There are some very emotional scenes that are described poignantly that made my heart break. It has a haunting and tense atmosphere throughout and the Victorian period is described and captured perfectly. It was a joy to read and I was so sad when it came to an end. I would love to revisit so many of these characters again. They are intriguing, passionate, relatable characters despite the unusual aspects of their lives. But to say too much more would spoil the story!

Liz Hyder has made historical magical realism the most magically realistic reading experience. It is relatable, brutally true to present life and beautifully presented with a language that sings. The characters are right there, you can feel them walking around in your mind. The setting and imagery vivid, you can almost taste it, smell it.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.

The ending worked very well for me. It didn’t force a perfect solution; rather, the plot led itself to a believable culmination. Impressive… A celebration of female solidarity, it's brimful of historical detail and beautifully written." ― Sunday Express Magazine (UK) The Gifts is essentially a piece of brilliantly structured magical realism with 4 key themes: the power of greed, of love, of religion in the wrong hands and, most importantly, of women. Set primarily in 19th century London but with the addition of Shropshire and (very briefly) my home county of Essex, it uses the time to weave a new perspective around how much we allowed greed ridden men to rule over talented women. 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.

It’s a book to take your time over and to savour.

This is a novel based on a slightly bizarre concept - in the mid-nineteenth century, a number of women grow wings. In an age of scientific discovery also still heavily influenced by religious beliefs, this piques the interest of doctors and captures the public imagination. Mary: A poor but clever young woman, Mary finds herself investigating a weird rumour in London about the ‘Angel of the Thames.’ 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. 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.