The Gift: a heartwarming Christmas book from the author of Sunday Times bestsellers PS, I Love You and Freckles
Original price was: £11.99.£3.76Current price is: £3.76.
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If you could wish for one gift this Christmas, what would it be?
Lou Suffern wishes he could be in two places at once. His constant battle with the clock is a sensitive issue with his wife and family.
Gabe wishes he was somewhere warm. When Lou invites Gabe, a homeless man who sits outside his office, into the building and into his life, Lou’s world is changed beyond all measure…
An enchanting and thoughtful Christmas story that speaks to all of us about the value of time and what is truly important in life.
Praise for The Gift
‘Utterly irresistible . . . I devoured it in one sitting’ Marian Keyes, Irish Times
‘An intriguing, heartfelt novel, which makes you think about the value of life’ Glamour
Cecelia Ahern’s book ‘In a Thousand Different Ways’ was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 2023-04-10.
ASIN : B002RI9PX6
Publisher : HarperCollins
Accessibility : Learn more
Publication date : 4 Dec. 2008
Language : English
File size : 1.2 MB
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 369 pages
ISBN-13 : 978-0007287741
Page Flip : Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: 25,546 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store) 92 in Women’s Fiction Classics 559 in Holiday Fiction (Kindle Store) 1,219 in Family Life Fiction (Kindle Store)
Customer reviews: 4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 4,402 ratings var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Customers say
Customers find this book to be an easy and enjoyable read, particularly suitable for Christmas time, with an intriguing plot that gets them gripped from start to finish. The story is emotional, with readers crying tears of joy and sadness throughout, while also being thought-provoking with valuable life lessons. Customers appreciate the writing quality and consider it perfect for the holiday season, with one noting it’s a delightful read for a quiet afternoon.
9 reviews for The Gift: a heartwarming Christmas book from the author of Sunday Times bestsellers PS, I Love You and Freckles
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Original price was: £11.99.£3.76Current price is: £3.76.
Mrs. K. Fisher-price –
Amazing!
I’m trying to type this review whilst still crying after just finishing this incredibly moving, beautifully written novel by an extremely talented author.It’s written from the heart with sincerity, passion, love and with guidance to us all on how to best spend our limited time on this earth.It’s a lesson to us all about time and how best to allocate it and make the most of it and what is really important in life.If there is one thing I can suggest after reading this novel it would be that everyone should buy it and know that reading it will be a great allocation of your time and not a second wasted.
Mareofessex –
Almost a modern day ‘Christmas Carol’.
This is a lovely book to read around Christmas time, a tale set in Dublin during December and so follows the lead up to Christmas, whilst including that magical element Cecelia Ahern often includes in her books. The main story is told through the eyes of Sergeant Raphie. It starts with a young boy who throws a frozen turkey through the window of a house and gets taken to the local police station for questioning, whilst awaiting for his mother to arrive. At the police station we are introduced to Sergeant Raphie and his colleague Jessica, who both seem upset by a recent event that has happened that morning. As Sergeant Raphie begins to try and question the young boy, so he begins his story. The story he tells is of a man called Lou Ruffern, who is a highly accomplished but highly stressed businessman who just does not have enough hours in his day for everything. This is then the premise for the whole book, the concept of time; not having enough of it and prioritising how it is spent. Lou is presented as an unlikeable character, who cares more for his job, money and promotion than he does his own wife, children and family, and he does not care about the manner in which he speaks to people in order to get what he wants. One day, as he is busy walking to work he buys a homeless guy Gabe a coffee, and realising how observant Gabe is, offers him a job in the company’s mailroom. The character of Gabe is not all he seems though and it is at this point the book becomes almost a modern ‘Christmas Carol’, where Gabe becomes Lou’s conscience, questioning his decisions in life and encouraging Lou to stop and think – with a little bit of Christmas magic. Whilst I found this book really enjoyable, liking the enchanting element Ahern gives her books, there were two things that let the book down for me; one, the fact this was being narrated through the eyes of the police Sergeant in order to try and make ‘Turkey Boy’ realise the error of his ways before its too late, and two, the end of the book. I think the book could have been simply told as the story of Lou and his life in the third person and how he is given the opportunity to change his ways. Without the Sergeant’s input at various points and at the end, the moral of the story was quite clear enough. With this, I felt the end of the tale for Lou and his family did not necessarily match up with the lesson to be taught to ‘Turkey Boy’. Whilst the book focussed around the concept of ‘time’ and not having enough of it, I’m not sure the whole tale would really make Turkey boy understand his own situation with his dad, who has recently split from his own home. For me, this was the real part that let the book down, and left me with too many questions at the end. Such as, who is the daughter the Sergeant is keeping an eye on, the back story with Jessica seemed a bit thrown in, and would the Sergeant have really known Lou’s story in such detail with such recent events? Sadly, due to these questions and parts which did not seem to make sense at the end, I felt slightly let down having very much enjoyed the rest of the book. It is well written and as already mentioned, has elements of a modern day ‘Christmas Carol’ to it. I would recommend this as a Christmassy read with a bit of magic thrown in, but just be mindful of the end.
