The Gift Maker

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Pub Date 23 Feb 2017 | Archive Date 31 Mar 2017

Description

'Gifts ought to be free, but they never are. They tie you to the wishes of others. To your own sad expectations. To the penitentiary of your dreams.'


Late one night, Thomas Ruder receives a strange package: a small blue box. Another such item is delivered to his friend Liselotte Hauptmann. These 'gifts' will change their lives forever. In the far-off border town of Grenze, a play is to be performed at the Sheol Theatre. Reynard the impresario expects a very special audience. Thomas and Liselotte, together with their friend Johann, are drawn into Reynard's seductive web, as Daumen, the gift maker, must decide who his master really is.


The Gift Maker is a story about identity, about fulfilling your dreams and becoming the person you always were ... at whatever cost.

'Gifts ought to be free, but they never are. They tie you to the wishes of others. To your own sad expectations. To the penitentiary of your dreams.'


Late one night, Thomas Ruder receives a...


Advance Praise

This is a magical, daring book, set in a world reminiscent of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast or the Wes Anderson film Grand Budapest Hotel. Using language of marvellous distinctiveness and beauty which reveal his poetic background, Mark Mayes creates a sometimes beautiful and frequently nightmarish world where reality and folk tale morph into surrealism to disturbing effect. By turns hilarious and terrifying, wise and thought-provoking, The Gift Maker stands head and shoulders above anything I have read this year. I devoured it in two sittings, and will now start again so as to savour less breathlessly its sublime language and ideas. This sustained feat of imagination is a best-seller and likely award winner if ever I read one. Not for the faint-hearted, but brilliant. --Simon Michael, bestselling crime author

This is a magical, daring book, set in a world reminiscent of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast or the Wes Anderson film Grand Budapest Hotel. Using language of marvellous distinctiveness and beauty...


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9781911331773
PRICE £8.99 (GBP)

Average rating from 14 members


Featured Reviews

I ranked it 5/5 stars. I will give a full review on why, when February 23rd comes.

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Thank you.
Enjoyed it.
Will get copies for family and friends.

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My review: A curious mixture of humour and fantasy makes Mark Mayes The Gift Maker an interesting debut novel. Not normally a fan of fantasy fiction, I was drawn into this novel because of the story, the language and the setting.
The plot is well-managed and seamlessly interweaves the three stories of Thomas, Liselotte and Jo (short for Johan) as they are taken out of their own small world to a strange fantasy world where nothing is as it seems. Sometimes a beautiful dream, sometimes horrific and shockingly nightmarish everything is masterminded by the charismatic Reynard.
The writing is of a high quality earning its label of literary fiction, and the reader is challenged with a demandingly literary vocabulary – thank goodness for Kindle so you can click on a word you don’t know. Occasionally the writing strays into the ‘poetic’ in the negative sense of the word, but overall it is lyrical and musical. A pleasure to read.
The elements of folk and fairy tale are vividly drawn, with elements of the Brothers Grimm, Hans Andersen and Angela Carter. Wolf-like creatures, huntsmen, magic apples and old couples living in snow-covered mountains make the setting fascinating. I loved the inventiveness of the Germanic names and sinister politics lurking in the background. The world created here is well-drawn, and just slightly off-kilter to make it a fascinating place to spend time. I was strongly reminded of the best kind of children’s stories: The Snow Queen, The Box of Delights and Emil and the Detectives but written for an adult audience.
My only disappointment was the ending. Everything was resolved, and in a surprising way, but I would have liked to see the characters back in their university town, changed by their quest, but happily drinking Malzbeer. Maybe that says more about me…

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I got completly sucked in and ended up with my mind blown. I was not expecting where this story went, not that I foresaw where it was heading. I ended reading with my mouth hanging open!

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A brilliantly written novel with a fantasy twist. Loved it from beginning to end. Unputdownable :)

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