Notes from Book Group December 2010

This month we discussed The Gift by Richard Paul Evans

When Nathan Hurst, a lonely security expert, finds himself snowed in at an airport on his way home to Utah, he meets a single mother named Addison, also Utah bound, and her two children, Elizabeth and Collin. Realizing that they have no place to stay, Nathan invites them to share his hotel suite. Although hesitant at first, Addison soon agrees, telling Nathan that her nine-year-old son, Collin, a cancer-stricken boy, had told her that he was a good man. Curious as to why a mother would turn to her child for advice, Nathan becomes even more intrigued when, after Collin touches him, he finds himself cured of both his bronchitis and his Tourettes syndrome.

What begins as a physical healing turns into a spiritual one as Nathan and Addison fall in love while trying to protect Collin from a world that wants his healing, regardless of the sickness it causes him. Through Addison’s love, Nathan is finally able to make peace with his painful past, and together their lives are renewed. The Gift tells a tale of great awakenings and shows how all of us, not only a special little boy, have the power to heal the ones we love.

Most of our group enjoyed reading this book and some members even recommended it to others. The few people who did not like the story said it was too predictable – they guessed the ending before finishing the book. The author has Tourette’s Syndrome which gave credibility to the affectations of the main character, Nathan, who also had the disease. There was much discussion of the following topics brought up by the plot: coming back from the dead, physical healing, who to heal, and after healing his personal strength was gone. We compared the boy, Collin, to Jesus through several biblical stories. This book generated lively debates and we could have extended our talk.