If you are anything like me, a reader of authors who write about challenging subjects that are managed and overcome after experiencing grief, then this is a book for you.
In the pages of this book, you will find the story of a protagonist who faces the film industry, Hollywood, the despair and hardship of love, the darkness, but also the purity of light from mental health awareness, familial bonds, sibling rivalry, the topic of trial, difficulties and challenges from bipolar mood disorder faced by someone that must keep up appearances in a society that embraces stigma, alienation, rejection and social isolation.
Please read this book because it truly is a gift for the grief-stricken, brokenhearted or anyone who just wants a relaxing read. I’d say that to anyone who loves reading books.
To be quite honest with you, at first glance (the book cover doesn’t reveal every titillating hook and storyline that the book contains) and then reading the first few pages of the book, it seemed to have a feminine energy for me, and it even evoked happier childhood memories of my own time spent as a ballerina – going to ballet lessons and speech and drama classes with Miss Marjorie Gilbey in a coastal city in South Africa when I was untouched by the sharks, wolves and sheep, and the stressors of a grownup world.
Poetry can connect people, touch hearts, impact minds, and influence generations. These connections can leave behind a living legacy, symbolism that can last for the ages and for the future generation.
The first thing that struck me about Gifts was the author’s name. He has the name of J. D. Salinger’s most famous protagonist. Gifts doesn’t disappoint. I went in search of more information about the author just because of that. It led me to his Instagram account. The book cover is extraordinarily captivating to the reader. It’s a magical cover, but not magical in a sense for it to be seen as a children’s book; I could see how and why this book would appeal to its target audience.
The second thing that struck me was this: what would a film interpretation of the book Gifts be like, what would that experience feel like? When I read books these days, I always wonder to myself what the screenplay would really look like and feel like.
This book is largely about resilience, the history found in relationships, the storms and structure of grief (losing a parent), and courage (Amanda’s, since she is the protagonist of this book’s courage). The book is also about poetry and the bonds of friendship, calm inner strength, willpower, the willingness to experience and see into the other-worldly dimensions of another reality, and secrets that threaten Amanda’s emotional stability and security.
I was reminded of “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” and the film “The Neverending Story” while reading Gifts; and as I delved into the otherworldly realms that Amanda found herself traveling in and discovering, I was reminded of my first love, reading, and my second love, watching films.
As I said before, this is a book that is itself a gift (by the American author Holden Williams, who has penned “Absence of Grace,” “A Woman’s First day at the Convent,” and “Living With Chronic Illness”). It is meant for someone grieving the loss of a mother who wants to return to the world of childhood where both good and bad is faced off in a world of fantasy and wonder and the paranormal.
The book was sent to me by an editor-friend. This book, Gifts, personally for me, was food for thought.
At the funeral of her mother, Amanda, Katy’s daughter, bottling her personal anguish and grief, performs a song as a tribute for her mother. Afterwards at the wake, she is disoriented by an alarming vision that she sees. She is given a book filled with a variety of illustrations and a set of events, then adventures occur as if by magic.
As the turns and twists of make-believe and the imagination of the writer on the page comes to life, Amanda meets Storm-Face Flo. They go on a heartfelt and emotional journey, bonding through poetry. They also encounter a host of other characters who wield their own personality.
There is conflict, but Amanda manages to overcome this through reciting poetry from memory.
There is also darkness and a fear that abounds, a kind of story within a story, Narnia-esque, Hitchcock-esque, reminiscent for me of the horror films “Birds” and “Psycho.” The warped vision of Amanda’s mother that appeared to her at the wake is also a reminder of my own interpretation of the wizard in “The Wizard Of Oz.”
But that is only the beginning.
As the story unfolds, secrets and lies come to light about Katy, there is also a confession to Jack, someone from Amanda’s past and negative feelings about the relationship with her half-sister Lucy that gives rise to sinister energy.
Katy, Amanda’s mother lived with bipolar mood disorder and visited a psychiatrist regularly. She took medication for her condition and wrote in a journal. Katy’s memories begin to speak to us, as does the turbulence of Amanda’s reckoning with her mother’s hidden life.
Books dealing with mental illness and mental health issues these days in modern society are welcomed, and they have a suitable place on any bookshelf or library. Books like Gifts deal with the day-to-day realities faced by most people worldwide; and, so, this book would bring comfort and a sense of ease to many as they navigate dealing with and coping with disturbances in the sense and sensibility of incidents of mood disorder or being on the spectrum.
The vision of Katy brings up a disordered type of thinking, also the sense of the paranormal.
Sit back, curl up in a comfortable chair with a cup of tea for this read. Tell your book club about it. Buy it and do support the author and the writing community by leaving reviews about the book on Goodreads and Amazon.
Gifts by Holden Williams will be released on November 15th, 2025, by Novelty Fiction via Amazon in paperback and Kindle e-book format.
