Really 4.5 stars. I really enjoyed this book. I loved the story and the setting.
A successful middle aged lawyer, one day leaves his home and family, never to be seen again. His grown daughter, Julia, after 4 years, gets a packet of letters from her mother, where she discovers her father may have had a secret love. She decides to go back to his homeland in Burma to discover what happened.
When she arrives, an older man approaches her, and for the rest of the book, he tells her a story; the story of her father.
The story is beautiful, tender and sweet. I love how it unfolds, such a wonderful tale of love.
The way it's told almost makes it like a fairy tale, but who of us doesn't want to hear a tale of undying love.
I found it fascinating and enchanting. ( )

Overall, I guess that I enjoyed the book. I thought the story of Tin Win and Mi Mi was sweet and sad and almost magical. BUT I was annoyed by the passivity of Tim Win. His feelings were profound and yet he was ok with living without her for fifty years? Really? Why? If he was truly content why suddenly go back to Burma? I'm too cynical for this book.

The timeline for U Ba and Julia didn't make a great deal of sense to me either - their ages did not seem to reconcile. Perhaps I need to re read the early sections of the book to clear things up. I'm also not sure why they needed to add the "twist" at the end. To make the overall story arc more sad?


( )

This book reminded me of a fairy tale and it was a page turner but I had some issues with the story. The explanations for why the main character married instead of returning to his true love seemed rather flimsy to me. ( )

I couldn't warm up to The Art of Hearing Heartbeats. The characters' back stories seem melodramatic and contrived rather than authentic. The prose are not nearly as artful as they try to be. I'm not sure how to describe the style -- it has some magical elements but misses the mark for magical realism. Finally, at no time did I experience a sense that I had entered into "their world." Perhaps the writer has not found his voice? ( )

Kurze Inhaltsangabe
Eine der grossen Liebesgeschichten unserer Zeit, die schon Hunderttausende Leserinnen begeisterte und stetig neue Leser findet: Die Suche nach ihrem vermissten Vater führt Julia Win von New York nach Kalaw, einem malerischen, in den Bergen Burmas versteckten Dorf. Ein vierzig Jahre alter Liebesbrief ihres Vaters an eine unbekannte Frau hat sie an diesen magischen Ort geführt. Hier findet sie nicht nur einen Bruder, von dem sie nichts wusste, sondern stösst auch auf ein Familiengeheimnis, das ihr Leben für immer verändert. ( )