A powerful, provocative novel about marriage and motherhood, love and forgiveness.__
Tessa Russo is a stay-at-home mother of two young children and the wife of a renowned pediatric surgeon. Valerie Anderson is an attorney and single mother to six-year-old Charlie—a boy who has never known his father. Although both women live in the same Boston suburb, they are strangers to one another and have little in common, aside from a fierce love for their children. But one night, a tragic accident causes their lives to converge in ways no one could have imagined.
This is the moving, luminous story of good people caught in untenable circumstances. Each being tested in ways they never thought possible. Each questioning everything they once believed. And each ultimately discovering what truly matters most.
Amazon Exclusive: A Conversation Between Kristin Hannah and Emily Giffin
New York Times bestselling novels, including
New York Times bestselling author of eighteen novels, including
Kristin Hannah: Well, first, I have to say, Emily, that I am just the tiniest bit irritated with you. When I got the call to do this interview, I was thrilled, to say the least. It came at a really busy time for me--right after the holidays and we all know how crazy that is--and my work in progress was giving me fits. Then I picked up Heart of the Matter, and lost myself. No more writing, no more cooking, no getting my hair done or reading my email. Once I started the story I literally couldn't put it down. Brava, girlfriend, I say. Your characters are so real and compelling, and they always say exactly the right thing. With so much honest emotion, I just have to ask how much of your work comes from your own life?
Emily Giffin: It never fails to thrill me when someone responds to one of my novels--especially when it's another writer. Writers understand the alchemy involved in making up something from nothing. And I just finished your book, Night Road, and I found it so emotional, so moving, and so terrifying—especially since I have three young children who will someday be teenagers. In terms of how much does my work come from my own life, I would say that I'm absolutely inspired by people, places, conversations, relationships, and issues that I observe, and that the "what if" part of my novel is very much inspired by these things in my life. But the details of my plots and the specifics of my characters come from my own head. How about you, Kristin? I'll ask you the million-dollar question that every author gets asked: where do you get your ideas?
Kristin: Ah, the idea question. I don't want to sound coy, but the truth is, I don't quite know. It's the most magical part of the process for me. I'm a pretty analytical gal, and I approach writing in the same just-the-facts-ma'am way I approach most things. I need to find an issue that engages me on an intellectual level, and then I need to marry that curiosity with a kind of passion. I need to feel genuinely passionate about each story before I ever write a word, and I have to actually have something to say. It takes me at least a year to research and write a novel, and so I have to really adore each part of it—the characters, setting, story. Most of all, it has to make me feel something genuine. That's really the most important component. Usually it begins with a single "what if" question—what if you discovered your mother had a whole secret life about which you knew nothing (_Winter Garden_) or what if your husband were accused of a crime you believed he hadn't committed (_True Colors_)—and then I write and re-write until the characters seem as real to me as old friends.
Kristin: I'm amazed by how much we have in common. We're both moms, both lawyers, both lived in London for a time. You're like a younger, cooler version of me. How did you make the transition from lawyer to writer, and do you think you'll ever practice law again?
Emily: I would hardly say I'm cooler than you, Kristin! I hear you live in Hawaii part time! What is cooler than that? I made the transition from lawyer to writer because I was so miserable being a lawyer that I needed some escape from the day-to-day of it. And inventing stories was that escape. I can say, without hesitation, that I will never practice law again. Would you? What kind of law did you practice, and for how long? What did you find appealing (or discouraging) about law? Did you find that it gave you fodder for any of your novels?
Kristin: Honestly, I have met very few lawyers who don't say that what they really want to do is write. Like you, I can say with certainty that I will never practice law again. Not that anyone would want me to. But I still keep my Bar membership up…just in case this whole writing thing doesn't work out. And yes, in the past few years, I have finally begun to put some of that law school education to work for me. I find that I'm really enjoying adding legal issues to my work. Of course, I have to talk to real lawyers to make sure I'm getting it right...
Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1 edition (May 11, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780312554163
ISBN-13: 978-0312554163
ASIN: 0312554168
Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #25,924 in Books (
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70 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Both sides of the story., May 11, 2010
By
This review is from: Heart of the Matter (Hardcover)
I like Emily Giffin's newest book HEART OF THE MATTER because it explores something fundamental, basic and easy to understand about human nature, that we rarely if ever see ourselves as the villain when we tell the story of our lives. For every mistake we make, we can justify it by telling ourselves the reasons we did it. For every choice that we decide that affects other people, we know what led us to them. And when every small choice we make suddenly puts us square in the middle of some disaster and we're the "bad guy" in the situation, it's not like we didn't have good intentions at the start. And it's that sort of disaster that leads HEART OF THE MATTER's two narrators, Tessa and Valerie, to find themselves at odds with one another. And because each of them gets to tell their version of events to us, there's not really a villain in this story of injured children, gossipy private school moms, broken families and, more than anything, infidelity. Tessa and Val are just two women who've made mistakes and bad choices for very good reasons. And, under different circumstances, they'd probably be really close friends.
