Lovely, warm and engaging, 'The Perfect Gift’ is just that, a delightful treat of a book. Loveable, spirited Roisin always knew she was adopted, she came back home to start up her food emporium and lick her wounds after a doomed love affair, then a 30th birthday letter from her birth mother speaks to her soul. Roisin may be the main character, however this is a proper family and friends story, with a range of catastrophes, thrills and celebrations all jumping up and down and adding to the drama of the tale. Emma Hannigan doesn't just bring the wonderful characters to life, I felt as though I could step into the story, walk down the streets of Ballyshore, buy yummy foodie items in Roisin’s shop and have a natter with Mo to pick up all the gossip. The pages just flew by, and although on occasion my heart ached, this is basically a book to make you smile.
When Roisin returned home from France to the seaside village of Ballyshore heartbroken, she threw herself into fulfilling her lifelong dream of running her own artisan café. Five years on, her love life is still on ice but Nourriture, her café and delicatessen, is thriving.
Then, on her thirtieth birthday, instead of the annual card from her birth mother, a woman she's never met, Roisin receives a letter signed with love, which turns her world upside down.
While she absorbs the contents of the letter, her adoptive mum Keeley grows increasingly worried that its arrival will raise questions about the secret she's been hiding from Roisin for years. A secret only one other person knows ...
As the women face truths about the past, they discover that the most precious gift of all is the love between a mother and a daughter. But will they be able to let that love light the way home?
'A glorious read ... A wonderfully uplifting novel about women's friendship by a writer who understands exactly how women think' -- Cathy Kelly
'Hannigan's novel, much like the vivacious author herself, is brimming with hope, joy and inspiration' Sunday Independent
'A moving tale celebrating the bonds between women, Emma Hannigan beautifully captures the difficult and wondrous thing that is loving and learning to let go ... just a little. An excellent read' Irish Tatler
Author
About Emma Hannigan
Emma Hannigan is the author of ten bestselling novels including The Secrets We Share, Driving Home for Christmas and the bestselling memoir Talk to the Headscarf which charted her journey through cancer. Emma lives in Co. Wicklow , Ireland, with her husband, two children and a dog.
