Heartwood

“Listen, no one hikes two thousand miles because they’re happy. Even the most cheerful or uncomplaining hikers aren’t “happy.” You’ve got to have a significant fire under you to slog through over two thousand miles of jagged rocks, rain, and snakes. You’ve got to have a deep, unshakable point to prove.” Heartwood is a moving and suspenseful story about Appalachian Trail hiker Sparrow who vanishes in the worst stretch of the AT—the dense Maine woods near the Hundred-Mile Wilderness. It is also a story about relationships, mostly those between children and their parents. Told from various points of view, this book brings Sparrow into focus as well as her mother and those who help with the search. Through Warden interviews with her hiking partner Santo, we learn much about Sparrow, life on the trail and, most endearing, about Santo and his difficult relationship with his father. “Me hiking the AT seemed like craziness to everyone around me, but it was just me trying to treat my own life as valuable.” Then there is Lena, a wheelchair-bound senior who initially thinks the lost hiker is her estranged daughter, connecting her to the case in a manner that forces her to explore her past. At the center of the search is Bev, the Maine State Game Warden, who has been in the business of finding lost people for thirty years, she says, and has a stellar record. As days seem to meld one into the other with thousands of acres covered and no sign of Sparrow, Bev contemplates her long career, the trail-blazing role as the first female Maine Game Warden, and the challenges she faced from male colleagues and her mother. This wonderful book will appeal to a wide audience from outdoor enthusiasts to bookclub groups. “I would press my hand against your chest so that I could feel the center of you—your heartwood, your innermost substance, like the core of a tree that keeps it standing.” —Sparrow writing to her Mother from somewhere in the Maine woods

This story pulled me in from the first page. Valerie Gillis, a nurse, decides to do the Appalachian Trail. Before she gets to the end, she dissappears in the woods of Maine. Valerie's journal entries, trail partner's interviews, as well as the perspective of the game warden, Lt Beverly Miller, make for interesting reading. It is a page turner.

Don’t be swayed by the zealous reviews. While I found the story compelling and the twist intriguing, the overall narrative felt lacking. At times, I found myself skimming rather than savoring the prose. The characters were relatively uninteresting—unsympathetic, uninspiring, and in some cases, underdeveloped. The suspension of disbelief required was higher than expected, and the character of Santos felt haltingly and awkwardly integrated into the storyline. What truly unsettled me, however, was learning that a significant portion of the plot closely mirrors a real-life tragedy. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to be the surviving husband or daughter of the nurse hiker who died of exposure on the Appalachian Trail. This raises ethical questions, and it reinforces a sense that the publishing industry often prioritizes profit over the depth and integrity of storytelling. I would not recommend this book to others—and I certainly wouldn't gift it.