{"id":1178,"date":"2026-09-05T06:53:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T11:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/?p=1178"},"modified":"2026-08-30T16:55:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T21:55:07","slug":"heartwood-book-review-an-engaging-tale-of-survival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/?p=1178","title":{"rendered":"Heartwood Book Review: An Engaging Tale of Survival"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
INFORMATION ABOUT THIS BOOK<\/strong>
Publisher \u200f : \u200e Simon & Schuster
Publication date \u200f : \u200e April 2025
Format:  Hardcover, Paperback, audiobook, and ebook
Print length \u200f : \u200e 320 pages
Genre:   Fiction<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
WHY AND HOW I GOT THIS BOOK<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I have been consistently listening to or watching book reviews, including this book. I had it on hold in Libby for months, and finally this month I was able to borrow it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
MY PERSONAL OPINION OF “HEARTWOOD”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. I could see how this book had so much following last year and was on the best books of the year for several book journalists, book reviewers, and readers in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story is based on the search and rescue of Valerie Gillis, an amateur hiker who is doing the Appalachian Trail Hike on her own, under the name of “Sparrow”. After not showing up to her meet-up with her husband, he reported her missing, and what follows is the main story of the book, narrated from three different people: Valerie Gillis as she journals while been lost and loosing hope of being found, by Lt. Bev. the Main State Game Warden in charge of her search and rescue mission, and Lena, an elderly woman living at a retirement home holding the key to Valerie’s rescue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I enjoyed each one of the three characters, and the pace of the book was fast and kept me engaged through the reading. The ending was beautifully written, giving a kind ending to each of the storylines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can see why this was a hit last year, although I don’t think this was on my list of the best books of the year; I am truly happy I waited and read it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PREMISE OF THE BOOK AS FOUND IN AMAZON \/ GOODREADS:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s disappearance may not be accidental.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
MY RATING: 4.25<\/h2>\n\n\n
\u2b50<\/span>\u2b50<\/span>\u2b50<\/span>\u2b50<\/span>\u2b50<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>Rating: 4.5 out of 5.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
“All emotions start out as love. Later, that love is worked on by the forces of luck and suffering. Hate is just soured love. Fear is wounded love. Longing is homeless love. Love, not pain, is the mother. Love is the taproot.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Lena knew that without books there was nothing but time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo woman is a star. No woman is a god or a tree or a magician. But for a while, in your arms, the universe was the right size, and I knew where I was.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  AMITY GAIGE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Bibliography:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Sea Wife: a Novel<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Schroder: a Novel<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Oh My Darling: a Novel<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The Folded World<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    INFORMATION ABOUT THIS BOOKPublisher \u200f : \u200e Simon & SchusterPublication date \u200f : \u200e April 2025Format: Hardcover, Paperback, audiobook, and ebookPrint length \u200f : \u200e 320 pagesGenre: Fiction WHY AND HOW I GOT THIS BOOK I have been consistently listening to or watching book reviews, including this book. I had it on hold in Libby […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28057717,"featured_media":1179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3328],"tags":[791128907,7215,178,1747,791128906,1473],"class_list":["post-1178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-reviews","tag-amity-gaige","tag-book-reviews","tag-books","tag-fiction","tag-heartwood","tag-reading"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pf3Dc1-j0","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/friendlybookshelf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/heartwood.jpg?fit=994%2C1500&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/28057717"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1178"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1183,"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions\/1183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}