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I rarely have a soft spot for foreshadowing, but this book uses it effectively. I liked the hinted tidbits that sealed the gap between scenes without disclosing major spoilers. It’s impossible not to be affected and deeply moved by reading about Annie, Etta, Natalya and Mary. This is especially so when they are surviving in a world dominated by men. I was already struggling with the writing and the fact that we often switch viewpoint or who is being written about in the midst of a paragraph. So you start the paragraph with Annie and then suddenly you are reading about Etta and you are like, wait, who the hell is Etta and how did she suddenly appear? This happens a LOT and I found it really irritating. What a magnificent and beautifully inspiring book this was! I devoured it in only a couple of sittings it was THAT gripping. It is a mixture of historical fiction and magical realism with interesting and engaging characters and is highly compelling. Sadly I was unable to finish this book. The harrowing and graphic torture and killing of the dog by the surgeon about 10% of the way into the book was way too much for me. It turned my stomach and made me very upset. I don't know what else is in the book but that requires a Content Warning. It is a thing I can't stand and something I avoid in books and movies. It makes me hugely distressed. I can't imagine what that level of distressing detail could possibly add to the story. You could easily show he was an evil man without the detail.
She had left the mine feeling “so angry and upset about it, the brutality of it, the rawness. It is awful. It’s real, extraordinary exploitation, and it’s a fact that kids are still working in mines now around the world. It’s not gone away.” I’m writing this early in the morning whilst my brain is fresh as I’m suffering a book hangover of gargantuan proportions and don’t want my review to be all “I LOVED IT! I LOVED IT! JUST BUY IT EVERYONE!” The book is well paced with short chapters and is written from five different points of view - four women and one man who is a doctor with very high and dangerous aspirations. These five people have their paths all intertwine as you delve deeper into their stories as these women grow and spread their wings - literally! Reading all about these strong, intelligent women battling against the patriarchy and societal pressures that were part of Victorian life was so thrilling and empowering!Impressive… A celebration of female solidarity, it's brimful of historical detail and beautifully written." ― Sunday Express Magazine (UK) She says she wanted to try to give those children a voice, because children who worked in the mines didn’t have one. When she had finished, she felt it was “such an odd book” that no one would publish it.
October 1840. A young woman staggers alone through a forest in Shropshire as a huge pair of impossible wings rip themselves from her shoulders’. In a Nutshell: A historical fantasy written in literary fiction style. Won’t work for every reader due to the slow pacing and the writing approach, but I liked the plot. Triggers galore! Rich, feminist and utterly absorbing and entertaining. Hyder weaves a completely genius plot through 1840s London (with Shropshire and Orkney thrown in) and it's so well written and so absorbing and the pace so spot-on that it was exhilarating to listen to it. Hyder has absolutely nailed this story. Such brilliant characters, vivid settings, great dialogue. And a Macbeth-like antagonist, who is brilliant in his complexity and unbridled ambition. Glorious, gripping thematic gold. We were on holiday and the weather was terrible, so we went down the Llanfair Slate Caverns,” says Hyder, speaking after her latest win. “It’s an extraordinary place, it’s really atmospheric.”
It’s a book to take your time over and to savour.
In amongst the evocative descriptions, the compelling drama and the frequently poetic language, there is wit and human understanding so that The Gifts is a real privilege to read. I enjoyed how well the author incorporated magical realism with historical fiction. I wanted a little more explanation relating to the magical aspects of the read, but the author did offer enough explanation to keep me from being dissatisfied. The author also did a good job at emphasizing how intertwined science and religion was in England during this time, which was a driving force behind the antagonist of this read. Although I loved this novel, I did find the narrative a bit fragmented due to the frequent point of view shifts. Yet after a while I became used to this rhythm of movement. Thank you so much Liz for your story. And to the publisher, Zaffre Books for sending me an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. There are a few highly triggering scenes concerning dogs. While a couple of these scenes might have been essential to detail the nature of that specific character, the rest felt forced in. This might be traumatising for sensitive animal lovers, so proceed with caution. I had to zoom through those sections because it was too much for me, but I also didn’t want to keep the book aside. Furthermore, there are dark scenes connected to the medical procedures of those times.
It’s one of those books that makes you resent the world for interrupting your reading time! It’s a book to take your time over and to savour. Readers who like the early-Victorian-era setting and feisty female characters will enjoy this book." — Booklist
The Gifts
My thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Gifts”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
Hyder, who also works as a PR consultant, says: “It’s the seventh book I’ve written, and the first to get published. I don’t feel any of the books before it are worth revisiting – the gap between the one before and Bearmouth is massive. I just thought, you know what? I’m never going to get published, so I’m just going to write absolutely what I want to write. I wrote it completely from the heart. I cried quite a lot when I wrote it. It was very intense.” Alice: Edward’s wife and hobby painter, Alice knows Edward is up to something, but can’t get him to reveal more.The story is narrated in short vignettes, alternating between the voices of the two women with wings, a feisty would-be female journalist, and the wife of the surgeon who sees an opportunity to achieve fame and fortune by exploiting the winged women, the ‘gifts’ of the title, sent to him by God. Unsettling, captivating and beautifully written, with vividly descriptive landscape from Orkney to London, The Gifts is an enthralling tale of ambition and the lines of knowledge for science sake and obsession being crossed, of women finding an inner strength, being resourceful and tenacious and not willing to conform. I loved it, and although my proof copy just had placeholder text, I’m sure that the finished copy with its chapter illustrations will be a thing of beauty indeed. I enjoyed seeing the scenes from five different points of view, four of which were women. The third person narration ensures that the proceeding is somewhat easy. However, five perspectives automatically means plenty of characters and, as the story progresses, plenty of interconnections as well. It takes some time to remember who is who. Moreover, the switch in character perspectives sometimes happens too often. Though this isn’t too confusing because of the third person, it takes some time to get attuned to. Set in 1840 England and narrated from five different points of view The Gifts is a slow-burn gothic tale of a doctor's obsession with the women with wings. I loved that book fell into many categories such as historical fiction, fantasy, magical realism and a touch of mystery. Remarkable...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." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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