The Gift

By: Danielle Steel

Narrated by: Ron McLarty

Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

On a June day, a young woman in a summer dress steps off a Chicago-bound bus into a small Midwestern town. She doesn't intend to stay. She is just passing through. Yet her stopping here has a reason and it is part of a story that you will never forget.

The time is the 1950s, when life was simpler, people still believed in dreams, and family was - very nearly - everything. The place is a small Midwestern town with a high school and a downtown, a skating pond and a movie house. And on a tree-lined street in the heartland of America, an extraordinary set of events begins to unfold. And gradually, what seems serendipitous is tinged with purpose. A happy home is shattered by a child's senseless death. A loving marriage starts to unravel. And a stranger arrives - a young woman who will touch many lives before she moves on. She and a young man will meet and fall in love. Their love, so innocent and full of hope, helps to restore a family's dreams. And all of their lives will be changed forever by the precious gift she leaves them.

The Gift, Danielle Steel's 33rd best-selling work, is a magical story told with stunning simplicity and power. It reveals a relationship so moving it will take your breath away. And it tells a haunting and beautiful truth about the unpredictability - and the wonder - of life.

©1994 Danielle Steel (P)2004 Random House Audio

The Gift

Great narration. I felt like crying after what happen to Maribeth. I really loved her courage and how she more or less had to grow up and make decision. She is wise beyond her years. I love that she also made another family come together again. Also that she didn't let anything get in her way of completing her educaton. Excellent story. I always enjoy Danielle Steel books.

Touching but not sappy!

thus was one of my favorite Danielle Steel books. and I've read quite a few. it was touching, but not at all sappy.

My New Favorite Story

A heartfelt, tender story, I felt like I was on the journey with the characters

Huge disappointment!

Ron McLarty did the best he could with this poorly written, ludicrous, predictable story. By far the worst Danielle Steel book I've ever read. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OR CREDITS! It reads as if it was written for teenagers. Very naive teenagers.

Positive approach to life Mistakes and all

Open hearts and loving people can have a profound effect on life. Hard choices and sacrifices are a part of life.

One of my favorites!

This is one of my favorite DS books. It's a very sweet, not overly long story about two teens who find each other after previous traumatic events. My only issue with this book is the constant referral to the baby as "it." I understand they don't know the sex of the baby until they are born, but I just don't like it. otherwise, great story.

Very good

This is a very all around good book. Quite a tear jerker for anyone who has given up a baby or adopted a newborn. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Well told story

This really was a nice story and the narrator was great. I did not like the graphic description of the teenage sex scenes
Surprised that Danielle Steel as a mother her self would want to have that in such a touching novel.

Classic perfect ending

I loved the story, but at the end, I wasn’t ready for it to end. I was hoping for one more chapter that skipped ahead six months to a year. The narrator was very good and it was a really good story.

The Gift

This was so well written and Ron McLarty was perfect. I wish he had read all of her books. It had many chapters that were short. I was surprised that it ended this morning with The End coming on. This is a book that could have had a Part 2 Continued. It does have some places with sexual descriptions that may not be good for very young readers. Perhaps I am old fashioned about this and probably there is not much the young readers do not know today. I am a Senior reader. Now to find another one as good as this one is. Getting quite choosy and many of them I have said No to on my list. Step One, Check The Narrator. Most important to me.