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    The Gift
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    The Gift
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    The Gift
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Gift

    Written by Cecelia Ahern

    Narrated by Mark Meadows

    3.5/5

    ()

    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this audiobook

    This Christmas, sprinkle some Cecelia Ahern magic in your life.

    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 abut the value of time and what is truly important in life.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMay 4, 2009
    ISBN9780007321223
    Unavailable
    The Gift
    Author

    Cecelia Ahern

    Cecelia Ahern was born and grew up in Dublin. Her novels have been translated into thirty-five languages and have sold more than twenty-five million copies in over fifty countries. Two of her books have been adapted as films and she has created several TV series. She and her books have won numerous awards, including the Irish Book Award for Popular Fiction for The Year I Met You. She lives in Dublin with her family.

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    Reviews for The Gift

    3.5/5

    281 ratings16 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Nice Xmas read but wouldn’t read another of her books
    • 3/5
      I thought this would be a pleasant light read for the Christmas season, and expected to finish it quickly, reading a chapter or two each evening. It took me over two weeks... and it wasn't a difficult read. Just - strange. Not as quirky as some of the author's other books, but bizarre; a tale within a tale. A teenage boy, angry at his parents, is taken to a police station and then told a long story about a guy called Lou whom the police dealt with that morning.

      Lou is a workaholic who neglects his family... but his life changes when he meets Gabe. It's never spelled out who Gabe is but the Christmas theme and the events that unfold make it fairly obvious. Gabe is a homeless man whom Lou buys a coffee.. and then employs in his mailroom. And it just gets odder and odder, Gabe eventually giving Lou some tablets that have a very peculiar effect which temporarily seems to make his busy life rather easier. Only it's not that simple...

      I kept finding myself forgetting who was whom (other than Lou and Gabe) and slightly startled when there was a temporary return to the teenage boy at the police station. And I really struggled to like Lou. He does start to feel more human towards the end - and then there's a depressing conclusion.

      The moral is clear - don't neglect family for work - but this is not a light and frivolous Christmas story. The writing is good and the story flows... but when I'd finished, I rather wished I hadn't bothered.

      Not really recommended.
    • 5/5
      It brough tears to my eyes I loved every second of the book and couldn't put it down. At first I didn't care for the main character but as the story progresses, he pulls at your heart strings. A true Christmas Story that brings tears, joy and leaves you feeling a sense of guilt.
    • 5/5
      Love it! And yes...time is indeed a kind of gift you can not wrapped and lay underneath the Christmas tree. And it is way more precious than all the materials things we give and received this Christmas. I definitely love this book made me cry while reading the last few pages.
    • 4/5
      This book is for you if:
      you are in the mood for a good old Christmas-ly cry
      you feel introspective and open to reflect on the sense of life
      you want to reconnect with family values
      you want something that will remind you what are the important things in life
      This book is NOT for you if:
      you need something easy-breezy with no drama
      you DO NOT want to cry
      you're looking for more of a happily ever after novel
      you are looking for a girl-meets-boy novel

      I enjoyed this book, it reduced me into tears, I was on a plane and had to contain myself not to sob loudly in front of everybody.
      Ahern initial description of the quiet street on Christmas morning was sublime.
      Overall, a sad book with plenty of moral... but one of the good ones
    • 4/5
      A good story from Cecelia Ahern. Lou Suffern - successful, married, 2 children, big house but not enough time. Always needing to be 2 places at once and puts his family second. He then meets Gabe, a homeless man who he gives a job to and the the story begins.I liked this book, its set at Christmas time and it sets the scene for the story. I liked Gabe for most of the book. Lou I found quite difficult to relate to. The book moves on at a steady pace and there almost an element of unpredictability in some cases. I can't explain or it would ruin the story for you.This gets a 4.5/5 from me. It was just missing a little something so I didn't make it quite 5 star but a great read nonetheless.
    • 4/5
      Gives you much to think about - with a twist at the end! Highly recommended.
    • 2/5
      This book is not a chick-lit. At times, language and story seems somber. But it has a beautiful hidden message. With dash of supernatural and corporate hi-life thrown in. Apt for Christmas gifts since it does have a Christmas background too! ;)
    • 4/5
      I loved this book about a man who is given the opportunity to make amends with the people in his world before he is taken from all of them. It was just what I needed to read at Christmas.
    • 5/5
      This book had me all teary at the end. The second book (after If You Could See Me Now) by Cecelia Ahern which gave me that effect. I love how Ahern splatters reality with an ounce of magic. The change in Lou's behavior and the purity of his love warmed my heart right to the very core. I finished reading this book in about three days and that's saying something. The Gift is a must-read. It captures the essence of life, how we tend to forget the truly meaningful things because we are too engrossed in chasing after what everyone else deem important. It blew me away!
    • 5/5
      I discovered Cecelia Ahern only few years ago, well after the 'PS I Love You' hype, and enjoying her full of magic books since. The Gift is a lovely contemporary story of a young businessman learning to realize what really matters in life. I imagine this won't be a hit with a lot of people, but I found it quite endearing and a very pleasant and quick read. Well done Cecelia!
    • 3/5
      Synopsis: Lou Suffern is a successful business man who works hard at his job. However, he is so tied up with his work that he neglects his family who can't rely on him to turn up to family outings on time if at all. When Lou meets homeless man Gabe, he slowly starts to realise what's most important.My Opinion: A bit cliche'd but still well written with important lessons for everybody.
    • 4/5
      Cecelia Ahern has done it again, at least in this readers mind. I first read her book "A Place Called Here" and was intrigued by her imagination and her writing style. I moved on to "P.S. I Love You", "If You Could See Me Now" and then "Love, Rosie". All of her books have a fantasy theme and all have things that you dream and wish could happen in life. "The Gift" is no different. Not only does it have a wonderful storyline but it also tries to teach the lesson that time is precious and no matter what you do, once time is gone you can't get it back. Cherish what you have and love the ones in your life now because if you put it off, you may run out of time.Now I must go track down "Thanks for the Memories", "Mr. Whippy" and "Irish Girls Are Back in Town".ENJOY!
    • 3/5
      I didn't know what to expect from this book when it was chosen as our book club christmas read, we usually choose a light weight often funny book. I haven't read PS I Love You but I didn't enjoy the film very much. This wasn't funny but it was very easy to read, if a little 'preachy' in some ways. The overall theme of make the most of what you have and in particular family was a good one, especially at Christmas and I felt like making my husband read it on more than one occasion! Like many of the other reviews I didn't like the ending.
    • 2/5
      All Cecelia Ahern's books have been different and this one is no exception.
    • 3/5
      Having just seen parts of her father's biography on RTE (Ireland's National TV station) and it noting that he was quite the absent father, I have to wonder how much of this is wishful thinking on the part of Cecelia Ahern. It's a story about a boy who throws a semi-frozen turkey through a window who gets told a story about another man. A workaholic who learns lessons about the important things in life and who realises that life is now not tomorrow.I can see this one splitting it's audience. It's unsubtle in it's message and pretty obvious in it's heart-string tugging. A little too obvious for my tastes, I'm sure other people's mileage may vary. The packagaing is cute, the ribbon isn't a permanent part of the cover though and as it's usually shrink wrapped the lack of cover details makes it hard to decide what it's all about.