The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker

Publisher: Other Press

Publish Date: January 31, 2012

Format: download library

Pages: 325

ISBN: - 

A poignant and inspirational love story set in Burma, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats spans the decades between the 1950s and the present.  When a successful New York lawyer suddenly disappears without a trace, neither his wife nor his daughter Julia has any idea where he might be…until they find a love letter he wrote many years ago, to a Burmese woman they have never heard of.  Intent on solving the mystery and coming to terms with her father’s past, Julia decided to travel to the village where the woman lived. There she uncovers a tale of unimaginable hardship, resilience, and passion that will reaffirm the reader’s belief in the power of love to move mountains.

My Thoughts:

This one was tough for me.  Did I like it? Yes.  Did I hate it? No.  But I didn't love it.  I felt that the description of the novel was a bit deceiving.  Reading the synopsis made me think it was more of a mystery and that Julia sets out to find what happened to her father.  Yes, she does set out to Burma to find out the truth, but she then finds a local, U Ba and he starts telling her the story of her father.  It was mostly just about his love story with Mi Mi that he is recalling.  Right at the very end U Ba was all, oh by the way this is what happened to your father.  It was very much a love story first and foremost.  Now as for a realistic love story...no way.  Very much a fairy tale.  Only in your wildest dreams does love like that exist.

Overall the story was beautifully told, and the writing was wonderful and flowed together very well.  This was a tough one to rate as it had highs and lows. 

This was a Book Club pick collectively chosen by the group.

My Rating: «««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.