America Is Not the Heart
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Donnabella Mortel
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By:
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Elaine Castillo
About this listen
Named one of the best books of 2018 by NPR, Real Simple, Lit Hub, The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Post, Kirkus Reviews, and The New York Public Library
"A saga rich with origin myths, national and personal.... Castillo is part of a younger generation of American writers instilling literature with a layered sense of identity." (Vogue)
How many lives fit in a lifetime?
When Hero De Vera arrives in America - haunted by the political upheaval in the Philippines and disowned by her parents - she's already on her third. Her uncle gives her a fresh start in the Bay Area, and he doesn't ask about her past. His younger wife knows enough about the might and secrecy of the De Vera family to keep her head down. But their daughter - the first American-born daughter in the family - can't resist asking Hero about her damaged hands.
An increasingly relevant story told with startling lucidity, humor, and an uncanny ear for the intimacies and shorthand of family ritual, America Is Not the Heart is a sprawling, soulful debut about three generations of women in one family struggling to balance the promise of the American dream and the unshakable grip of history.
With exuberance, grit, and sly tenderness, here is a family saga; an origin story; a romance; a narrative of two nations and the people who leave one home to grasp at another.
©2018 Elaine Castillo (P)2018 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Hungrily ambitious in sweep and documentary in detail, and reads like a seismograph of the aftershocks from trading one life for another.... Like Bulosan, [Castillo] channels a righteous anger, revisiting America’s historical crimes.” (The New York Times Book Review)
“An impossible-to-put-down, multi-generational family epic.” (Southern Living)
“Castillo’s debut, a contemporary saga of an extended Filipino family, is a wonderful, nonpareil novel... a remarkable feat... a brilliant and intensely moving immigrant tale.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)
“Castillo is a vivid writer, and she has a real voice: vernacular and fluid, with a take-no-prisoners edge. At the same time, she complicates her narrative by breaking out of it in a variety of places - both by deftly incorporating languages such as Tagalog and Ilocano and through the use of flashback or backstory... Beautifully written, emotionally complex, and deeply moving, Castillo's novel reminds us both that stories may be all we have to save us and also that this may never be enough.” (Kirkus, starred review)
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A summer job. That's all it was supposed to be. It never crossed my mind that I was about to collide with a man who would obliterate every plan I ever made. My mother has always warned me that love is like a lightning bolt and it strikes without warning. But I had no intention of getting struck by either lightning or love anytime soon. I'd be too busy finishing my journalism degree and landing a job in a city far more sophisticated than Phoenix. There was certainly nothing in the cards about getting involved with an ex-ballplayer turned nightclub boss.
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worth a read
- By BK on 05-14-18
By: Cora Brent
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My True Love Gave to Me
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- Unabridged
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You're going to fall in love with My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by the international bestselling Stephanie Perkins. Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or Kwanzaa, there's something here for everyone. So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy. You have twelve reasons this season to stay indoors and fall in love.
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Nice Holiday Read
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Story
After grad school, Shay Dixon feels like she's had enough for awhile. Inspired by her spiritual adviser - a soul-soothing blues player named Nina Simon - Shay calls her estranged mother Nona for the first time in years, and shocks herself by asking if it would be okay to come home for a while.
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One For The Money
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The Untelling
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Story
Aria is no stranger to tragedy. Fifteen years ago, a family outing took the lives of her father and baby sister, leaving remaining members of this fractured family struggling with their own guilt - real and imagined. At 25, Aria believes she can reinvent herself through her planned marriage with all its promise of a family of her own. Her infertility changes her life as swiftly and irrevocably as the urban landscape around her.
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Don’t waste your time!
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F*ck Love
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Helena Conway has fallen in love. Unwillingly. Unwittingly. But not unprovoked. Kit Isley is everything she's not - unstructured, untethered, and not even a little bit careful. It could all be so beautiful...if he wasn't dating her best friend. Helena must defy her heart, do the right thing, and think of others. Until she doesn't.
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Left me feeling confused?
- By ❤️Cyndi Marie❤️🎧Audiobook Addicts🎧 on 09-15-16
By: Tarryn Fisher
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The Road Home
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- Narrated by: Blake Somerset
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When a car accident leaves photographer Burke Crenshaw in need of temporary full-time care, he finds himself back in the one place no forty-year-old chooses to be--his childhood bedroom. There, in the Vermont home where he grew up, Burke begins the long process of recuperation, and watches as his widowed father finds happiness in a new relationship that's a constant reminder of everything Burke wants and lacks. Exploring local history, Burke discovers an intriguing series of letters from a Civil War soldier to his fianc.
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No need to check your scepticism at the door!
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Falling Together
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It’s been six years since Pen Calloway watched her best friends walk out of her life. And through the birth of her daughter, the death of her father, and the vicissitudes of single motherhood, she has never stopped missing them. Pen, Cat, and Will met on their first day of college and formed what seemed like a magical and lifelong bond, only to see their friendship break apart amid the realities of adulthood. When, after years of silence, Cat - the bewitching, charismatic center of their group - e-mails Pen and Will with an urgent request to meet at their college reunion, they can’t refuse.
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Narrator's breathy voice a turn off
- By Amy on 10-16-11
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My Life Next Door
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The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not: loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, 17-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them...until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?
