For my third and final post of the day I’m thrilled to welcome you to my stop on the blog tour for the mesmerising, magical and thought provoking The Gifts by Liz Hyder. Thank you to Tracy Fenton for the invitation and to Manilla Press for my copy of this outstanding book.
About the book:
The luminous debut adult novel from the Waterstones Prize Winner, perfect for fans of The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock, The Essex Serpent and The Doll Factory
In an age defined by men, it will take something extraordinary to show four women who they truly are . . .
October 1840. A young woman staggers alone through a forest in Shropshire as a huge pair of impossible wings rip themselves from her shoulders.
Meanwhile, when rumours of a ‘fallen angel’ cause a frenzy across London, a surgeon desperate for fame and fortune finds himself in the grips of a dangerous obsession, one that will place the women he seeks in the most terrible danger . . .
THE GIFTS is the astonishing debut adult novel from the lauded author of BEARMOUTH. A gripping and ambitious book told through five different perspectives and set against the luminous backdrop of nineteenth century London, it explores science, nature and religion, enlightenment, the role of women in society and the dark danger of ambition.
About the author:
Liz Hyder has been making up stories for as long she can remember. She has a BA in drama from the University of Bristol and, in early 2018, won the Bridge Award/Moniack Mhor Emerging Writer Award.
Bearmouth, her debut young adult novel, won a Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the Branford Boase Award and was chosen as the Children’s Book of the Year by The Times. Originally from London, she now lives in South Shropshire.
The Gifts is her debut adult novel.
Follow Liz Hyder on Twitter at @LondonBessie
My Review:
The Gifts is the stunning debut adult novel by award winning children’s author Liz Hyder. A haunting and magical story of epic proportions, this is a book that I know will stay with me for a long time to come. Steeped in history, the tale begins in October 1840 as a young woman staggers through a Shropshire forest. And then the impossible happens: a huge pair of wings rip themselves from her shoulders.
The story then moves to eight days earlier in London as a gothic fairytale full of mystery and suspense begins to unfold. We meet Mary, intrepid reporter who, along with her friend Richard, tries to seek out the truth behind the rumour of a ’fallen angel’ being found in the city. And then there’s Annie, married to a surgeon who is desperate for fame and fortune. Edward, who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, becomes dangerously obsessed with the ‘fallen angels’, an obsession that will cause nothing but harm to those in its path. Then there’s strong and feisty Natalya, who arrives in London looking for a safe harbour but finds herself lost and alone in a strange city. And finally there’s Etta, who wants nothing more than to be accepted for who she is but continues to be thwarted at every turn.
These four women are the backbone of this beautiful and haunting tale, with Edward a constant thorn in their sides, becoming more and more unhinged as the story continues. A dark historical gothic mystery, The Gifts sucks you in from the very first page, with its macabre sense of the unknown and its haunting mystical undertones.
Liz Hyder’s writing is mesmerising and her world building and historical research sublime. The Gifts is a book full of mystery and suspense, with the four women and their fight to be accepted as human beings in their own right an integral part of the plot. Complex and multilayered, there is so much more to this story than at first meets the eye and I absolutely adored it!
I don’t want to say too much more as The Gifts is a story that needs to be savoured and experienced for yourself, so all I will say is that this is one of those books that lingers and haunts your dreams long after the final page has been turned.
A stunning, thrilling and thought provoking gothic fairytale that I would highly recommend.
The Gifts by Liz Hyder is available to buy now:
Check out what these other fantastic bloggers have to say about this book:
Cal Turner Reviews 