The Gifts

Starred review from February 27, 2023
Hyder’s remarkable adult debut (after the YA novel Bearmouth) involves the discovery of winged women in 1840 England. London surgeon Edward Meake has invested heavily in his medical practice, but hasn’t achieved the fame or wealth he thinks he deserves. When a boatman pulls a winged female corpse from the Thames, Edward, believing the woman is proof that angels exist, pays the man for the body, which he spirits into his basement lab. Then he runs across two more women with wings, both of them very much alive. Driven by divine mission and professional ambition, he imprisons them and plans to make his name with a lecture and a public reveal of his specimens. Meanwhile, the women, an amateur botanist and a gifted Scottish storyteller, discuss their metamorphoses and ideas for possible escape; Edward’s wife grows alarmed by Edward’s increasing paranoia and secrecy, and aspiring writer Mary Ward catches rumors about the “Angel of the Thames” and pursues the story to a dramatic end. 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.

March 15, 2023
In England in 1840, at the crossroads of belief in religion and science, when society has very strict requirements on gender roles, the lives of five people unravel. Etta is an outcast gentlewoman who suddenly and painfully sprouts wings. Edward Meake, a struggling surgeon intent on making a name for himself in London, stumbles across a deceased woman with wings. Mary Ward is a journalist in a man's world, and it is through her efforts that the lives of the other characters are linked. Natalya is a woman who has been forced to leave her past behind and start anew, but the stunning growth of wings was not part of her future plans. Finally, Annie, Edward's wife, is discovering that the life society has mapped for her does not make her happy. A theme through the tale is how most men overlook the women around them, and how the women themselves are only happy when they rebel and take charge over their own lives. Readers who like the early-Victorian-era setting and feisty female characters will enjoy this book.

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September 15, 2023

From its riveting opening scene when a young woman sprouts wings, Hyder's genre-blending first adult novel fully engages readers. A cast of five characters features in the beguiling story, set in England in 1840: Etta, an aspiring botanist; Mary, a budding writer; Natalya, a talented storyteller; Edward, an extremely ambitious surgeon; and Annie, an artist and Edward's wife. When Edward buys a corpse pulled from the Thames, an astonishing woman with wings, a series of events is set in motion that weaves together the characters' lives through their experiences with science and religion, obsession and ambition, love and friendship, and gender and race. The women, restrained by Victorian society's expectations, ultimately use their creative gifts as metaphorical and literal wings to lift them to freedom and more fulfilling lives. VERDICT Short chapters quickly move along in this clever blend of gothic, historical, and fantasy, with just the right touch of melodrama, grounded by well-researched detail. Hyder's novel is sure to be popular with devoted readers of historical fiction, especially those who appreciate the struggles of women to exercise their talents with the same freedom and recognition as men.--Barbara Clark-Greene

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