The Heart
The Heart
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2014
Book Brief
Beta242
Novel • Fiction
•
Modern Classic FictionPays de Caux and Le Havre, France, over twenty-four hours in February
2014
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Hardcover • 2016
Adult
16+ years
Super Short Summary
After an early-morning surfing trip, 19-year-old Simon Limbres is critically injured in a car accident and declared brain-dead, though his heart continues beating. As his parents confront devastating news and a decision about organ donation, the novel turns toward the medical staff and family members caught between grief and hope, examining the emotional and ethical weight of life and death.
Emotional
Suspenseful
Contemplative
Hopeful
Challenging
Reviews & Readership
14,076 ratings
Loved it
Mixed feelings
Not a fan
Review Roundup
Reviewers praise de Kerangal’s humane, lyrical treatment of medicine, her emotional insight, and the narrative’s remarkable momentum. Sam Taylor’s translation is also admired for moving deftly between plainspoken and poetic registers. The main reservation concerns the novel’s structure: Kirkus finds its first-half balance compelling but says the tension subsides too early, leaving the latter half anticlimactic. Another reviewer cautions that its language-driven, low-action approach and raw depiction of parental grief will not suit every reader.
Who Should Read The Heart?
Readers who seek emotionally intense literary fiction about medicine, grief, and life-or-death decisions should consider The Heart. It will especially suit those who appreciate lyrical, ruminative prose, an ensemble perspective encompassing families and medical professionals, and a close look at the clinical and administrative realities of organ donation. The novel’s single-day structure and momentum may also appeal to readers who want a concentrated, propulsive story. Be prepared, however, for heartbreaking subject matter involving a young person’s fatal accident.
14,076 ratings
Loved it
Mixed feelings
Not a fan
Simon’s mother, separated from Sean, who is the first relative told about Simon’s injuries and admission to the hospital.
Simon’s father and Marianne’s estranged husband, whose demanding job strained their marriage; he angrily believes the ICU did too little.
A former ICU nurse who heads the hospital’s Coordinating Committee for Organ and Tissue Removal and assists Simon’s parents with donation decisions.
A 51-year-old mother with myocarditis whose worsening condition has left her waiting three years for a heart transplant.
The ICU’s head physician, responsible for overseeing Simon’s case and assessing his lack of response and irreversible brain damage.
A newly assigned ICU nurse who previously worked in the operating room and speaks to Simon as though he were a living patient.
A Biomedical Agency founder who evaluates transplant organs and is responsible for identifying suitable recipients for Simon’s major organs.
242
Novel • Fiction
•
Modern Classic FictionPays de Caux and Le Havre, France, over twenty-four hours in February
2014
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Hardcover • 2016
Adult
16+ years
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