Heartwood

By: Amity Gaige

Narrated by: Justine Lupe, Alma Cuervo, Rebecca Lowman, Ali Andre Ali, Cary Hite, Helen Laser

“The best thriller of 2025.” —The Boston Globe * “Genius.” —The Washington Post

“A literary thriller of the highest order” (Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Couple), Heartwood takes you on a gripping journey as a search and rescue team race against time after an experienced hiker mysteriously disappears on the Appalachian Trail in Maine.

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 heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground. Meanwhile, Lena, a seventy-six-year-old birdwatcher in a Connecticut 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.

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 an “unputdownable” (Real Simple) and redemptive novel, written with both enormous literary ambition and love.

©2025 Amity Gaige (P)2025 Simon & Schuster Audio

Realism

I felt as I was in the story. So well written. Performance was wonderful as well.

not a thriller, too many characters

First of all it is not a thriller. there were two or three fleeting moments that were slightly fast paced. Valerie's voice was the only one with beautiful prose. Otherwise, the writing was quite basic. It did not live up to it's reviews/hype. I was open to a slow burn but it wasn't even that. I was ready to put it down after 30% but I really held out hope that it would live up to these expectations. it didn't.

Just a lovely listen

Narration and story are wonderful, and the prose was thoughtful and rich. I hope this absolutely takes off for this wonderful author.

Will leave you wondering to the end.

This book was so so good I loved how we were hoping for the very best and you were left wondering until the very end how things would turn out and what happened. I loved the poem at the end because there is so much truth in it.

I liked the concept of quoting from a journal

Got confused with some of the extra characters. I like the comic relief and the mention of specific places I remember on the AT trail. I know the lemon squeezer. But I’m not sure that the lean to on west mountain that has a view of NYC Is on AT trail. I think it’s on another trail.

A page turner

The descriptive language was beautiful. I could smell, and feel the woods, streams and air. If you have ever hiked you know the feeling of glorious exhaustion.

Hard to follow the characters

Ok read. Hard to follow. Too many characters. Jumps around a lot. Not a recommend read.

Compelling, humane study of daughters and sons

This book was compelling, well-paced, and captured the wilderness and the characters beautifully. Good twists and suspense. Loved the multiple narrators.

I felt like a sparrow watching the forest

Riveting story and writing. Living in NH and a somewhat experienced hiker, I know the sick feeling of losing the trail markers and trying to resist bushwhacking back to the trail. Using different character’s POV made this story very compelling.

A nurse’s review

Well written, engaging story. As a nurse practitioner, I was impressed how well the author “ got nurses”. The mother-daughter relationships were honest and varied. Loved this book! liked the variety of hiker’s experiences highlighted in the book. It convinced that me that I will never be a through r hiker on the AT. I do want to hike there though