Heartwood

By: Amity Gaige

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

“A riveting wilderness suspense novel by a novelist at the height of her powers” (Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Candy House), Heartwood takes you on a gripping journey as a search and rescue team race against time when 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 a redemptive novel, written with both enormous literary ambition and love.

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

Lost on th Appalachian Trail

I liked that there were many important characters read by different voices. The different personalities were well defined. The story kept my attention throughout.

Enjoyed the characters.

I really enjoyed the story and narration, Well written with good and interesting character development.

Mothers & Daughters in Nature.

A beautiful heartfelt book. I will never forget the characters. I look forward to more books to read from this author,

Beautifully written!

I loved all the various characters and their views of what was happening. Got a real kick out of the lost hiker's trail mate.

!

I loved this story and the diversity of characters and their interwoven paths. Beautifully written and uplifting!
The voice actors were exceptional!

Lost in the Woods

Really well written and appropriately paced story of a missing hiker on the Applachian Trail and the 2 woman who found her. Thoroughly enjoyed and recommend

Realism

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

Hard to follow the characters

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

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.