num_pages: 368
description: A New York Times Notable Book of the YearGain tells two parallel one, of Laura Bodey, divorced mother of two and successful real-estate agent in the small town of Lacewood, Illinois, who one day discovers that she has ovarian cancer; and two, of Clare Soap &amp; Chemical, the company begun by three merchant brothers in 19th-century Boston, which by the turn of the century has grown into a large multiconglomerate with factories in Laura's hometown. As the history of Clare Soap changes through the history of America, so a modern-day Laura Bodey descends into a battle with her terminal illness. By the novel's conclusion, we have learned how the largest enterprises affect us on the most personal level.
language: English
title: Gain
titlecomplete: Gain
characters: Laura Bodey
genres: Fiction, Business, American, The United States Of America, Health, Novels, Economics, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Management
ratings_count: 1109
places: Illinois
awards: awardedAt: 915177600000
name: James Fenimore Cooper Prize
publisher: Picador