THE GIFTS
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 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.
- Sourcebooks Landmark
- Hardcover
- April 2023
- 448 Pages
- 9781728271705
Buy the Book
$27.99
About Liz Hyder
LIZ HYDER is a writer and creative workshop leader and has been part of Writing West Midlands’s Room 204 writer development programme since 2016. In 2018, she won The Bridge Award/Moniack Mhor Emerging Writer Award. Her children’s book debut, Bearmouth, was named The Times Children’s Book of the Year in 2019, was shortlisted for the UKLA Awards, and nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal. 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.
Photo Credit: Ashleigh Cadet
Praise
“Remarkable…This memorable outing has special appeal for fans of fantasy-inflected historicals such as Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Fierce and touching, this extremely compelling novel follows its female protagonists through 19th century London where a surgeon struggles with the dark lure of scientific ambition while his marriage crumbles, a journalist pursues the mystery of the angel fished from the Thames and two young women find themselves inexplicably transformed in the depths of despair. Beautiful and riveting.” — Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne
“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
Discussion Questions
1. The Gifts follows multiple characters. Who was your favorite? Who did you feel was the central character?
2. How does this novel explore gender? Do you think Edward would have reacted differently if he had found winged men, not women?
3. What role does religion play in the novel, and how do religion and science both clash and complement each other?
4. Both Etta and Annie sketch and draw. What role do you think art plays in the novel?
5. How does the historical and geographical setting affect the story? How do you think a phenomenon like this would be treated in a different time and place?
6. What do you think of Edward, and how did your opinion of him change throughout the novel?
7. What do you think the significance of the title is?
8. What do you think Edward and Annie’s life would have been like if Edward hadn’t discovered the “angels”? Does Edward’s obsession change him, or was he always going to be the person he becomes?
9. Natalya tells stories, Mary, Richard, and Jos all write, and myths circulate about the “angels.” What role does storytelling play in the book?
10. Etta, Annie, and Mary are all orphans, and Mary has recently lost one of her parent figures. Edward has a strained relationship with his father, as does Natalya with her mother. How does the novel explore the complicated relationships between children and their parents?
11. Why do you think Etta and Natalya grow wings?