Gilbert's Gift

What would YOU give to save the life of a stranger’s child? That’s the emotive question posed by this heartwarming novel by Brian Will Oliver. With echoes of Nicholas Sparks, GILBERT'S GIFT is a moving tale of selfless courage, a quest for forgiveness, and a Swinging Sixties first love, lost and found again.
Inspired by real events, this delightful novel tells the story of sixtysomething Gilbert Shilling who, against his family's wishes, decides to donate one of his lungs in a desperate bid to save the life of a dying boy he has never met.
Still grieving over the death of his own baby son many years before, big-hearted Gilbert is deeply affected when he hears about a 10-year-old boy with cystic fibrosis who desperately needs a double lung transplant. Without the transplant, the boy will die within weeks.
Lost in an unhappy marriage, Gilbert sees a way of bringing new purpose into his otherwise empty life by volunteering to donate one of his own perfectly healthy lungs to help save the little boy.
Despite warnings that the transplant procedure holds life-threatening risks for someone of his age, Gilbert insists on going ahead—driven by a determination to help save this desperate boy after he was unable to save his own son.
Blending a poignant theme with gentle humour, GILBERT'S GIFT is also a moving story about baby boomer love—a deep teenage love in the Swinging Sixties, lost then found again decades later.
When the tragedy surrounding the lung transplant gains widespread media attention, it brings Gilbert’s first love back into his life for the first time in more than 40 years - just when he needs her most … But is she too late?