Tessa and Val's story begins with an accident. Valerie Anderson is a strong, determined, stubborn single mom to Charlie, a very sweet, sensitive little boy who's a student at a private school in Boston. She reluctantly allows Charlie to go to a friend's birthday party, even though she finds the parents involved to be rich and snotty. At the party, Charlie is seriously injured in a campfire and rushed to the hospital. Val beats herself up over these choices, not trusting her instincts, massively upset over her hurt little boy. Her twin brother Jason tries to comfort her. But no one is able to reassure her until her son's excellent, attractive pediatric plastic surgeon, Dr. Nick Russo, arrives and tells her that Charlie is a beautiful child and would continue to be. It's just what she needs to hear at a very tough time.
Nick, though, had to rush to the hospital from his seventh wedding anniversary dinner with Tessa, his loving, fun wife who's struggling to redefine her identity after she's given up her job as a professor to be a stay-at-home mom to her two little kids, Ruby and Frank. Tessa's mom advised her not to quit her job because she was afraid that Tessa might lose herself or become resentful of her frequently busy, often absent genius husband. Tessa feels inferior to all of the other private school moms around her, even her friend April, a cold perfectionist, and Romy, a rich woman who's panicked because the campfire accident that burned Charlie happened at her house.
So Tessa and Val are connected by community, by mutual acquaintances and now through Nick, whom they both come to care for and have issues with.
Giffin's writing style and the alternating points-of-view allow us to care about both women, building suspense as we wonder just how far their lives will become entwined and just how far the love triangle that eventually becomes central to the novel will go.
HEART OF THE MATTER is arguably Giffin's best book. Like her other novels, it's occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. But, in her fifth book, Giffin allows herself to explore the deeper, darker mistakes and the minutae that can harm well-meaning people trying to find themselves while coping with marriage.
HEART OF THE MATTER is deep and serious, occasionally incredibly sad and moving. She lets us get to know Tessa and Val and care for them in the way that her readers came to love her SOMETHING BORROWED/SOMETHING BLUE heroines Rachel and Darcy. And she mines new territory by criticizing the privileged, gossipy culture of moms that the two women live in.
HEART OF THE MATTER is occasionally as funny, tangled and bitterly insightful as Tom Perrotta's LITTLE CHILDREN, another great book that I found myself thinking of often as I read this. But the voice of HEART OF THE MATTER is distinctly Giffin's, and fans - in particular fans of SOMETHING BORROWED - will not be disappointed by HEART OF THE MATTER.
There is much to love in this new book.
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54 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Unexciting depiction of a somewhat-fresh adultery tale, May 15, 2010
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(
This review is from: Heart of the Matter (Hardcover)
Something Borrowed is my favorite modern novel. Period. I love how it shows a balanced, thoughtful, emotional account of infidelity, friendship, and the complexities of turning 30 with unrealized expectations...with flawed characters whose voices and backgrounds are varied and ring true.
It seems, though, that in each subsequent release, the narrators of Giffin's stories become more cookie-cutter, more self-absorbed, more whiny. In fact, the first few chapters of Heart of the Matter were boring...too much exposition, to much 'tell,' flashback, character descriptions. What happened to letting us know the characters by their behaviors and actions? Honestly, I was thrown back to Sweet Valley High when Jessica and Elizabeth's physical appearances, down to their aquamarine eyes, were described in detail around page 6 of Every. Single. Book.
Also: female novelists: PLEASE stop giving every mommy-protagonist a single BFF who is longing to have what the mommy has. Is it possible that some single women are happy with their lives? Is it possible some married mothers are best friends with... other married mothers? You don't need that cliche character in order to cultivate a random bar/hi-jinks plot excursion. Cate was unnecessary. Completely. (And don't get me started on Romy. People DO have layers...even rich, entitled ones).
That said, this story did get better as time went along, although I found the character Val, because of what she exposed her child to, to be not nearly as sympathetic as she should have been. I found Tessa to be fairly bland. I found the re-appearance of two of my favorite characters from Giffin's original storyline (I won't name and spoil it) to be very exciting at first...but also... a little vanilla.
