Carolyn Walsh 's Reviews > The Gift

I recently discovered author, Freida McFadden when I read The Housemaid and was very impressed. I immediately preordered its sequel. While waiting for it to be published, I was pleased to discover this novella of 52 pages, the Gift. The story is mainly set on Christmas eve.
This was the story of a young couple paying for university expenses, and she was working two jobs. They could not afford presents on their first Xmas as a married couple.

When I started reading it, I thought, "Great." I recognized it as a modern update on the 1906 short story by O. Henry, that was required reading in High School. Then my impressions began to fluctuate, because it was too much an exact copy of the original, including the gift the young woman was excited to be giving as a Xmas present to her husband, and what she had to sacrifice to obtain it. My opinion and rating dropped substantially at this point. She rushed home, feeling very happy that she had the perfect gift for her husband.

When it was time for the young couple to exchange Xmas gifts, everything changed. There was a wild and clever twist to O. Henry's story. The ending was shocking and surprising.