Heart of the Matter Audiobook By Emily Giffin cover art

Heart of the Matter

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Heart of the Matter

By: Emily Giffin
Narrated by: Cynthia Nixon
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About this listen

Tessa Russo is the mother of two young children and the wife of a renowned pediatric surgeon. Despite her own mother's warnings, Tessa has recently given up her career to focus on her family and the pursuit of domestic happiness. From the outside, she seems destined to live a charmed life.

Valerie Anderson is an attorney and single mother to six-year-old Charlie - a boy who has never known his father. After too many disappointments, she has given up on romance - and even, to some degree, friendships - believing that it is always safer not to expect too much.

Although both women live in the same Boston suburb, the two have relatively 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.

In alternating, pitch-perfect points of view, Emily Giffin creates a 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.

©2010 Emily Giffin (P)2010 Macmillan Audio
Fiction Women's Fiction
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Editorial reviews

When Cynthia Nixon of Sex and the City fame lends her acting talents to chick-lit connoisseur Emily Giffin’s latest novel, the result is a pleasurable, intriguing, and emotionally intense listening experience. Teresa Russo, a 34-year-old mother of two, is married to Nick, a successful plastic surgeon. They appear to have the perfect, loving marriage until one fateful night when Nick gets a case that changes everything. His patient is a 6-year-old burn victim, whose mother Valerie is single, vulnerable, beautiful, and intelligent. A friendship quickly blossoms between Nick and Valerie and then slowly turns into something more. And Tessa begins to wonder where her once-perfect relationship went wrong. Told in turns from the perspectives of Tessa and Valerie, the story unfolds as if you’re watching a train derail in slow motion you know what’s coming, but are powerless to stop it, and you can’t look away. Never before has a novel cut so deep to the root of infidelity and the devastating emotional confusion of both the wife and the other woman.

It’s a treat to listen as Nixon delivers an emotionally wrought, pitch-perfect performance, easily transitioning between and identifying with each woman’s side of the story. She conveys emotion subtly a slightly cracked voice here, a quick exhale there clearly the mark of a studied actor. Her character voices from the young Charlie to the sexy and strong Nick to the snooty country club friend Romy are all realistic and believable. And Nixon’s pacing and timing, especially during the dialogue scenes, make the story come alive every scene, feeling, and spoken word are familiar, recognizable, and relatable.

Between Giffin’s talent for describing emotions purely and vividly and Nixon’s undeniable talent for delivering them, it’s hard to believe this is a work of fiction. Colleen Oakley

Critic reviews

"Giffin excels at creating complex characters and stories that ask us to explore what we really want from our lives." ( Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
"Giffin’s talent lies in making her characters believable and relatable, and readers will be enthralled by this layered, absorbing novel." ( Booklist)

What listeners say about Heart of the Matter

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Uneven

I am a man, and overall I did enjoy this book. I have read Giffin's other books, and this - in parts - had more substance. Where she got it wrong, all wrong ( I write as a courtroom lawyer and a father of a six year old) was her description of the young boy Charlie ( more like 16 than 6) and Valerie, a corporate litigater, giving not much thought of suing, or when she does, only briefly (" it will not help Charlie"). Um, yes, it would, and - more to the point -corporate litigaters do not think, or talk, or act this way. When Giffin gets away from these depictions and focus on the relationships( the second half of the book)she knows her stuff much better; the dialogue rings more true, and therefore, the book became more enjoyable

Cynthia Nixon is does s great job reading

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great novel

I really liked this novel. But I’m bias I like all of hers I’ve read so far. :-)

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Just a good story to relax with

I enjoyed this book very much because it was filled with real type people. Believeable people and storyline. Nice ending although the author doesn’t let on until the end what it is going to be. The reader could improve a bit by not using such a song song voice but overall her words were clear and emotions matched the settings.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Does Every Husband/Boyfriend Cheat?

My first Emily Giffin novel- I found it to be a thinking woman's Chick Lit. Personal experience showed me that Yes, indeed, every Husband does cheat. "Heart Of The Matter" deals with this sad reality for so many women with eloquence and class plus it puts a great plot line about an injured child into the story for spice.

I really enjoyed the book and didn't figure out how it would end until the end..a nice change from so many Chick Lit story arcs with poor plots.

Cynthia Nixon is the type of narrator to doesn't get in the way of the story..she reads it without drama but without taking the story over. I very much liked her abilities as a reader.

All around, a great beach listen or read. Enjoyable for women from twenty somethings to grannies, it's worth your credit.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Giffin does it again!

The way the story switches back and forth between the point view of the main characters makes Giffin my favorite author. All her stories are intriguing and empathetic. But this one is so good. Marriage such a complicated thing. great great book.
Cynthia Nixon is such a great narrator too.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Heart of the Matter

This book was a wonderful book and could happen in any of our lives. I loved it and if you haven't read it you should. I think women may enjoy this book more than men but men will also enjoy it. It is simply about life the good, the hard and the way it is.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Thought provoking

I was very into the development of this story. I've always held very rigid beliefs about infidelity. The characters' alternating points of view created a believable story that had me understanding the "other" woman. But did not go so far to change my beliefs and cheer for her to get the guy. The reason I gave it 5 stars was because it made me think about the story long after the ipod was turned off and I was doing something else. It stuck with me.

And the narration was wonderful. Wow - 10 stars if possible.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Totally absorbed with the characters and story

Bravo Emily Giffin. Tugged at my heart strings for both lead characters. I was totally enthralled with the book --- totally drawn in to the story line. The alternating voices between chapters worked beautifully. One of the few books I'm thinking of listening to again.
Double bravo to Cynthia Nixon for a brilliant read.
I hope Emily Giffin is working on her next book because I can't wait.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

just wasn't for me! and I love E.G.

I found myself incredibly angry through out most of this book and at no point related to the other woman.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

not the authors best work.

why is this 6 year old child sometimes 40 and sometimes 2? its really immersion breaking. and the males have remarkably little depth. very 2d, Not Like The Other type characters. Not like the other little boys. Not like the other gay men. Not like the other husbands.

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