Book of Gifts

‘An intriguing and complex family story. I was hooked from the first sentence.’ – Nozizwe Cynthia Jele, author of The Ones with PurposeWhat is the cost of giving a gift? What is the cost of receiving one?At eleven years old, Julian Flint prefers to remain invisible, safe inside the architecture of adults provided by his mother, his uncle and his aunt. But when his mother, Emma, a celebrated sculptor, takes them all on a family holiday to a hotel by the sea, he meets the captivating and irreverent Clare and everything he thought he knew begins to shift – setting off a chain of events that will determine each of their fates.From the award-winning author of The Dream House and The White Room comes Craig Higginson’s most gripping and nuanced novel to date. Moving from the lush beaches of uMhlanga Rocks to the stark midwinter wastes of Johannesburg and the rich and strange coral reefs of Mauritius, this masterfully plotted novel explores the fault-lines between loyalty and betrayal, innocence and accountability, blindness and perception, entrapment and flight. The Book of Gifts dives into the deepest and most hazardous reaches of human consciousness in order to catch the brightest fish.

CRAIG HIGGINSON is an internationally acclaimed playwright and novelist. His plays have been performed and produced in many theatres and festivals around the world. His novels include Last Summer (2010), The Landscape Painter (2011), The Dream House (2015) and The White Room (2018). Craig has won several national awards in South Africa and Britain for his writing. The Book of Gifts was first released in 2020.