It happened in that August 2011, I needed to read an antique thriller. Searching, then I stumbled upon this beautifully illustrated cover, Four Gifts for Aria, Ebook written by Joshua Graham. Since, in my case I have learnt not to prejudge a book by its low price, I therefore latched onto it to satisfy my curiosity of the theme, that is, what gifts, by whom, and why? After reading, I was able to get the three answers. Below, I have tried to state them for your pleasure.
What gifts? On pages 13 and 14 of the book, Aria, a teenage girl, said she wanted a horse ride, a puppy, a sail and a dance with a prince.
Gifted by whom? If you followed from the above, then there appeared the next question, that is, who was she expecting them from? Pitiably, the task of bringing the gifts fell upon the shoulders of one stylishly funny sixteen-year-old boy called Nicholas. He really had much to bear. First, he needed to survive in Huntington Manor.
The narration began thus, "When first I arrived at Huntington Manor, I thought I was going to die...It wasn't until I ran into something that I lifted my eyes from the ground. Only, it wasn't something but someone...Please sir. Have you any bread or clear water...? I can do just about any chore. I wouldn't be askin' much-fare wages, a roof over my head, and some decent food."
Why the gifts? From the moment the author established Nicholas to the reader, the story blossomed expectedly and found a connection between the two most important characters, the hero and the protagonist. In this case, love, the thing that Aria has all along been denied. This was the premise for the gifts which helped in knowing that I was reading a romance-genre story.
Nicholas fell in love with Aria, daughter of Lord Huntington, who had first served her turn by giving Nicholas some sustenance twice a day. Understandably, his love for Aria became a sort of reciprocal obsession. Between them however, a sharp class-divide and antagonists await Nicholas.i Those were in the early chapters.
In later chapters, Nicholas would either die trying or, be able to get Aria on the altar of providing the gifts. Lord Huntington, Aria's father awaits Nicholas?"€even the man who had all along been magnanimous to house Nicholas. I don't envy him, really.
Just for purposes of saying that, I also read it with mindset of a writer, I remember coming across a slight narrative oversight, which states: "I... made a serious face..." But, in all the printed and digital books I have read, I have found one oversight or a typo.
Back to the gifts, all four of them impacted on the book's morals, sacrifice, which was easy to find while reading. Ironically, Aria ended up having an amended set of four gifts--one wrapped gift, a horse ride, a love, and a boat ride, where death befell her. In real life, such twisted expectations may happen.
The beauty of the book's noteworthy characterization and dialogue is that, like me, most readers might want to continue enjoying the piece without knowing the story had approached its end. In all, it ran over 35 pages. My favorite quote from this novel is, "The mind is its own place and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, and a Hell of Heaven." I enjoyed every bit and almost got involved.
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