Heartwood (A Read with Jenna Pick): A Novel
Heartwood is a “gem of a thousand facets—suspenseful, transporting, tender, and ultimately soul-mending,” (Megan Majumdar, New York Times bestselling author of A Burning) that tells the story of a lost hiker’s odyssey and is a moving rendering of each character’s interior journey. The mystery inspires larger questions about the many ways in which we get lost, and how we are found. At its core, Heartwood is a redemptive novel, written with both enormous literary ambition and love.
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Community Reviews
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.
This is a very slow burn about a hiker who goes missing on the Appalachian Trail. The AT is a 2200-mile trail in the Eastern US that can take 5-7 months to complete if you hike through. What starts off as a hiker's dream becomes a hiker's nightmare. Valerie Gillis decided to hike this trail solo, goes by the trail name Sparrow. Santo becomes her hiking partner for a good chunk of the trail. The story is told from multiple POV's; Valerie, Beverely, a Maine state game warden in charge of conducting the search and Lena, a 76 year old woman who gets caught up in the search efforts from her retirement home. Valerie's POV is journal entries to her mom (I actually liked these). Bev is a strong female character in a mostly male dominated field. Lena's character seems baffling; how is this 76 year old going to actually help? While I did enjoy the interviews with Santo, they did just seem to provide a male suspect for the case; as did the husband. The three women's stories didn't always seem to weave together to make one thrilling story. It just felt ho-hum. The ending had me saying: oh, ok.
I don't always like to read books by Jenna (or whoever) because it is so subjective. But plenty of people did really like this book so maybe it just wasn't for me.
I don't always like to read books by Jenna (or whoever) because it is so subjective. But plenty of people did really like this book so maybe it just wasn't for me.
We all loved this! We have read many books about people hiking the AT or adjacent to it, and Maine-related, as well.
A story about a woman who gets lost hiking the AT. It takes place in the northern section of the AT in Maine. At times, I really enjoyed the book, and other times I just wasn't connecting with the storyline.
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