This novel revolves a woman named Valerie who goes missing on the Appalachian trail in Maine. It’s told from a variety of perspectives - Valerie herself; Bev, the warden leading the search; Lena, a wheelchair-bound woman in assisted living who becomes obsessed with the case online; transcripts of interviews, and more.

A terrific book that combines so much into its pages - it’s a literary mystery/thriller about what happened to Valerie and whether she’ll be rescued in time; a survival thriller; a nature book; a book about mothers and daughters and their complicated relationships; a book about finding and losing yourself figuratively not just literally. And the writing is just fabulous. I couldn’t put it down. And I can see why Read With Jenna chose this, as there is so much to discuss - it would make for a great book club book.

4.5 stars

Excellent! A woman goes missing on the Appalachian Trail in Maine. A female warden, Bev, sets out to find her, with the help of a host of volunteers. Then the plot twists start.

This novel had beautifully drawn characters and a plot line that almost qualified it as a thriller. As the search finds nothing, the reader gets to hear from the lost woman herself. Little by little (and with a detour through a half crazy resident of an assisted living facility), we start to figure out what happened to Sparrow, the lost AT hiker.

The author of this novel used a wide variety of "documents" to tell this story: telephone interview transcripts, journals, newspaper stories - along with good old fashioned narratives. These short bits of information and varying viewpoints effectively told the story and whipped around the plot twists. Towards the end of the book, the author cut loose and let her gift of writing beautiful prose shine through.

Oh, and there was a lot deep reflection on mother/daughter relationships along the way.

Highly recommended for fans of contemporary literary fiction and for books clubs.

I loved this book and was surprised just how much I did. Told from different perspectives, this involves the disappearance of a hiker. Is she dead, just missing or leave on her own? You also get the nature writing, learn of the rangers who take care of it. I was sucked into the story.

4.5 ⭐️

I had high expectations for this book (Read with Jenna picks are some of my faves), and it did not disappoint! From the first chapter, I was pulled deep into the story, with its atmospheric setting, intriguing characters, and propulsive mystery.

The story follows 42-year-old Valerie, who has gone missing while hiking the Appalachian Trail. We learn about her journey through letters she writes to her mother while lost. The story is also told from the POVs of Beverly, the Maine State Game Warden leading the investigation into Valerie's disappearance, and Lena, a 76-year-old retiree who unexpectedly becomes an armchair detective. We also learn more about Valerie through various interviews, including fellow hikers.

I loved the alternating narratives and the mixed media format of this book. My heart was pounding as the search and rescue team was racing against the clock to find Valerie. As the pieces of the puzzle started falling into place, I was on the edge of my seat. I could not put this down and binged it in just a few sittings.

Gaige masterfully intertwines these narratives, delving deep into each character's psyche. Valerie's introspective letters to her mother reveal a woman grappling with guilt, love, and the desire for redemption. Beverly's chapters offer a gritty look into the challenges of search and rescue operations, while Lena's unexpected involvement adds a layer of intrigue and warmth.

Heartwood was fantastic read following the story of Valerie, a solo hiker on the Appalachian Trail. Valerie disappears and the story is told from multiple perspectives. The book reads in part like a thriller, but it has the beautiful writing and emotion I expect from literary fiction. There are themes of hope, self-discovery, and suspense. This would be a great book club read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC.

I loved this book! The interviews from other hikers and journal entries really added to the suspense of the story. This also had a strong sense of place which I love

Three main characters-all women!!
Valerie-a 42 year old nurse traumatized by covid who goes missing while hiking the Appalachia Trail.
Beverly-in charge of the search, single and dedicated to her hard -fought- for job, and Lena -far away living in a retirement community in Connecticut, whose role seems totally remote to the search until she ultimately provides the key clue.
We get multiple points of view throughout the read- about life, family problems, about being lost in the woods, hope , fear , and survival.
It is also a great insight into the life of a Maine game warden and all that the job entails.(most enjoyable part for me). A good read, a little slow at times, with the insights of the main characters( Val and Bev) the best.

Told from 3 points of view, this story of a missing hiker along the Appalachian Trail is a slow burn tale with a literary vibe. There’s Lieutenant Bev, the Maine Warden in charge of finding the hiker; Lena, a woman intrigued with wilderness who may provide the link they need; and Valerie, the missing hiker who was trying to find herself along the AT when others thought she couldn’t do it. It was just okay for me…although I wanted to love it. I think the emotional/literary/introspective vibe was too much of a sleeper for me.

A woman goes missing in Maine while hiking the Appalachian Trail. The book alternates between the searchers, the woman's journal, and other related characters keeping us on the edge of our seat to find out how it all comes together and if the woman will be found in time. Well done!

I had a hard time getting into this book. I was worried for Valerie and wanted to know what happened to her and interested in both Beverly and Lena's stories as well, but I wasn't grabbed by any of it.

A Search for more than a lost hiker. This novel brings you to the outdoors and makes you listen. It makes you listen to more than the birds and wind creaking through the trees, but also to your heart. Through multiple characters who are asking big questions of themselves you may begin to ask yourself questions. This novel is a beautiful journey of and I thank Amity Gaige for Heartwood.

I really enjoyed this book! I live close to the Appalachian Trail and have done short hikes on different parts of it, so the plot of a missing hiker really interested me. I liked that the story was told from three POVs. We got to see what Valerie, the lost hiker, was experiencing through the journal that she kept. We saw how the search was carried out through Game Warden, Bev, and then there was Lena, who helped by doing some armchair detective work! There were some parts to the story that I didn't expect, as well as some suspenseful moments. It was also fun that the book mentioned parts of the trail that I've been on, as well as some towns that are close to me!