I am worried that Giffin has shown us all her tricks, kind of like Danielle Steel did with her first 2 or 3 of 8 million novels. We have a lawyer...we have a competitiveness among well-to-do women...we have infidelity of some kind...we have a female character who basically has it all but is inexplicably unsatisfied over conditions she could change if she tried... oh, and we have twins. (It's not a bothersome recurring happenstance, but again, we get it. Giffin has twins...)
The relationship between Tessa's parents and the culmination of their past was my favorite moment in the book. I also appreciate that The Conflict was handled with sensitivity toward all parties involved. For once, though, I would appreciate a mommy story in which the mommies are not too busy trying to one-up each other and make their kids into organic-Stepford-moppets to actually support and advocate for one another. There was a great passage in the book in which Tessa describes all the things the mommies compare in each other... their husbands, their houses, their problems. What I loved most about the passage was that the things listed were all things I discuss with my mommy friends...in a NON-critical or competitive way.
Why is it so hard for female novelists to give females credit?
I will continue to read Giffin, because she created Dex and Rachel and Darcy and Marcus and Hilary...but when the next novel comes out, I might be on the library's waiting list instead of on the Amazon pre-order...
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36 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Giffin, March 26, 2010
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This review is from: Heart of the Matter (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (
I usually love Giffin's books, and this one was no exception. She draws you in with three-dimensional characters and engaging situations. This story is told from two points of view: Tessa, a stay-at-home mom married to a pediatric surgeon, Nick; and Valerie, a single mother whose child is badly burned at a slumber party. Valerie's child, Charlie, is under the care of Nick, and Valerie finds herself drawn to Nick, who is compassionate and skillful. Soon, Nick and Valerie's friendship turns into more, and Tessa is suspicious.
I read this book in less than 24 hours, and was able to relate to both mothers. I thought the story was wonderful. My only objection was the ending; I would have ended it differently. Still, I recommend this book to all Emily Giffin fans.
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Product Description
A powerful, provocative novel about marriage and motherhood, love and forgiveness.__
Tessa Russo is a stay-at-home mother of two young children and the wife of a renowned pediatric surgeon. Valerie Anderson is an attorney and single mother to six-year-old Charlie—a boy who has never known his father. Although both women live in the same Boston suburb, they are strangers to one another and have little in common, aside from a fierce love for their children. But one night, a tragic accident causes their lives to converge in ways no one could have imagined.
This is the moving, luminous story of good people caught in untenable circumstances. Each being tested in ways they never thought possible. Each questioning everything they once believed. And each ultimately discovering what truly matters most.
Amazon Exclusive: A Conversation Between Kristin Hannah and Emily Giffin
New York Times bestselling novels, including
New York Times bestselling author of eighteen novels, including
Kristin Hannah: Well, first, I have to say, Emily, that I am just the tiniest bit irritated with you. When I got the call to do this interview, I was thrilled, to say the least. It came at a really busy time for me--right after the holidays and we all know how crazy that is--and my work in progress was giving me fits. Then I picked up Heart of the Matter, and lost myself. No more writing, no more cooking, no getting my hair done or reading my email. Once I started the story I literally couldn't put it down. Brava, girlfriend, I say. Your characters are so real and compelling, and they always say exactly the right thing. With so much honest emotion, I just have to ask how much of your work comes from your own life?
Emily Giffin: It never fails to thrill me when someone responds to one of my novels--especially when it's another writer. Writers understand the alchemy involved in making up something from nothing. And I just finished your book, Night Road, and I found it so emotional, so moving, and so terrifying—especially since I have three young children who will someday be teenagers. In terms of how much does my work come from my own life, I would say that I'm absolutely inspired by people, places, conversations, relationships, and issues that I observe, and that the "what if" part of my novel is very much inspired by these things in my life. But the details of my plots and the specifics of my characters come from my own head. How about you, Kristin? I'll ask you the million-dollar question that every author gets asked: where do you get your ideas?
Kristin: Ah, the idea question. I don't want to sound coy, but the truth is, I don't quite know. It's the most magical part of the process for me. I'm a pretty analytical gal, and I approach writing in the same just-the-facts-ma'am way I approach most things. I need to find an issue that engages me on an intellectual level, and then I need to marry that curiosity with a kind of passion. I need to feel genuinely passionate about each story before I ever write a word, and I have to actually have something to say. It takes me at least a year to research and write a novel, and so I have to really adore each part of it—the characters, setting, story. Most of all, it has to make me feel something genuine. That's really the most important component. Usually it begins with a single "what if" question—what if you discovered your mother had a whole secret life about which you knew nothing (_Winter Garden_) or what if your husband were accused of a crime you believed he hadn't committed (_True Colors_)—and then I write and re-write until the characters seem as real to me as old friends.
