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Hannahs Gift
Tucker Gibbons is sure he has been fatally wounded by one of the three criminals he is in pursuit of. He recovers through the help of a strange woman, Hannah Morgan, who then vanishes without thanks. Tucker goes in pursuit of his rescuer and finds himself drawn into her quest.
- GenresFiction
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
107 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 12, 2013
I love Hannah's Gift by Thomas Eidson. Set in the American West in the 19th century, it could be called a western, but it is so much more.
There are the usual bad guys and gun fights , but one of the things that made this novel special for me are the two main characters - Tucker Gibbens, a lawman, and Hannah Morgan, the mystical woman who saves his life, having been directed by her “voices”. Tucker becomes convinced that this is no ordinary woman.
I also enjoyed the “other worldliness” of the novel. An unusual and thought provoking read!
There are the usual bad guys and gun fights , but one of the things that made this novel special for me are the two main characters - Tucker Gibbens, a lawman, and Hannah Morgan, the mystical woman who saves his life, having been directed by her “voices”. Tucker becomes convinced that this is no ordinary woman.
I also enjoyed the “other worldliness” of the novel. An unusual and thought provoking read!
February 8, 2019
What a wonderful book this is. I loved this book from beginning to end. Thomas Eidson is an incredible writer and his story telling is absolutely brilliant. This book touched me deeply and also left me feeling exhausted - through all the emotions I felt reading this wonderful heartfelt book. Fantastic characters, brilliant story and a book that will be remembered long after it has been finished. Also the two dogs in this story were brilliant, touching, funny and the best Dog characters I have ever read in any other book.
April 5, 2024
Really enjoyed this book
March 7, 2012
I love Thomas Eidson's novel and though reading the back you might think it a 'western' and there are some classic elements in it to point to that but his books are like no other westerns I've read. The setting is so beautifully rendered you can almost eat the dust and the story is unravels with grace as we follow the main character on his internal and external journey of understanding grief and allowing for those event that can't be understood at face value. Wonderful.
July 18, 2020
A light read, verging on magic realism. Hannah has an ability in the story that is magical, fantastic and unbelievable, yet it could just be true?
This is one of the few western stories I have read, a good and solid enjoyable story.
This is one of the few western stories I have read, a good and solid enjoyable story.
June 7, 2022
I enjoy Westerns and Eidson has written a couple I liked. But this one was too off the wall for me. Very improbable plot. I'm not sure why I trudged through till the end.
October 5, 2024
Wow!!!!!
November 15, 2014
Tucker Gibbons, lawman, is in pursuit of some criminals. He has been tracking them for months, ever since they raped and murdered his neighbours. It is his last fugitive hunt. After he finds them and takes them into custody he is determined to commit suicide. His wife and child have died and he does not want to live on without them. But he cannot let these murderers go free, so one last job and then he is done.
He catches up to them in a small town in Texas, but they knew he was coming, and he ends up surprised by them.
Believing he should have been killed in that trap he instead finds himself being tended by a strange woman, Hannah Morgan. And then she leaves.
I’ve had this book on my shelf, along with St. Agnes’ Stand for a long while now, but until now I’ve never read anything by Eidson before. He was recommended to me way back when I was in secondary school by a teacher. It’s taken me quite a while to follow that recommendation up. But I’m glad I did.
Because this is not my usual sort of book at all. I like well told westerns, although I don’t read very many, and this definitely has that aspect to it. It is a story very much set in the old frontier of the US. There are skirmishes with Apaches, and deserts, one horse towns and lawmen isolated from any sort of backup. There are plenty of prejudices to be seen. No Mexicans No Indians being a common one.
But the story of Tucker and Hannah is framed by the story of Father Richard Mulcahy. A friend of his, another priest, Roberto Cordova, has recently committed suicide and Mulcahy believes that the manuscript telling the story of Tucker Gibbons has some bearing on why Cordova chose to take his own life. Cordova has always believed the story that Gibbons’ wrote was a true one. Mulcahy never read it all, but he is about to now.
Because at the heart of Tucker and Hannah’s story is faith, religion, and belief.
Hannah’s Gift may market itself as a western, but it has distinct elements of a religious book to it. And that is the part I usually would never read.
You see, I love fantasy fiction and science fiction, all that sort of magic and miracles is great. I have a great lack of belief, however, in that sort of thing actually being real. I just don’t believe it. And so when stories weave it in to an otherwise “realistic” story it can make my more cynical side sit up and say that’s all just religious hand-wavery-nonsense. Especially if I think the author is trying to write some sort of moralistic, religious message into their tale.
