The Family Gift

A family divided by secrets. A legacy that binds them for generations.

TODAY

Jacqueline Gianelli’s world implodes when her breast cancer diagnosis collides with an offer of publication for her debut novel. While challenged to accept the magnitude of her illness, a plea from her estranged and terminally ill father ignites a search to solve a mystery in his past. Jacqueline races cancer and the clock, urged to unite her family before it’s too late. For both of them.

1935

Cast out and pregnant, Violet turns to her father, Billy, for help. But his support comes at a cost, drawing her into his underhanded dealings and a scandal that makes headlines on Grand Final Eve. As war looms, Violet is forced to face the promise she made to Fletch, setting in motion a chain of secrets and regrets that will echo through generations – and shape the very family Jacqueline is fighting to save.

“The Family Gift is a beautifully written dual timeline novel which deals with the fraught subject matter of breast cancer as sensitively as it handles family relationships. Chrissie Bellbrae masterfully intertwines the historical and contemporary story threads, and fills the pages with characters I found myself cheering for from beginning to end. A five star read!”

Pamela Cook, Contemporary women’s fiction author, writing coach and host of the WRITES4WOMEN podcast

“The Family Gift is an authentic and relatable family drama that tells the story of one woman's search to uncover long held family secrets, while enduring a gruelling cancer diagnosis. With a timeline that effortlessly swings between contemporary and war-time Australia there is something in this book for every reader. The Family Gift truly embodies what it means to write 'from the heart.'“

Cassie Hamer Author of 4 novels including THE STRANGER AT THE TABLE. Writer and narrator of LITERARY BITES podcast and guest host for TALKING AUSSIE BOOKS podcast

“Chrissie Bellbrae has created a beautifully layered, emotionally resonant story that time-travels us from the 1930s to the present day with a family secret that is as heartbreaking as it is inspiring. Chrissie draws on her own recent health battles to give us a raw and heartfelt deep dive into family legacy; love, commitment, betrayal and of course, genetics. The story explores courage and the guts to triumph over adversity and to find and tell the truth, for the sake of family. It is a transportive tale that reminds us that the love and acceptance of one’s family, whatever form that family takes, is the true gift.”

Tania Farrelly, Author of THE EIGHTH WONDER and WAR OF HEARTS