Kristin: I'm amazed by how much we have in common. We're both moms, both lawyers, both lived in London for a time. You're like a younger, cooler version of me. How did you make the transition from lawyer to writer, and do you think you'll ever practice law again?
Emily: I would hardly say I'm cooler than you, Kristin! I hear you live in Hawaii part time! What is cooler than that? I made the transition from lawyer to writer because I was so miserable being a lawyer that I needed some escape from the day-to-day of it. And inventing stories was that escape. I can say, without hesitation, that I will never practice law again. Would you? What kind of law did you practice, and for how long? What did you find appealing (or discouraging) about law? Did you find that it gave you fodder for any of your novels?
Kristin: Honestly, I have met very few lawyers who don't say that what they really want to do is write. Like you, I can say with certainty that I will never practice law again. Not that anyone would want me to. But I still keep my Bar membership up…just in case this whole writing thing doesn't work out. And yes, in the past few years, I have finally begun to put some of that law school education to work for me. I find that I'm really enjoying adding legal issues to my work. Of course, I have to talk to real lawyers to make sure I'm getting it right...
From Publishers Weekly
In the popular Giffin's latest, Nick Russo is a pediatric plastic surgeon; his wife, Tessa (sister of Dex, from Something Borrowed), is a professor turned stay-at-home mom living a cushy life in Boston. Nick is called in to care for a six-year-old burn victim, and Nick's devotion to his work is soon tangled up in his attraction to the boy's mother, Valerie, a single attorney. Narrated in turn by Tessa and Valerie, the action centers around—will they or won't they, and, if they do, will Tessa forgive him? While unclear what Nick finds so unsatisfying in his marriage, adultery is always tempting and Tessa and Valerie both have their charms. Longtime fans will enjoy the cameos, but for the best of Giffin, don't miss her earlier works. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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289 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (
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70 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Both sides of the story., May 11, 2010
By
This review is from: Heart of the Matter (Hardcover)
I like Emily Giffin's newest book HEART OF THE MATTER because it explores something fundamental, basic and easy to understand about human nature, that we rarely if ever see ourselves as the villain when we tell the story of our lives. For every mistake we make, we can justify it by telling ourselves the reasons we did it. For every choice that we decide that affects other people, we know what led us to them. And when every small choice we make suddenly puts us square in the middle of some disaster and we're the "bad guy" in the situation, it's not like we didn't have good intentions at the start. And it's that sort of disaster that leads HEART OF THE MATTER's two narrators, Tessa and Valerie, to find themselves at odds with one another. And because each of them gets to tell their version of events to us, there's not really a villain in this story of injured children, gossipy private school moms, broken families and, more than anything, infidelity. Tessa and Val are just two women who've made mistakes and bad choices for very good reasons. And, under different circumstances, they'd probably be really close friends.
Tessa and Val's story begins with an accident. Valerie Anderson is a strong, determined, stubborn single mom to Charlie, a very sweet, sensitive little boy who's a student at a private school in Boston. She reluctantly allows Charlie to go to a friend's birthday party, even though she finds the parents involved to be rich and snotty. At the party, Charlie is seriously injured in a campfire and rushed to the hospital. Val beats herself up over these choices, not trusting her instincts, massively upset over her hurt little boy. Her twin brother Jason tries to comfort her. But no one is able to reassure her until her son's excellent, attractive pediatric plastic surgeon, Dr. Nick Russo, arrives and tells her that Charlie is a beautiful child and would continue to be. It's just what she needs to hear at a very tough time.
Nick, though, had to rush to the hospital from his seventh wedding anniversary dinner with Tessa, his loving, fun wife who's struggling to redefine her identity after she's given up her job as a professor to be a stay-at-home mom to her two little kids, Ruby and Frank. Tessa's mom advised her not to quit her job because she was afraid that Tessa might lose herself or become resentful of her frequently busy, often absent genius husband. Tessa feels inferior to all of the other private school moms around her, even her friend April, a cold perfectionist, and Romy, a rich woman who's panicked because the campfire accident that burned Charlie happened at her house.
So Tessa and Val are connected by community, by mutual acquaintances and now through Nick, whom they both come to care for and have issues with.
Giffin's writing style and the alternating points-of-view allow us to care about both women, building suspense as we wonder just how far their lives will become entwined and just how far the love triangle that eventually becomes central to the novel will go.
