live rich lives that give us joy, peace, energy, passion and the ability to rise above our daily burdens.