Every once in a while a book comes along that can change your life?a book so special, it is destined not just to be read but to be cherished, to be passed from one reader to another as a precious gift. Filled with wisdom and grace, tears and laughter, Hannah's Gift is one such book. Within these pages Maria Housden shares the transformative lessons in living she received from her three-year-old daughter Hannah, who brought courage, honesty, and joy to her struggle with cancer.

During the last year of her short life, Hannah was fearless in the way she faced death?and irrepressibly joyful in the way she approached living. The little girl who wore her favorite red Mary Janes into the operating room changed the life of everyone who came in contact with her. Now, in a book that preserves Hannah's indomitable spirit, Maria Housden offers the gift of her daughter's last year to all of us.

In a lyrically told narrative, both moving and unforgettable, Housden recounts Hannah's battle with cancer in simple, straightforward language that transcends grief and fear to become a celebration. From Hannah's story emerge five profound lessons?of truth, joy, faith, compassion, and wonder?that have the power to change our lives.

During her illness Hannah showed how we can truly live in the moment and break free from lives suffocated by too many unlived joys. Even more memorable is the message Hannah delivered after her death to those she loved?a message of hope for anyone faced with the deepest questions of life and death.

Hannah's Gift nourishes the soul with an ageless wisdom all the more invaluable for having come from someone so young. A remarkable story, remarkably told, it will bring comfort to anyone touched by loss, and renewed faith in the
power of love.

Closing her eyes and extending her arms, Hannah began to dance. Oblivious to everything but the shoes on her feet, she skipped and clicked across the floor, twirling in circles, faster and faster. There was something about her pure joy and the defiant nobility of the red shoes that caught everyone's attention....

The true measure of a life is not its length but the fullness with which it is lived


From the Hardcover edition.

Hannah's Gift addresses a mother's deepest fear: the death of a child. Amazingly, Maria Housden's skillful writing and mature understanding of grief make this a spiritually inspiring story about life. Housden is eager for us to learn all the lessons Hannah offered while she was dying of cancer, such as wearing red shoes that click and sparkle when you walk and never letting a doctor touch you without knowing their first name. For the reader, however, the most compelling character is Housden, a mother who endures the unfathomable. One morning Housden looks at her face in the mirror and realizes, "The grief that once threatened to swallow me up had found a home in my bones. My suffering wasn't something I was going to have to let go of; it became part of what I had to offer, part of who I am." Sure, you're going to cry. But it's the kind of heart-cracking-open cry that comes from an abundance of feelings: sorrow for this wise and gut-honest narrator; tenderness for Will, the loyal older brother that Hannah left behind; and love for this baffling, wonderful life that gives us gifts like Hannah. --Gail Hudson

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