The Thirteenth Gift

Ever since she wrote The Twelve Gifts of Birth, Charlene Costanzo mused about a scene in its opening. What might have happened when: “The wise women came to understand that the twelve royal gifts of birth belong to every child… yearned to proclaim the gifts to all children…but the customs of the land did not allow that.” The Thirteenth Gift. This fourth work in The Twelve Gifts series also explains why so many people world-wide are fascinated with stones.

While on assignment in Eastern Europe, Claire, a U.S. journalist, learns of a local legend when she stoops for a stone. The deceptively simple story about “the thirteenth gift” has a profound effect on Claire, which soon transforms her marriage, her work, and the way she sees the world. The Thirteenth Gift is both a cautionary tale and an inspirational fable as it shows a way through the perilous consequences of greed, arrogance, and abuse of power to an uplifted state of consciousness and community. The Thirteenth Gift invites readers to renew their sense of wonderment, which can lead to freedom from fear and to a greater experience of hope, beauty, and joy in daily life.