The Birthday Gift by Anthony Scott

From Goodreads

A moment in time caught between a grandfather and grandson, lost in utter joy at the end of a late summer’s day. Click. Soon, devastation follows; the old man loses his fight to live, but leaves an extraordinary gift for his beloved grandson – a gift that will cause much heartache and cause decisions to be made that will put lives on the line.

Noah Spearing is a young man teaching in St Ives, Cornwall, when his life is changed forever after the death of his beloved grandad. A gift left for him from the man he loved more than anyone else turns out to be a poisoned chalice that he must deal with in the best way that he can.

All this comes at a time when the girl he wants is set to marry another man, and Noah must decide not only what to do with the gift from his grandfather, but also his love for Flora Trembath...

The Birthday Gift is a novel that sweeps through issues of love, of hope, of sorrow and of destiny. It spans across Europe, from Cornwall to London to France to Germany and then to Poland. The book is a gripping combination of thriller and romance, revolving around the painting central to the book which featured heavily in the recent Hollywood blockbuster, The Monuments Men, written and directed by George Clooney.

My thoughts

This got a well deserved 8/10 from me. 

My thanks to the Publishers and NetGalley for a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

Noah Spearing's grandfather leaves him a gift which he must only open after his grandfather has passed away. Every family has its own secrets and skeletons in closets and Noah's family is no different. His grandfather has a past that Noah knows very little about, all that is about to change when he opens the gift.

Noah must decide to do what he thinks is best with the gift. Are his choices the best for all concerned? As his puts into action what he has planned to do with the gift, events suddenly take a very sinister turn. Putting not just himself but other family members in danger.

I really enjoyed this book and stayed up into the early hours of the morning to finish it off as I was dying to find out what happened to them all.

I found it well written and I will be looking out for other books by this Author. I feel that it would make quite a good reading group read due to the content of it and found it to be very thought provoking.