Hearts

by Hilma Wolitzer

Book Overview

Linda and Robin Reismann barely know each other. The only thing that connects them is Linda's six-week-old marriage to Robin's father, who has suddenly died. Widowed at twenty-six, Linda is heading to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345487516
• ISBN13: 9780345487513
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 335 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

One of the best books I've read and reread

I read this book a few years back and just reread it. It has all the ingredients and emotions I feel are needed for a great story. I thoroughly enjoyed Wolitzer's writing and will probably read Hearts a third time. In the meantime, I'll look for some of her other titles.

enjoyable reading

I am not finished but wanted to let fellow readers know that this book is an enjoyable read.

the unexpected

I found some very interesting characters in this book.Their development was fascinating to me because I normally wouldn't choose to read about them.The pain underneath their exteriors rolls out in a very heart warming way. They appear to be disconnected yet the development of their relationships proves me wrong.The terrifying fear of abandonment is the underlying connector. This author reveals this in a funny,touching read. I won't forget how it developed and the journey they made to bring it about

Finding a Family Together

The premise of this novel begins with the death of one man, a husband to the newly remarried (six weeks) and father to a teenage daughter. Linda and Robin are left with each other and at odds with the world. They don't really know or like each other much. Of course you can guess what happens at the end, but it is the journey to that point that makes this book as good as it is. More than that, author Hilma Wolitzer has an uncanny ability to measure out the story with just the right touch of humor and pathos. Stepmom and daughter surprisingly agree on one thing: that they don't belong together! So a roadtrip begins designed to drop Robin off with other relatives. Along the way, the mother and daughter team have a few adventures and, ultimately, find their needs and dreams colliding. This is a wonderful book about being lost and having someone you least expect rescue you. It shows that true families are those made with the heart. I particularly enjoyed the miserable teenager (Robin) in this story; don't be surprised if you find glimpses of your own youthful ignorance and rightousness here. "Hearts" is an excellent read, although probably too girly for some male readers.

A seductive story of love, friendship and loss with all the right ingredients to engage you from the

A poignant tale of love and loss; two young women are stuck with each other, Linda 26 years old and just widowed and her stepdaughter Robin who is thirteen and as insufferable as every other teenager you may know. After Linda's husband dies of a hear attack, Linda is stuck amidst old things in an older house with 13 year old Robin who hardly talks to her. She decides to drive Robin to visit with her father's relatives in Iowa and to drop her with them and continue her journey towards sunny California of all places. All she has with her are some old paintings her husband painted, his ashes, and his teenage daughter who is a real pain in the butt. On their way to Iowa Linda discovers she is pregnant and decides to stop to get an abortion but the procedure is interrupted by pro-life protesters and the bombs thrown at the abortion clinic.... She doesn't even realize she is still with child as she carries on her journey towards change and freedom. Her stepdaughter Robin has other plans; she is looking to avenge her father's death and her mother's abandonment with a silver fork she steals from the relatives they meet up in the ranch in Iowa. They would never have welcomed her to stay and Linda takes her along on her journey this time to find Robin's mother. They meet Wolfie, the handsome hitchhiker on their way and Linda has a brief affair with him.... The journey is tiring but very rich in experiences and also in bringing these two young women closer than they will ever imagine. In the end you will be thrilled for both of them and will be wishing them the very best the world can bring because these two have more in common than they will ever admit and because love has begun to grow within each of them and is an unstoppable force that will keep them together in good and bad times. An inspiring novel inhabited by people one instantly believes in, and filled with honest, complex, resonant emotion..... full of nice surprises, that seem utterly natural, and it ends as perfectly as one could wish.