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| The Gift | 
enlarge | Author: Cecelia Ahern Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd Category: Book
List Price: £14.99 Buy New: £4.71 You Save: £10.28 (69%) Buy New/Used from £4.49
Avg. Customer Rating:   (20 reviews) Sales Rank: 44
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown) Media: Hardcover Pages: 320 Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9 Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 0007284977 EAN: 9780007284979 ASIN: 0007284977
Publication Date: October 20, 2008 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review So many new novels jostle for our attention that readers could be forgiven for lacking the patience to tackle most of them. But in the case of The Gift by Cecelia Ahern, they would be doing themselves a disservice by passing this one by. As in her highly involving debut novel, PS I Love You, Ahern demonstrates a sure and subtle understanding of the human condition and the pleasures and pains in relationships. Her theme in the new book is the way in which we conceal the truth about ourselves -- many people cover themselves in layers of deceit until somebody with the right motivation unwraps those layers and discovers the truth.Lou Suffern is practised in the art of concealment. He is, also, always overstretched, trying to do too many things at once. His overburdened schedule gives him few moments of peace, even in his sleep. And when he spends time at home with his wife and family, he is always distracted, and, mentally, somewhere else. On a cold winter morning, Lou is on his way to work when he encounters Gabe, a homeless street dweller, sitting outside an office building. Lou is intrigued by him, and contrives to get him a job in the post room. But this act of charity rebounds on him, and Gabe?s presence begins to grate on Lou -- particularly when he discovers that the latter seems capable of being in two places at the same time. Christmas is drawing near, and before the season is over, Lou?s life will be irrevocably change by the casual act of kindness he has performed. Apart from the sheer storytelling skill of The Gift, perhaps Cecelia Ahern?s most considerable achievement is the way in which she has taken a narrative which could easily have moved into rather twee territory, and very efficiently kept sentimentality at bay. That's not to say that the novel isn't deeply affecting, without ever trying to engage our emotions in a synthetic way, Ahern succeeds in involving us completely. In fact, the title could be said to be apposite -- it's a book that deserves to be a gift given by many people to the readers in their lives. --Barry Forshaw
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
  Not sure about this one January 5, 2009 My local library managed to get this one for me in the week between Christmas and New Year which was nice timing. The story of Lou, the workaholic father of two who spends his entire life letting his family down as he focus solely on his rise up the corporate ladder started out well. As he gets homeless man, Gabe (Gabriel), a job in his office postroom over the festive period things are all happy and fine. Things start to unravel though when Gabe appears at unexpected times and begins to ferret his way into Lou's life, questioning his choices and generally making him rather paranoid. Until this point all is well with the book.
From there things start to wierd out a little and Gabe becomes more than meets the eye as he provides Lou with a Christmas 'gift' that will seemingly solve all his problems. But can there ever really be an easy answer to all life's problems?
I liked the start of this book very much, I liked the relationship between Lou and his wife and the chapters when Cecelia wrote about this were inspired and touching however I do feel the book was cut rather short, didn't particularly like the ending and felt that an opportunity to really touch emotions was missed.
Worth reading - yes as a Christmas read - bit pointless at other times of the year but not as good as her previous offerings.
  fantastic January 3, 2009 After reading P.S i love you i wasn't sure if this would live up to it but it did infact it's much better. theres a lesson in there for everyone. very sad story at the end so much so i could barely read the words on the page for tears definatly worth a read and i will be reading it again and again and i think its going to have the same effect time after time!you will not be disappointed and you will also learn something from it so read it !!!
  ceceli ahern the gift December 29, 2008 The Gift this book is fantastic !!! it had me sobbing my heart out and i will re-read this many times im sure. Buy it its great
  The Perfect Gift For Christmas December 18, 2008 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I originally brought this book to read over the Christmas period with the story being set over Christmas time. However one winter night with nothing to do and all my presents brought and wrapped for Christmas, I decided to start it to put me in a Christmassy mood. So I untied the red ribbon (which works well as a bookmark) and opened The Gift which is beautifully presented - present being the key word! At first the book started off a bit slow unlike Cecelia Ahern's previous novels that have all had me hooked straight away. I found it hard to warm to Lou at first but as you read on you see that's the whole idea and you do grow to like him as the book continues. I was a bit surprised that all the main characters in this story where men, but again I think Ahern done this on purpose as it really isn't her usual chick lit and is very different to her previous books. Although of corse there was that magical Cecelia Ahern sparkle that they all have in common. After getting to grips with the characters I was soon hooked and by the end I was in tears due to the shock ending which I won't spoil. I would recommend this to anyone it really is a lovely gift for someone for Christmas. It's quite short as well so can be easily read over the Christmas period. Anyone lucky enough to find this under their Christmas tree this Christmas is in for a real treat. A beautiful book inside and out.
  be depresed at christmas!!!!! December 15, 2008 3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Having read lots of good reviews of this book i sadly have to disagree-only read this if you want to feel depressed this Xmas! You need to sympathise with the main character of Lou for this book to work and i dont think you will an if you enjoy reading about pill taking,adultery,hurt and neglect then this book is for you!!! Read 'If you could see me now' its much much better!
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