HEART OF THE MATTER is arguably Giffin's best book. Like her other novels, it's occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. But, in her fifth book, Giffin allows herself to explore the deeper, darker mistakes and the minutae that can harm well-meaning people trying to find themselves while coping with marriage.
HEART OF THE MATTER is deep and serious, occasionally incredibly sad and moving. She lets us get to know Tessa and Val and care for them in the way that her readers came to love her SOMETHING BORROWED/SOMETHING BLUE heroines Rachel and Darcy. And she mines new territory by criticizing the privileged, gossipy culture of moms that the two women live in.
HEART OF THE MATTER is occasionally as funny, tangled and bitterly insightful as Tom Perrotta's LITTLE CHILDREN, another great book that I found myself thinking of often as I read this. But the voice of HEART OF THE MATTER is distinctly Giffin's, and fans - in particular fans of SOMETHING BORROWED - will not be disappointed by HEART OF THE MATTER.
There is much to love in this new book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
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54 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Unexciting depiction of a somewhat-fresh adultery tale, May 15, 2010
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(
This review is from: Heart of the Matter (Hardcover)
Something Borrowed is my favorite modern novel. Period. I love how it shows a balanced, thoughtful, emotional account of infidelity, friendship, and the complexities of turning 30 with unrealized expectations...with flawed characters whose voices and backgrounds are varied and ring true.
It seems, though, that in each subsequent release, the narrators of Giffin's stories become more cookie-cutter, more self-absorbed, more whiny. In fact, the first few chapters of Heart of the Matter were boring...too much exposition, to much 'tell,' flashback, character descriptions. What happened to letting us know the characters by their behaviors and actions? Honestly, I was thrown back to Sweet Valley High when Jessica and Elizabeth's physical appearances, down to their aquamarine eyes, were described in detail around page 6 of Every. Single. Book.
Also: female novelists: PLEASE stop giving every mommy-protagonist a single BFF who is longing to have what the mommy has. Is it possible that some single women are happy with their lives? Is it possible some married mothers are best friends with... other married mothers? You don't need that cliche character in order to cultivate a random bar/hi-jinks plot excursion. Cate was unnecessary. Completely. (And don't get me started on Romy. People DO have layers...even rich, entitled ones).
That said, this story did get better as time went along, although I found the character Val, because of what she exposed her child to, to be not nearly as sympathetic as she should have been. I found Tessa to be fairly bland. I found the re-appearance of two of my favorite characters from Giffin's original storyline (I won't name and spoil it) to be very exciting at first...but also... a little vanilla.
I am worried that Giffin has shown us all her tricks, kind of like Danielle Steel did with her first 2 or 3 of 8 million novels. We have a lawyer...we have a competitiveness among well-to-do women...we have infidelity of some kind...we have a female character who basically has it all but is inexplicably unsatisfied over conditions she could change if she tried... oh, and we have twins. (It's not a bothersome recurring happenstance, but again, we get it. Giffin has twins...)
The relationship between Tessa's parents and the culmination of their past was my favorite moment in the book. I also appreciate that The Conflict was handled with sensitivity toward all parties involved. For once, though, I would appreciate a mommy story in which the mommies are not too busy trying to one-up each other and make their kids into organic-Stepford-moppets to actually support and advocate for one another. There was a great passage in the book in which Tessa describes all the things the mommies compare in each other... their husbands, their houses, their problems. What I loved most about the passage was that the things listed were all things I discuss with my mommy friends...in a NON-critical or competitive way.
Why is it so hard for female novelists to give females credit?
I will continue to read Giffin, because she created Dex and Rachel and Darcy and Marcus and Hilary...but when the next novel comes out, I might be on the library's waiting list instead of on the Amazon pre-order...
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
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36 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Giffin, March 26, 2010
By
This review is from: Heart of the Matter (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (
I usually love Giffin's books, and this one was no exception. She draws you in with three-dimensional characters and engaging situations. This story is told from two points of view: Tessa, a stay-at-home mom married to a pediatric surgeon, Nick; and Valerie, a single mother whose child is badly burned at a slumber party. Valerie's child, Charlie, is under the care of Nick, and Valerie finds herself drawn to Nick, who is compassionate and skillful. Soon, Nick and Valerie's friendship turns into more, and Tessa is suspicious.
I read this book in less than 24 hours, and was able to relate to both mothers. I thought the story was wonderful. My only objection was the ending; I would have ended it differently. Still, I recommend this book to all Emily Giffin fans.
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68% buy the item featured on this page:
Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin Hardcover (
$15.16
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by Emily Giffin Paperback (
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by Emily Giffin Paperback (
$8.99
5% buy
by Emily Giffin Paperback (
$8.66
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