View audiobook of Heartwood (A Read with Jenna Pick) by Amity Gaige

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Heartwood (A Read with Jenna Pick)

by Amity Gaige

Length 8 hours 45 minutes

Language English

Narrators Justine Lupe, Alma Cuervo, Rebecca Lowman, Ali Andre Ali, Cary Hite & Helen Laser

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Bookseller recommendation

“Just so good. A mix of Wild & The God of the Woods. Loved the steady discovery of what happened and the character development. Loved the narration — it’s a full cast of characters & they nailed the characters’ personas. ”
— Brooke • Bike Trail Books

Bookseller recommendation

“This is a perfect summer audio listen - an atmospheric mystery, with elements of suspense PLUS affairs of the heart. The story surrounds the disappearance of a woman hiking the Appalachian Trail - I found myself listening everywhere, and found the end surprising (always good)! ”
— Kirsten • The End Bookstore

Bookseller recommendation

“Valerie goes missing on the Appalachian Trail. I enjoyed the mystery and the tension built as the story unfolded through Valerie, the investigator, and others. The author explored how one person’s story affects so many lives. ”
— Samantha • Raven Book Store

Bookseller recommendation

“Absolutely wonderful! I was wary at first because… does the world really need another missing woman mystery? But yes, it turns out, yes it does! And this book is so much more besides! A thoughtful, heart-swelling, nature-themed, thriller-ish story packed with relatable characters and page-turning suspense. Highly recommend! ”
— Krissy • The Homer Bookstore

Bookseller recommendation

“It has been a long time since I read a book as unique, compelling, and wholly relatable as Heartwood. The wilderness thriller takes readers on a desperate search for Valerie Gillis, lost in the deepest parts of Maine during the final 200 miles of her traversal of the Appalachian trail. The story of her search is interspersed with Valerie's journal entries, writing love letters to her mother as the struggles to keep herself, and her hope, alive. Amity Gaige's ability to capture the great and terrible beauty of the Appalachian wilderness alongside the deep complexity of humanity's struggles with identity and relationships come together in a lyrical, riveting tale of longing, loss, and the lengths we will go to get ourselves to the other side. ”
— Jennifer • Through the Fold

Bookseller recommendation

“While a little slow and it could use some editing around some of the secondary characters, it’s a moving story and some terrific prose. ”
— Madeline • The Living Room Bookstore & Cafe

Bookseller recommendation

“The woods can change things—for the better and the worse. Amity Gaige delivers stunning multi-narrative prose in her latest novel, Heartwood, the story of a woman who goes missing while hiking the Appalachian Trail—and the women who fight to find her. I quite literally could not put this book down. It felt like being glued to a captivating story while simultaneously solving a puzzle, in the best way possible.”
— Abby • Andover Bookstore

Bookseller recommendation

“This book caused me anxiety. I laughed and I cried. It took my breath away at times. All the things a great book does. It is a beautiful story. ”
— Christi • Red Fern Booksellers

Bookseller recommendation

“For fans of God of the Woods, comes a suspenseful, character-driven drama centered on a missing hiker along the Appalachian Trail. Told from the point of view of the lost hiker, the search and rescue captain, and a supporting cast of friends and family, Gage slowly peels back the layers of each character that foretell the motivations, fears and ambitions behind their relentless search, both real and deep within. ”
— Casey • Bookshop Santa Cruz

Bookseller recommendation

“Mystery, alternating perspectives, and nature. This was a great spring read. I was dying to know what would happen ay the end. ”
— Katie • The Book Market FXBG

Bookseller recommendation

“A page turner that has you questioning the fate of the main character until the very end.”
— Patti • Belleville Books

Bookseller recommendation

“Wholly captivating and richly layered, Heartwood follows a missing hiker, a determined game warden, and a retired birdwatcher turned sleuth. A heartfelt story with a thriller twist, it explores motherhood, resilience, and the call of the wild.”
— Erica • Author's Note

Summary
About the author

#18 in Bestselling Mystery & Thriller Audiobooks

A 2026 Audie Award Finalist for Ensemble Performance “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 a woman mysteriously disappears on the Appalachian Trail.Deep in the Maine woods, an experienced 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,” (Megha 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.

Fiction Mystery & Thriller Fiction - Literary

Heartwood is Amity Gaige’s fifth novel. It was selected by Jenna Bush Hager as a Read with Jenna pick for April 2025 and became an instant national bestseller. Amity is the author of four previous novels, O My Darling, The Folded World, Schroder, and Sea Wife. Sea Wife was a 2020 New York Times Notable Book and a finalist for the Mark Twain American Voice Award. Schroder was also a New York Times Notable Book and a best book of 2013 according to The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, among others, and was shortlisted for UK’s Folio Prize in 2014. In 2018, Amity was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Fiction. She lives in West Hartford, Connecticut, with her family and teaches creative writing at Yale.