If it is just part of the story and interested in raising questions and bringing up spirituality and what it is that people believe, well, that’s grand. I just don’t like being preached to. Hannah’s Gift never takes that route, it is not a preachy book in the least. That isn’t to say it is perfect but it is well written, it is very easy to read and to sink into the atmosphere of the book. And the question of who Hannah is and what exactly it is that she is doing is an intriguing one, even if you aren’t a believer.
I may not have loved this novel, but I think I will be reading more by Eidson.
He catches up to them in a small town in Texas, but they knew he was coming, and he ends up surprised by them.
Believing he should have been killed in that trap he instead finds himself being tended by a strange woman, Hannah Morgan. And then she leaves.
I’ve had this book on my shelf, along with St. Agnes’ Stand for a long while now, but until now I’ve never read anything by Eidson before. He was recommended to me way back when I was in secondary school by a teacher. It’s taken me quite a while to follow that recommendation up. But I’m glad I did.
Because this is not my usual sort of book at all. I like well told westerns, although I don’t read very many, and this definitely has that aspect to it. It is a story very much set in the old frontier of the US. There are skirmishes with Apaches, and deserts, one horse towns and lawmen isolated from any sort of backup. There are plenty of prejudices to be seen. No Mexicans No Indians being a common one.
But the story of Tucker and Hannah is framed by the story of Father Richard Mulcahy. A friend of his, another priest, Roberto Cordova, has recently committed suicide and Mulcahy believes that the manuscript telling the story of Tucker Gibbons has some bearing on why Cordova chose to take his own life. Cordova has always believed the story that Gibbons’ wrote was a true one. Mulcahy never read it all, but he is about to now.
Because at the heart of Tucker and Hannah’s story is faith, religion, and belief.
Hannah’s Gift may market itself as a western, but it has distinct elements of a religious book to it. And that is the part I usually would never read.
You see, I love fantasy fiction and science fiction, all that sort of magic and miracles is great. I have a great lack of belief, however, in that sort of thing actually being real. I just don’t believe it. And so when stories weave it in to an otherwise “realistic” story it can make my more cynical side sit up and say that’s all just religious hand-wavery-nonsense. Especially if I think the author is trying to write some sort of moralistic, religious message into their tale.
If it is just part of the story and interested in raising questions and bringing up spirituality and what it is that people believe, well, that’s grand. I just don’t like being preached to. Hannah’s Gift never takes that route, it is not a preachy book in the least. That isn’t to say it is perfect but it is well written, it is very easy to read and to sink into the atmosphere of the book. And the question of who Hannah is and what exactly it is that she is doing is an intriguing one, even if you aren’t a believer.
I may not have loved this novel, but I think I will be reading more by Eidson.
September 26, 2020
Had this story not been so enthusiastically recommended by a friend, I'm sure that if the title had happened to catch my eye in a book shop, the 'western' element would have made me put it back on the shelf ... but what a loss that would have been because this is a wonderful story. The engaging quality of the storytelling is apparent from the earliest pages because I very quickly found myself absorbed in the lives of the characters and in the evocatively captured setting of the nineteenth- century American West. I enjoyed the elements of magical realism and the explorations of issues surrounding faith, belief, spirituality and the portrayals of how people deal with death, loss and grief were very moving, as well as thought-provoking.
September 13, 2013
Butterflies...
Hannah, at times I felt I could slap her. Slap her out of her stupor. Get her to talk. (Frustration). That aside, this story is about belief, grief, hope and salvation. Something we'll all encounter on our journey.
See it in the butterflies.
This is not a western, though set in 1887 in the Wild West. It's a love story, hope story, tragic story. Yes there are gun fights, Indians and death, but these attributes are not at the forefront of the authors tale.
You'll see...in the butterflies.
Enjoyable, but just misses the full five star rating. Thomas Eidson's other works: St Agnes' Stand & The Last Ride, hit that five star.
Hannah, at times I felt I could slap her. Slap her out of her stupor. Get her to talk. (Frustration). That aside, this story is about belief, grief, hope and salvation. Something we'll all encounter on our journey.
See it in the butterflies.
This is not a western, though set in 1887 in the Wild West. It's a love story, hope story, tragic story. Yes there are gun fights, Indians and death, but these attributes are not at the forefront of the authors tale.
You'll see...in the butterflies.
Enjoyable, but just misses the full five star rating. Thomas Eidson's other works: St Agnes' Stand & The Last Ride, hit that five star.
March 8, 2011
The story of a lady with a special gift in 19th century USA.
May 10, 2014
loved this, off to track down more by this author.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews