Map of the Heart: A Novel
Map of the Heart: A Novel book cover

Map of the Heart: A Novel

Hardcover – Box set, August 22, 2017

Price
$17.99
Format
Hardcover
Pages
368
Publisher
William Morrow
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0062425485
Dimensions
6 x 1.22 x 9 inches
Weight
1.14 pounds

Description

“A sweeping story that spans generations and continents. No one knows a woman’s heart like Susan Wiggs.” — Mary Alice Monroe “Wiggsxa0bridges eras of history and the depths of the human heart in this emotional story of a family shaped by tragedies both near and distant.” — Publishers Weekly “Wiggs seamlessly weaves a multigenerational story that will make you laugh, make you cry and leave you with a sigh of satisfaction as you turn the final page.” — BookPage.com “The characters are warm and human, with the mysteries adding just enough spice.” — Library Journal Praise for Map of the Heart : “A moving, sophisticated story of fathers and daughters, love and loss, secrets and lies, rebellion and redemption.” — Jane Green “Wiggs handles characters, setting, and plot with perfect aplomb while creating an unforgettable story about love, loss, family, and friendship that will resonate with readers long after they have turned the last page of this exquisitely crafted story.” — Booklist (starred review) Love and family. War and secrets. Betrayal and redemption. #1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs returns with a deeply emotional and atmospheric story that spans oceans and decades, from the present-day Delaware shore to the battlefields of World War II France. Widowed by an unspeakable tragedy, Camille Adams has made her peace with the past and settled into the quiet safety of life with her teenage daughter, Julie, in a sleepy coastal town. Then the arrival of a mysterious package breaks open the door to her family’s secret past. In uncovering a hidden history, she has no idea that she’s embarking on an adventure that will utterly transform her. Camille, Julie, and Camille’s father return to the French town of his youth, sparking unexpected memories—recollections that will lead them back to the dark days ofxa0 World War II. And it is in the stunning Provençal countryside that they will uncover their family’s surprising history. While Provence offers answers about the past, it also holds the key to Camille’s future. Along the way, she meets a former naval officer who stirs a passion deep within her—a feeling that she thought she’d never experience again. “Susan Wiggs seamlessly melds historical drama with contemporary romance,” raves Mary Kay Andrews. Now this hugely popular author has created her biggest, most powerful story yet—a beautiful and heartfelt novel that celebrates the bonds of family and pays homage to the sacrifices of the past. Susan Wiggs's life is all about family, friends…and fiction. She lives at the water's edge on an island in Puget Sound, and in good weather, she commutes to her writers' group in a 21-foot motorboat. She’s been featured in the national media, including NPR, PRI, and USA Today , has given programs for the US Embassies in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, and is a popular speaker locally, nationally, internationally, and on the high seas. From the very start, her writings have illuminated the everyday dramas of ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances. Her books celebrate the power of love, the timeless bonds of family and the fascinating nuances of human nature. Today, she is an international best-selling, award-winning author, with millions of copies of her books in print in numerous countries and languages. According to Publishers Weekly , Wiggs writes with "refreshingly honest emotion," and the Salem Statesman Journal adds that she is "one of our best observers of stories of the heart [who] knows how to capture emotion on virtually every page of every book." Booklist characterizes her books as "real and true and unforgettable." Her novels have appeared in the #1 spot on the New York Times Bestseller List, and have captured readers’ hearts around the globe with translations into more than 20 languages and 30 countries. She is a three-time winner of the RITA Award,. Her recent novel, The Apple Orchard , is currently being made into a film, and The Lakeshore Chronicles has been optioned for adaptation into a series. The author is a former teacher, a Harvard graduate, an avid hiker, an amateur photographer, a good skier and terrible golfer, yet her favorite form of exercise is curling up with a good book. She lives on an island in Puget Sound, where she divides her time between sleeping and waking. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • ”From World War II to present-day America; from the Nazi resistance to the 21st century; from the deepest corners of the heart to the furthest limits of love —
  • Map of the Heart
  • is a moving, sophisticated story of fathers and daughters, love and loss, secrets and lies, rebellion and redemption.”   —
  • Jane Green
  • #1
  • New York Times
  • bestselling author Susan Wiggs returns with a deeply emotional and atmospheric story that spans oceans and decades, from the present-day Delaware shore to the battlefields of WWII France
  • .
  • Widowed by an unspeakable tragedy, Camille Palmer has made her peace with the past and settled into the quiet safety of life with her teenage daughter Julie in a sleepy coastal town. Then the arrival of a mysterious package breaks open the door to her family’s secret past. In uncovering a hidden history, Camille has no idea that she’s embarking on an adventure that will utterly transform her.
  • Camille, Julie, and Camille’s father return to the French town of his youth, sparking  unexpected memories — recollections that will lead them back to the dark days of the Second World War. And it is in the stunning Provençal countryside that they will uncover their family’s surprising history.
  • While Provence offers answers about the past, it also holds the key to Camille’s future. Along the way, she meets a former naval officer who stirs a passion deep within her — a feeling that she thought she’d never experience again.
  • “Susan Wiggs seamlessly melds historical drama with contemporary romance,” raves Mary Kay Andrews.
  • Now, this hugely popular author has created her biggest, most powerful story yet — a beautiful and heartfelt novel that celebrates the bonds of family and pays homage to the sacrifices of the past.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(2.4K)
★★★★
25%
(999)
★★★
15%
(599)
★★
7%
(280)
-7%
(-280)

Most Helpful Reviews

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This book touched my heart!

You know when you finish a book and just want to savor it? That’s how I felt about Map of the Heart. Told from differing points of view and at different times, I couldn’t put it down.

Camille, after losing her husband, seems to have lost her spirit. She spends most of her time in her dark room, developing photos that, without her talent, might never be seen. Her daughter, Julie, is battling being 14, overweight, with braces and glasses, and being bullied. An accident causes Camille to ruin some film for a client. Finn is not happy with Camille on one hand, but is intrigued with her on the other. Finn is a history professor, living in the South of France

Camille’s father, Henri, an orphan almost from the day he was born, plans a trip to his boyhood home in the South of France after receipt of a bundle of photos and a camera, from the tenants living in his boyhood home.

Flash back to WWII and a girl, Lizette, Henri’s mother, who gives up her ‘freedom’ by marrying, to protect her loved ones, lives through horrific times during the German occupation of France, then finds love for a time.

I’m still in awe of how deftly Ms. Wiggs handled the switch from present day to WWII. Learning about Lizette and how she had to handle her family, her marriage, and the occupation, was eye opening. Each time the book went from 2017 to 1944, felt right.

Map of the Heart, discussed bullying, adolescent angst, death of a loved one, family relationships, and so much more. I still feel emotional about this story almost a week after finishing. It touched me.
20 people found this helpful
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Think Twice

I would not have put the hours into reading it, let alone buying it, if it didn't come in my monthly reader box.
This book for the most part was boring, dragged, and it took until almost the end to find out how Camille's husband die. Really!?! Reading about the Natzi's and the war was extremely tedious.
And then, finally...the book stops dragging and becoming more interesting after I have already read two-thirds of the book.
5 people found this helpful
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I love the characters and it doesn't get any better than that

Meribeth Meixner Reed, PhD
20 August 2017

Wiggs, Susan. (2017). Map of the Heart. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

This exciting new work of fiction was so enjoyable I quickly ordered additional copies. Susan Wiggs chronicles individual and family journeys, leading to a love story bolstered by older love stories. It is also a tale of intrigue, unmasking unlikely ancestors from two generations past. Many key characters have a secret, and each avoids revealing the truth, sacrificing personal happiness for sorrow.

Map of the Heart is a complex account that explores many dimensions of discovery and revelation: Discovering old film and developing it meticulously to reveal photographs; discovering photographs and revealing the moments captured; discovering new relationships and mending old ones; and discovering one's ancestors, revealing the rich heritage they bequeathed.

Camille's story begins on a day filled with trauma and joy, a pivotal event in her life and her daughter Julie's. The detailed description of that day fills the first four chapters, establishing a platform for glimpses back into the past and a springboard for events to follow. Many threads are woven through the narrative, such as the interaction of light and dark to create visual images, including photographs. Note how often those terms are used. Another thread is the evolution of photography and imagery interpretation. Camille's passion and avocation (not hobby!) combines these threads, bringing to life the images captured on found film, often half a century or older. She loves "opening forgotten time capsules with a single act of light." (p.4)

This unique expertise brings together Camille and Finn, an historian who specializes in identifying deceased combatants and who teaches historical inquiry, methods of discovery and interpretation of findings from the past. There is great symmetry in Camille and Finn's different perspectives on congruent areas of interest and mastery.

The hard-cover edition is 345 pages, with endpapers featuring maps of the Delmarva Peninsula (Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia) and southern France. The author's blog provides an illustrated description of designing the book cover art, which is fun to follow. The narrative is divided into seven parts, by geographic location, internally by time period. Two time periods establish the settings for current and past events. The contemporary love story begins in Bethany Bay, Delaware, incorporating today's technologies. But the antecedent love story -- an origin story -- takes place in occupied Provence during World War II, 1941-1945, when the French resistance worked tirelessly against German and Italian forces, despite the hardship of stolen and destroyed resources.

Our history and heritage are our cultural DNA, intrinsic to our identity, so discovering our ancestors changes the way we think about ourselves. While such observations are clear in life, former educator Wiggs realistically chronicles the same growth and development of individuals and families in the story. Her meticulous research rewards readers with many areas of new knowledge.

It was my pleasure to attend the book launch at The Inn at Port Ludlow, Washington, where we imagined an evening in Provence. This delightful, intimate event was complete with dinner and scented by stalks of lavender, reflecting the cover art. Wiggs is approachable, warm, and totally charming. Her speaking and writing style are articulate and witty, and her descriptions are so clear I could picture myself in the settings.

As a reader, I grew to love the characters, and it doesn't get any better than that. Each individual's dialogue is distinctive and true, so there is no confusing characters from the contemporary Delaware shore with those from the southern France countryside during the war-torn 1940s. As hidden truths are exposed to light and reunions replace broken relationships, I visualized concentric hearts in their family trees. Camille's father Henry (Henri) provides an exquisite précis of their family's journey toward discovery and revelation that efficiently summarizes their story: "Life as it reveals itself is filled with riches." (p.337) Enjoy the riches!
5 people found this helpful
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Poor me, so hard to resist an adorable, incredibly handsome man and a gay character that comes out.. Enough already!

Predictable
3 people found this helpful
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Best book by an already stellar writer

I love all of Susan Wiggs' books, but this one may very well be her best yet. I was pulled into the story right away, the characters tugged at my heart, and the past/present switches worked incredibly well (and such things rarely do). I want to meet these people and go to all the places in the book, and I was so sorry to reach the end. For me, that marks a stellar book. Well done indeed. I'm tempted to start at the beginning all over again.
2 people found this helpful
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Good Read

Loved reading this book. Now I have loaned it to a friend who is enjoying it as much as I did.
1 people found this helpful
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Great Read!

Loved the look. Loved the characters.
1 people found this helpful
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Map of the Heart

First I didn't buy this book on Amazon, bought it at Costco. It's the first book I have read by Susan Wiggs. I bought it because of the past and present format. I enjoyed this book very much. Maybe I will look on Amazon for another of her books.
1 people found this helpful
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Loved it.

Slow start, but it got really good.
1 people found this helpful
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Susan Wiggs books have substance!

It's been about ten years since I first discovered Susan Wiggs. I told my husband that the difference between her work and that of most of my other authors was that hers had SUBSTANCE! I was reminded of that when I read Map of the Heart, because it does, indeed, have plenty of substance. I liked how well-defined each character was and, especially, enjoyed all of the French dialogue, as well as the history. What a fun way to learn!
1 people found this helpful