
Acclaimed West Hartford-based author Amity Gaige to launch gripping new novel HEARTWOOD at The Mark Twain House & Museum on April 9
Fellow Connecticut Author Amy Bloom to Moderate Conversation with Amity Gaige
A Conversation with Amity Gaige
Mark Twain House & Museum • 351 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut
April 9, 2025
Click here to register
Heartwood

The Mark Twain House & Museum (MTH&M) announced today the highly-anticipated book launch of bestselling author and West Hartford resident Amity Gaige’s gripping new novel Heartwood on Wednesday, March 12 at 7pm. In this story of suspense and survival, an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker vanishes deep in the Maine woods. A relentless game warden, a determined birdwatcher, and Valerie herself—through poetic letters to her mother—reveal the tangled mystery of her disappearance. Inspired by a real-life case, Heartwood explores longing, loss, and the will to endure.
Gaige will discuss the novel’s origins, its themes of bravery and connection, and the real-life disappearance that haunted her for years. Joining her in conversation will be award-winning author and fellow Connecticut resident Amy Bloom. The book launch will be held at the museum located at 351 Farmington Avenue in Hartford. Admission is $10 or a $34 ticket and book bundle available. Gaige will be signing books immediately following the event. To register, visit MarkTwainHouse.org/event/.
Amity Gaige

Amity Gaige is the author of four previous novels, O My Darling, The Folded World, Schroder, and Sea Wife. Sea Wife was a 2020 New York Times Notable Book and a finalist for the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award. Schroder was also a New York Times Notable Book and a best book of 2013 according to The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, among others, and was shortlisted for UK’s Folio Prize in 2014. Her work has been translated into eighteen languages. In 2018, Amity was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Fiction. She lives in West Hartford, Connecticut, with her family and teaches creative writing at Yale.
Amy Bloom
Amy Bloom is the author of four novels: White Houses, Lucky Us, Away, and Love Invents Us; and three collections of short stories: Where the God Of Love Hangs Out, Come to Me (finalist for the National Book Award), and A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You (finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award). Her most recent book is the widely acclaimed New York Times bestselling memoir, In Love. She has written for magazines such as The New Yorker, New York Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, Elle, The Atlantic, Slate, and Salon. Her first book of nonfiction, Normal: Transsexual CEOs, Crossdressing Cops and Hermaphrodites with Attitudes, is a staple of university sociology and biology courses. Amy Bloom’s short stories have appeared in Best American Short Stories, Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, and numerous anthologies here and abroad. Amy resides in Connecticut and recently retired as Wesleyan University’s Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing, while continuing to work as a psychotherapist and a novelist.
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