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A well written coming of age book
- By Ezinwanyi on 10-23-15
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Liz Murray was born to loving but drug-addicted parents in the Bronx. In school she was taunted for her dirty clothing and lice-infested hair, eventually skipping so many classes that she was put into a girls' home. At age 15, Liz found herself on the streets when her family finally unraveled. She learned to scrape by, foraging for food and riding subways all night to have a warm place to sleep. Then, when Liz's mother died of AIDS, she decided to take control of her own destiny.
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unbelievably inspiring
- By Amazon Customer on 03-17-12
By: Liz Murray
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Taming Mad Max
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Max Dutton, a starting NFL linebacker for the Los Angeles Condors, is certain he's going to die young, since his father and grandfather both passed away at an early age. Believing his life will be cut short, Max lives every moment to its fullest. For this reason, Max also shies away from forming close relationships. What would be the point of falling in love and starting a family, only to leave them as his father left him and his sisters? Nutrition expert Kari Murphy used to think Max Dutton was to die for. She's older and wiser now.
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Story OK, Narrator NOT
- By MABJM on 08-20-12
By: Theresa Ragan
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A Nail Through The Heart
- A Poke Rafferty Thriller
- By: Timothy Hallinan
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- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Poke Rafferty was writing offbeat travel guides for the young and terminally bored when Bangkok stole his heart. Now the American expat is assembling a new family with Rose, the former go-go dancer he wants to marry, and Miaow, the tiny, streetwise urchin he wants to adopt. But trouble in the guise of good intentions comes calling just when everything is beginning to work out.
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Ever been to Bangkok?
- By Richard Delman on 12-11-11
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The Last Time We Say Goodbye
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The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment. Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be. As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone--a text Tyler sent that could have changed everything.
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Such sweet sorrow
- By Lesaly on 04-26-15
By: Cynthia Hand
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Marrow
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Margo is not like other girls. She lives in a derelict neighborhood called the Bone, in a cursed house, with her cursed mother, who hasn't spoken to her in over two years. She lives her days feeling invisible. It's not until she develops a friendship with her wheelchair-bound neighbor, Judah Grant, that things begin to change. When a neighborhood girl, seven-year-old Neveah Anthony, goes missing, Judah sets out to help Margo uncover what happened to her. What Margo finds changes her, and with a new perspective on life she's determined to find evil and punish it.
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HUH?? I'm so confused LOL
- By ❤️Cyndi Marie❤️🎧Audiobook Addicts🎧 on 09-15-16
By: Tarryn Fisher
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What listeners say about America Is Not the Heart
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jolly
- 10-22-18
Stories of Me
To read your culture in a novel is precious. As a first-gen American born Filipino-American, visibility is something I crave for daily. I appreciate the beautiful layers of Elaine Castillo’s novel more than words can say. Maraming salamat, Elaine.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Cherrie Lukban
- 02-25-21
An instant favorite
Amazing story, fantastic voice acting. Made me feel so much closer to my roots and my family, as well as grateful for everything I have and lost. 11/10 will pick up a physical copy and read/listen again.
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- andrea c
- 01-31-21
Not just a story, but gave Filipino history too!
It was very descriptive, reminded me of Filipino life! Surprising, sensual and well written. Mabuhay
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- S. Richardson
- 05-26-23
Lovely story, lovingly told
A beautiful tale of a population often overlooked. This immigrant tale evolves to evoke greater empathy from the reader, and is beautifully narrated. I cried twice at the end.
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- VIVIAN BEJARIN
- 06-18-19
Good story and well read by the performer.
I love listening to these stories by someone has a good accent, so the context is understood. However, there is a typo in the book or the reader misspoke. In the 2nd story, the reader says “Toyota Corona”. Instead of “Toyota Corolla”. Is that a “Pilipino thing” or a Audible mistake? Lol!
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- macaldom
- 01-21-19
Bay Area Fil-Ams Represent
Donabella’s narration does a great job of bringing every character in this book to life. Author Elaine Castillo also writes the experiences of Filipinos in America and Filipino-Americans in the Bay Area beautifully. Loved how grounded the stories of each character were in the history and circumstance of the Philippines after Marcos and the Bay during the mobile DJ scene.
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- Jeanne Vargas
- 10-12-20
amazingly accurate
I grew up in Fremont driving through Milpitas every day to go to school in Palo Alto during the same period of time in the book. the accounts of locations, streets, buildings are all so accurate. the reader was on point with all the accents. wonderful story that hit the heart of this filipino mastisa born in the east/south bay.
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- Bernadette
- 05-17-18
New Perspectives
To me, this is a new perspective of the "American Dream". Uncensored and real. It had enough detail where you felt as if you were one of the characters, while withholding information until the right moments. I felt more drawn to this story because my father is an immigrant from the Philippines and enjoy multiple perspectives.
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6 people found this helpful
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- rachel
- 06-26-19
the story is my heart
I didn’t think I’d weep as long and deeply as I did listening to this story. as a filipinx Canadian there was so much in the book that spoke to me and my experience as an immigrant.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Michaela
- 01-24-23
Powerful story of the Filipino-American experience
As a second generation Filipina-American this book sung to me. It’s not necessarily a feel good story but it’s real and gives whole lives to the characters in the book rather than making caricatures of them.
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