Heartwood

By Amity Gaige
** Publication Date 1 April 2025 **
​4.75 stars

I love how this book is written from three distinct points of view. Two of them are so clearly connected. The third doesn’t reveal itself until much later. While it is a story of the Appalachian Trail and those who undertake it, it is also a story of finding yourself out there in the wilderness and realizing what ultimately makes you happy.


Sparrow is trying to do a flip flop on the AT. Starting in Harper’s Ferry, hiking to Maine, then ferrying back to Harper’s Ferry and continuing the rest of the trail south from there. Her ‘treasure’ spouse is the one doing all the driving. Meeting her at checkpoints. Taking her to hotels for a break. Restaurants for real food. Until Sparrow misses a checkpoint. 


Lena is the elderly scientist and forager, living in a retirement to death community. She has one real friend in the facility and mostly lives online talking to her Reddit buddy. They’ve never met, but she thinks him to be the master forager and outdoorsman that he portrays on the message boards. They have a private message conversation that goes back and forth for quite a while. Lena is lonely. She doesn’t think herself lonely, but estranged from her daughter, she truly has no one but the stranger online, and Warren, her community friend who goes foraging with her.


As a Maine Warden, Bev protects the massive outdoor lands of Maine. Search and rescue have been her forté, But that’s not all she does. She gives tickets, fines, and even breaks up domestic disputes in town if needed. When the call comes in that Sparrow has missed a check-in, Bev does what Bev does best. But when days pass and the mystery of Sparrow’s disappearance deepens, Bev wonders if her luck has run out. Will they ever find Sparrow?


As someone who loves the mountains, I would never dream of trying to through hike either the Pacific Crest or Appalachian Trail. I applaud those who do.  I love to read novels like this that immerse me in their worlds, but don’t require any muddy boots or hunger. Gaige has done such an amazing job of not only making the Trail a character in the story, but writing such deep characters. I fell in love with them all. 


Strongly recommend!!! If you loved Wild, you will love Heartwood.