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全方位媒體人何戎 知名主播岑永康 知名藝人陳建州 知名主播張珮珊 感動推薦

我知道不管自己有多自私，家人會一直都在，
卻沒想過有一天不在的人，會是我……

「你好，我是盧，但認識我的人都叫我混蛋。」
盧‧薩芬是個工作狂，他的時間總是不夠用，
總是需要同時間出席兩個地方，總是得一次做兩件事，
所以在家族聚會缺席已是常態，
他從未抱過一歲的兒子，跟女兒的約定轉身就忘，
有了美麗的老婆不滿足，依然不時出軌偷吃，
而老爸重要的七十大壽生日宴會，他丟給祕書處理！
他活在自己建構的自私世界，表面華麗，卻是糟蹋家人的愛而建立，
他從不覺得這樣有什麼問題，
然而，真正的問題卻在聖誕節前找上了他……

在這年冬天，他意外得到一心追求的禮物，
藉由它，他發現他可以輕易地同時成為好兒子、好爸爸、好員工，
他欣喜不已，渴望能永久保留這份禮物，
卻沒發現，他的生活開始脫離常軌，
而給他這禮物的流浪漢現在看起來好像他，
在終於知道自己真正想要的是什麼之時，他，還來得及修正錯誤嗎……
~~本書中文版《最後的禮物》由春光出版

So many new novels jostle for our attention that readers could be forgiven for lacking the patience to tackle most of them. But in the case of The Gift by Cecelia Ahern, they would be doing themselves a disservice by passing this one by. As in her highly involving debut novel, PS I Love You, Ahern demonstrates a sure and subtle understanding of the human condition and the pleasures and pains in relationships. Her theme in the new book is the way in which we conceal the truth about ourselves -- many people cover themselves in layers of deceit until somebody with the right motivation unwraps those layers and discovers the truth.
Lou Suffern is practised in the art of concealment. He is, also, always overstretched, trying to do too many things at once. His overburdened schedule gives him few moments of peace, even in his sleep. And when he spends time at home with his wife and family, he is always distracted, and, mentally, somewhere else. On a cold winter morning, Lou is on his way to work when he encounters Gabe, a homeless street dweller, sitting outside an office building. Lou is intrigued by him, and contrives to get him a job in the post room. But this act of charity rebounds on him, and Gabe’s presence begins to grate on Lou -- particularly when he discovers that the latter seems capable of being in two places at the same time. Christmas is drawing near, and before the season is over, Lou’s life will be irrevocably change by the casual act of kindness he has performed.

Apart from the sheer storytelling skill of The Gift, perhaps Cecelia Ahern’s most considerable achievement is the way in which she has taken a narrative which could easily have moved into rather twee territory, and very efficiently kept sentimentality at bay. That's not to say that the novel isn't deeply affecting, without ever trying to engage our emotions in a synthetic way, Ahern succeeds in involving us completely. In fact, the title could be said to be apposite -- it's a book that deserves to be a gift given by many people to the readers in their lives. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.