Valerie Gillis was hiking the Appalachian Trail when suddenly she disappeared somewhere in a dense forest in Maine. Beverly Miller is the park warden in charge of finding her. Told in alternating narratives of Beverly, Valerie and Lena, an elderly woman who takes an interest in Valerie’s disappearance, Heartwood is a mystery, a survival story and a depiction of three very different women who come to terms with their lives.

I really enjoyed Heartwood. I liked the three main characters, their distinct voices, and I appreciated what is involved in trying to find someone in the woods of Maine and what it takes to stay alive in the wilderness.