June 30th, 2025
Home | Log in!

On Top Shelf
BLOOD MOONBLOOD MOON
Fresh Pick
THE DEATH MASK
THE DEATH MASK

New Books This Week

Reader Games

Reviewer Application


Sunshine, secrets, and swoon-worthy stories—June's featured reads are your perfect summer escape.

Slideshow image


Since your web browser does not support JavaScript, here is a non-JavaScript version of the image slideshow:

slideshow image
He doesn�t need a woman in his life; she knows he can�t live without her.


slideshow image
A promise rekindled. A secret revealed. A second chance at the family they never had.


slideshow image
A cowboy with a second chance. A waitress with a hidden gift. And a small town where love paints a brand-new beginning.


slideshow image
She�s racing for a prize. He�s dodging romance. Together, they might just cross the finish line to love.


slideshow image
She steals from the mob for justice. He�s the FBI agent who could take her down�or fall for her instead.


slideshow image

He�s her only protection. She�s carrying his child. Together, they must outwit a killer before time runs out.


A Secret Gift
Ted Gup

How One Man\'s Kindness--and a Trove of Letters--Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression

Penguin
November 2010
On Sale: October 26, 2010
384 pages
ISBN: 1594202702
EAN: 9781594202704
Hardcover
Add to Wish List

Non-Fiction

An inspiring account of America at its worst-and Americans at their best-woven from the stories of Depression-era families who were helped by gifts from the author's generous and secretive grandfather.

Shortly before Christmas 1933 in Depression-scarred Canton, Ohio, a small newspaper ad offered $10, no strings attached, to 75 families in distress. Interested readers were asked to submit letters describing their hardships to a benefactor calling himself Mr. B. Virdot. The author's grandfather Sam Stone was inspired to place this ad and assist his fellow Cantonians as they prepared for the cruelest Christmas most of them would ever witness.

Moved by the tales of suffering and expressions of hope contained in the letters, which he discovered in a suitcase 75 years later, Ted Gup initially set out to unveil the lives behind them, searching for records and relatives all over the country who could help him flesh out the family sagas hinted at in those letters. From these sources, Gup has re-created the impact that Mr B. Virdot's gift had on each family. Many people yearned for bread, coal, or other necessities, but many others received money from B. Virdot for more fanciful items-a toy horse, say, or a set of encyclopedias. As Gup's investigations revealed, all these things had the power to turn people's lives around- even to save them.

But as he uncovered the suffering and triumphs of dozens of strangers, Gup also learned that Sam Stone was far more complex than the lovable- retiree persona he'd always shown his grandson. Gup unearths deeply buried details about Sam's life-from his impoverished, abusive upbringing to felonious efforts to hide his immigrant origins from U.S. officials-that help explain why he felt such a strong affinity to strangers in need. Drawing on his unique find and his award-winning reportorial gifts, Ted Gup solves a singular family mystery even while he pulls away the veil of eight decades that separate us from the hardships that united America during the Depression. In A Secret Gift, he weaves these revelations seamlessly into a tapestry of Depression-era America, which will fascinate and inspire in equal measure.

Comments

No comments posted.

Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!

© 2003-2025 off-the-edge.net  all rights reserved Privacy Policy