A beautiful model, recovering from illness, offers her lover the gift of truth. A television actress, imprisoned in the character she plays, is handed back her personal identity. A career woman, wondering whether she has made the right choices, is given reassurance. A single parent learns that sometimes it is kinder to receive than to give. And before a surgeon changes into his Santa Claus costume on Christmas Day, he gives two small boys the greatest gift of all: their mother's life.

Not everyone receives exactly what was hoped for, and many of the stories in Anne Melville's new collection contain a hint of tragedy. But sometimes the most unexpected offering can bring a smile -- or even change a life, as the recipient discovers with surprise that it was after all 'just what I wanted'.