The Gifts: The captivating historical fiction novel - for fans of THE BINDING

Product Information

My thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Gifts”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Hyder is a writer at the top of her craft, and this is only her second book (her first adult book). Liz, you are an actual genius. Please write a book of Natalya's stories –I loved that whole layer of the novel too. I’m left with this thought that gets me right here *pounds fist into heart area* - is it really STILL so scandalous that a woman can have the audacity to grow a pair of powerful wings and set herself free?

I fell in love with ‘The Gifts’ from the opening in the Shropshire woods through to its dramatic conclusion. I found Liz Hyder’s writing beautiful and loved the imagery of these mysterious transformations. I one hundred per cent ‘got’ the story that Liz set out to tell. It’s historical fiction, yes, with magical elements, but it’s also SO MUCH MORE.Sadly I was unable to finish this book. The harrowing and graphic torture and killing of the dog by the surgeon about 10% of the way into the book was way too much for me. It turned my stomach and made me very upset. I don't know what else is in the book but that requires a Content Warning. It is a thing I can't stand and something I avoid in books and movies. It makes me hugely distressed. I can't imagine what that level of distressing detail could possibly add to the story. You could easily show he was an evil man without the detail. In a Nutshell: A historical fantasy written in literary fiction style. Won’t work for every reader due to the slow pacing and the writing approach, but I liked the plot. Triggers galore! Liz Hyder has made historical magical realism the most magically realistic reading experience. It is relatable, brutally true to present life and beautifully presented with a language that sings. The characters are right there, you can feel them walking around in your mind. The setting and imagery vivid, you can almost taste it, smell it.

This is a difficult book to summarize since there are several distinct storylines woven through the narrative and it would take the entire review to touch on them all, even briefly. In short, this book is an exploration between scientific discoveries and the unexplainable; about what man will do to advance his own interests. About what happens when a woman miraculously transforms into an angel (well, the wings anyway - not a literal angel) and how society reacts to it. In London, there are rumours that the body of a 'fallen angel' was found in the Thames. An ambitious surgeon, desperate to make a name for himself, is gripped by a dangerous obsession. Desperate to find a live ‘specimen’ he is willing to do anything achieve his goal. October 1840. A young woman staggers alone through a forest in Shropshire as a huge pair of impossible wings rip themselves from her shoulders’. Although I was satisfied with the wrap up of everyone’s journey, there was never any explanation for why any of these women transformed, which is what drove the plot. Rather, the story focused on people’s reactions to their change, but the rationale behind it is left up to the reader to decide and while I might have been disappointed with the author’s explanation, it would have been nice if there had been one at all.Unsettling, captivating and beautifully written, with vividly descriptive landscape from Orkney to London, The Gifts is an enthralling tale of ambition and the lines of knowledge for science sake and obsession being crossed, of women finding an inner strength, being resourceful and tenacious and not willing to conform. I loved it, and although my proof copy just had placeholder text, I’m sure that the finished copy with its chapter illustrations will be a thing of beauty indeed. I’d defy anyone reading The Gifts not to feel a wide range of emotions. I encountered sorrow, elation, determination and a considerable desire to commit violence! In an age defined by men, it will take something extraordinary to show four women who they truly are… The ‘fallen angel’ starts to appear on the lips of those who love to gossip and spread rumours across London and when a surgeon stumbles upon this seemingly ethereal corpse, he is determined to use her as leverage to make not only a name for himself but fame and vast fortunes too yet as he delves deeper into working out the machinations of such a being, he will find himself in the vice-like grip of obsession which will see him search out and locate other women who appear to have been sent from the heavens to help him in his quest in which will test the very limits of human understanding when it comes to that which we could never comprehend. I devoured The Gifts, eager to find out the fate of its wonderfully drawn characters. A wonderful, atmospheric book that immersed me in the dirty streets of nineteenth century London and swept me away to the hills of Shropshire. A real gem." ―Louise Hare, author of This Lovely City and Miss Aldridge Regrets