The gifts : a novel

Select an Action

The gifts : a novel

Title:

The gifts : a novel

Author:

Hyder, Liz, author.

ISBN:

9781728271705

Physical Description:

436 pages ; 24 cm

General Note:

Originally published as The Gifts in 2022 in the UK by Manilla Press, an imprint of Bonnier Books UK.

Subject Term:

Women -- England -- 19th century -- Fiction.

Self-realization in women -- Fiction.

Women -- Social conditions -- Fiction.

Genre:

Magic realist fiction.

Summary:

"It will take something extraordinary to show four women who they truly are . . . October 1840. A young woman staggers alone through a forest in the English countryside as a huge pair of impossible wings rip themselves from her shoulders. In London, rumors of a "fallen angel" cause a frenzy across the city, and 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 an astonishing novel, a spellbinding tale 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"--

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Oakdale Library	FICTION HYD	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	FICTION HYD	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Wildwood Library (Mahtomedi)	FICTION HYD	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

"Remarkable...for fans of fantasy-inflected historicals such as Sarah Perry's The Essex Serpent." --Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

"A sumptuous reading experience." --BookPage

It will take something extraordinary to show four women who they truly are...

October 1840. A young woman staggers alone through a forest in the English countryside as a huge pair of impossible wings rip themselves from her shoulders.

In London, rumors of a "fallen angel" cause a frenzy across the city, and 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 an astonishing novel, a spellbinding tale 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.

Author Notes

LIZ HYDER is a writer and creative workshop leader. She has been part of Writing West Midlands's Room 204 writer development programme since 2016. In early 2018, she won The Bridge Award/Moniack Mhor Emerging Writer Award. Named The Times Children's Book of the Year in 2019, her debut, Bearmouth, was also the Waterstones Children's Book for Older Readers 2020 and the winner of the Branford Boase Award 2020. It has also been shortlisted for the UKLA Awards and nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2021. Originally from London, she now lives in South Shropshire in a small medieval market town surrounded by hills, books and plants. The Gifts is her adult debut.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Hyder's remarkable adult debut (after the YA novel Bearmouth) involves the discovery of winged women in 1840 England. London surgeon Edward Meake has invested heavily in his medical practice, but hasn't achieved the fame or wealth he thinks he deserves. When a boatman pulls a winged female corpse from the Thames, Edward, believing the woman is proof that angels exist, pays the man for the body, which he spirits into his basement lab. Then he runs across two more women with wings, both of them very much alive. Driven by divine mission and professional ambition, he imprisons them and plans to make his name with a lecture and a public reveal of his specimens. Meanwhile, the women, an amateur botanist and a gifted Scottish storyteller, discuss their metamorphoses and ideas for possible escape; Edward's wife grows alarmed by Edward's increasing paranoia and secrecy, and aspiring writer Mary Ward catches rumors about the "Angel of the Thames" and pursues the story to a dramatic end. Hyder skillfully juggles the many threads, never slowing the momentum of her propulsive plot, and by blending realistic and fantastic elements, she perfectly captures the era's uneasy attempts to marry faith and science. This memorable outing has special appeal for fans of fantasy-inflected historicals such as Sarah Perry's The Essex Serpent. (Apr.)

Booklist Review

In England in 1840, at the crossroads of belief in religion and science, when society has very strict requirements on gender roles, the lives of five people unravel. Etta is an outcast gentlewoman who suddenly and painfully sprouts wings. Edward Meake, a struggling surgeon intent on making a name for himself in London, stumbles across a deceased woman with wings. Mary Ward is a journalist in a man's world, and it is through her efforts that the lives of the other characters are linked. Natalya is a woman who has been forced to leave her past behind and start anew, but the stunning growth of wings was not part of her future plans. Finally, Annie, Edward's wife, is discovering that the life society has mapped for her does not make her happy. A theme through the tale is how most men overlook the women around them, and how the women themselves are only happy when they rebel and take charge over their own lives. Readers who like the early-Victorian-era setting and feisty female characters will enjoy this book.

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Booklist Review

Helpful Links

Research Links

Contact

Events and Rooms

Follow Us

Today's Hours