Ruju –
Dragged out
Tales of people who are blinded by success or money neglecting the important things in life before having an epiphany have been told many times before. Does Cecelia Ahern break any new ground? Not really. Is The Gift worth a read? Probably. The story of Lou Suffern, a successful business many too busy for his family, is wrapped up in another story where a policeman tries to show an angry teenager the error of his ways. As a storytelling device it’s not brilliant, but it sort of works.Cecelia Ahern has a pleasant writing style that is mostly easy to read but occasionally slips into self-indulgence with her descriptions. Either it petered out as the novel went on or I got used to it. Whichever it was, it probably won’t bother most people as she’s certainly a talented writer.Lou is a complete ass who puts everything before his family. Early in the story he meets homeless Gabe, who turns out to be his saviour or nemesis, depending on which way you look at it. We soon get the idea about Lou’s misplaced priorities, but it doesn’t stop Ahern labouring the point… and then some. The whole thing about the party for Lou’s father was ridiculous and a bit much to swallow.There were times early in the novel that I really enjoyed it, but my interest waned. On reflection, this would have been better as a short story as much of it consists of hammering home what a dick Lou was when the reader is already well aware of it. Or maybe a Tales of the Unexpected TV show. I didn’t care for the preachy paragraph at the end either, it was inappropriate for a novel. Overall, nicely written and worth a read despite being dragged out unnecessarily.
David –
A wake up call to all work aholics like me
I gave my wife this book for Christmas. she was completely hooked and read it in just a couple of days. During the last chapter she was in floods of tears and then she insisted that I read it. Humouring her at first I started the read the first chapter and then found myself totally hooked. I read it from cover to cover in just two sittings. I could see so much of the character Lou in myself and could relate to the type of business life style he led and how he neglected what was really important. This was a real wake up call to guys like me. I won’t spoil the message but this book should be made essential reading for every Manager and placed in every boardroom up and down the country. Excellent. It would also make a great Christmas movie, similar to its a wonderful life.
Amazon Customer –
Like most of Ahern’s works, this is another BEAUTIFUL story which I loved to the core. The story of Lou is immensely relatable. We do need to understand that life is not about things or money but about moments we spend with our loved ones. We have a great gift but we fail to use it and end up making ourselves miserable without our knowing. The gift is precious, don’t take it lightly 🙂
B. J. Dobson –
The story started out a bit scattered and slow but I pressed on. By the time I got into the story, I couldn’t put it down. By the end, I was a total wreck. One of the best stories I’ve read in a long, long time. Right up there with Nicholas Sparks and others. Cecelia Ahern definitely has a gift herself – for writing wonderful novels. I can’t wait for the next one!
Diane M. Baiardi –
This book takes place in Ireland around Christmas and has a message about TIME and how we use it. Granted it is a bit of a fantasy but a real fun book to read. The second book I have read by Celelia Ahern and love her writing. Hard to believe that someone so young has so much wisdom. The other book I read of hers Love Rosie, really showed the wisdom and was also a great read. I have purchased two more of her books as she is becoming one of my favorite writers. The books are not heavy but very entertaining and always a message. There is laughter and tears. A good read
tikutu –
Cute little story!
La petite luciole –
Joli conte de Noël, plein de poésie. Un livre qui nous donne envie de profiter de la vie et de ceux qu’on aime. Mon seul regret: il est un peu court (juste 300 pages), mais c’est cohérent avec le propos du livre: dépêchez vous de dire à ceux que vous aimez que vous les aimez !