Description

By (author) Gaige Amity

Short /annotation:
HEARTWOOD is an enthralling literary mystery about a hiker lost in the woods, and the indomitable women who set out to find her, perfect for fans of Rebecca Makkai, Maggie Shipstead and Shelley Read

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”An unforgettable treat” JANICE HALLETT

”Beautifully written . . . moving and suspenseful” TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

”Gripping . . . each strand adds tension and drama” GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

”One of my favourite recent reads” BARBARA KINGSOLVER, GUARDIAN

In the heart of the Maine woods, an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis,who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping.

At the centre of the search is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who managing the search on the ground. While Beverly is searching, Lena, a seventy-six-year-old birdwatcher in a retirement community, becomes an unexpected armchair detective. Roving between these compelling narratives, a puzzle emerges, intensifying the frantic search, as Valerie”s disappearance may not be accidental.

”Fast-paced and full of grace . . . a memorable meditation on the forms of care” SARAH MOSS

”A powerful
story of being lost in the wilderness” SAINSBURY”S MAGAZINE

”An absolute must-read” ELIN HILDEBRAND

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One of my favourite recent reads is Heartwood .
. . Through its unique structure and beautiful writing,
it pulls off the impossible trick of being both meditative and suspenseful

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Both a
gripping story and a flawlessly integrated feat of research . . .
beautifully written . . .
moving and suspenseful

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Gripping . . . uses its isolated setting to great effect . . . each strand adds
tension and drama

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Gaige is at her
considerable best when exploring the impact of Valerie”s disappearance on others and the range of emotions it prompts among those who are metaphorically, rather than literally, lost

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This is
impossible to put down . . .
tense and dramatic

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A
powerful story of being lost in the wilderness

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A
terrifically moving and tense thriller . . .
genius

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[T]he
best thriller of 2025 . . .
a knock-out of a book

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A novelistic cousin to Strayed”s best-selling 2012 memoir of tackling the Pacific Crest Trail after her mother”s death, it”s the story of three woodsy women each lost in her own wilderness, and the gnarled roots between mothers and daughters . . . Heartwood
absorbs the reader

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Gaige”s ability to introduce suspense and build it continuously, page after page, is astonishing . . .
[a] complex, thrilling work

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Unputdownable

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A
crackling adventure story, a meditation on the fraught human connection to nature, and a subtle examination of the rocky relationships between mothers and daughters that shape the lives of its women characters, t
he novel tightens its grip as it moves toward uncovering its central mysteries

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A
winning portrait of a woman, and community, in peril

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Multifaceted characters and poetic prose enhance Gaige”s tender med