This was almost a five-star read, but as much as I liked Lena's character, I felt that she slowed the story down. While she was important to the story, too much time and background was spent on her.

Three separate stories of women are brought together when one disappears on the Appalachian Trail. Valerie leaves the trail after a random encounter, Lt. Bev is trying to outrun time and the elements to find the lost hiker, and Lena who is compelled to help the search despite not being able to leave the retirement community in which she lives.

Gaige deftly weaves together the past, present, and possible futures of each woman. Each is damaged in their own way and looking for some type of redemption. This is a story of love, loss, and how deeply interconnected we all are.

I am not someone who enjoys camping whatsoever. I enjoy a light or intermediate hike and that’s about it. But when I read the synopsis for this book, I was intrigued. I have a small fascination with stories of missing hikers. It’s terrifying just how one small, wrong turn or mistake can lead to being lost. I wasn’t 100% sure this would be a book I could enjoy and I’m happy to say just how wrong I was. I was hooked from the first chapter and I couldn’t put it down. Lt. Bev was my favorite point of view in this multiple POV book. It’s best to go in not knowing much other than we have a lost hiker and time is counting down. The hype with this one is real. 4.5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

42 year old Valerie Gillis mysteriously disappears while hiking the Appalachian Trail in Maine. Beverly Miller is the Maine game warden leading the search and rescue team. 76 year old bird watcher Lena is an armchair detective providing key evidence in the disappearance. I loved the very unique circumstances surrounding her disappearance. What I didn’t like was the very slow and boring description of the 14 day search, which is the majority of the book. I also felt I wanted more to the ending of the story. For those reasons this is a mediocre read for me. I loved the letters that Valerie was writing to her mother during her disappearance.

Is it just me, or are the Appalachians really popular lately? Is it the lore in their woods, the vastness? I don't know, but this book is set on the Appalachian Trail in Maine. Valerie (trail name Sparrow) is 42, a nurse, married, and in a seemingly happy relationship, but she goes missing one day. The rest of the book is about the search in one way or another. There are many POVs, interviews, etc., to keep track of, and I can see where it would be easy to get lost. However, most perspectives give insight into what happened to Sparrow, especially Sparrow's. So our primary POV is the Warden Beverly, who is in charge of the search and rescue and has a 100% success rate, through the search of Sparrow Beverly begins to question herself and her priorities. Then we have an interview with a different Warden and Santo. Santo is another hiker who is part of Sparrow's found family, the trail family who walks with Sparrow and was on part of the journey with Sparrow before she disappeared. Honestly, Santos' story doesn't add much to the overall story. We do have some self-reflection and forgiveness in his story, which is the overall theme in this book. Other than that, Santo didn't add much to our plot; he was a good character, but not a plot-driven one. Then we have Lena, the 70-something-year-old woman in a nursing home, who decides she is going to help solve this case because the missing woman reminds her of her daughter, whom she is estranged from. Though Lena is important in the finding of Sparrow, her overall story doesn't add much to the plot. It focuses mainly on her mistakes as a mother, self-isolation, and yes self self-reflection and forgiveness. Other characters come in for one-off interviews or as part of the tip line, but aren't that important.

The story is engaging, and I couldn't put the book down. There were parts we didn't really need and other parts that weren't relevant. Though the story was a search and find of a missing person, the ultimate theme was a search and find of oneself.

Quick, easy read. I enjoy multi POV done well, like this.

I write haiku reviews on Instagram but am happy to provide more feedback, if requested.

Review: 3/5 Stars
Heartwood by Amity Gaige is a suspense novel about Valerie Gillis, a hiker who disappears on the Appalachian Trail in Maine. The story is told through multiple perspectives—Valerie’s scattered letters, Beverly the game warden leading the search, and Lena, an unlikely sleuth from a retirement community. As the search deepens, it becomes clear her disappearance may not be accidental.

I liked this book, but didn’t love it. It kept me just interested enough to keep going, though at times it felt like it dragged—kind of like the search for Valerie itself. The multiple storylines helped keep things moving, but they wrapped up so quickly at the end that I didn’t feel much closure. I didn’t really connect deeply with any of the characters by the time it was over.

Still, I liked Gaige’s writing and the overall concept. It just felt like it went on longer than it needed to, and I finished it feeling a little underwhelmed.

This "read in a day" book was just the thing I needed to get me out of a book slump. While searching for hiker 42 year old Valerie, we are taken through the lives of the many people who interacted with her prior to her disappearance. What I loved was that the author did a mix of interview style pieces, media updates, diary entries, tip line call-in's, and multiple POV's. Heartwood never felt like there was too much going on, but rather it flowed with mystery and intrigue.

I would categorize this novel as an environmental mystery with its haunting descriptions of the Appalachian trials and wooded landscape. We follow through the eyes of three women in different stages of their lives as they navigate this disappearance. It is on the slower end for being such a short novel, and I solved the mystery having all sides of the story earlier than the characters. At the end of the day, I really enjoyed her writing and had a great time escaping to this setting.

Throughout the story there are a few common themes: survival during in troubling times, mother/daughter relationships, and finding our happiness. Each of these is explored beautifully through each main female character.

This book was set in a post-COVID world, and the author does touch on this topic a lot. We see how isolation affected us when all we want is to be outdoors around people and what happens when we are in turn isolated again. It also tackles how a body slowly begins to shutdown when left without food or water. If either of these are triggers for you, I would proceed with caution. Gaige handles these issues with care, but they are a part of the story.

Finally, the audiobook was 10/10 would highly recommend. With all of the different formats of relaying information to the reader, there is a full cast audio and it is so well done!

Thank you to Simon Books for an advanced and free final copy of this book in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.