This book sets in Burma and spans the decades between the 1950s and the present. It is about an inspirational love story between Julia’s father and a Burmese woman. No one knew about this love story, and after discovering his love letters, Julia decided to solve the mystery of her father’s sudden disappearance. Upon her arrival in the village mentioned in the letter, Julia discovers a tale of resilience and passion, a tale that will make us believe strongly in the power of love. The exotic backdrop of Burma enhances both the beauty of the tale and the incorruptible love itself.

As the tale unfolds we learn about Julia’s superstitious grandma and how superstition controls the life of many there. As a reader I was fascinated with Tin Win’s ability to hear the heartbeats, as if nothing has meaning in this life unless they are in love and are loved. This heartbeat becomes like uncovering people’s mood and personality, too. Tin Win and his beloved Mi Mi were both having disability, Tin Win blind, Mi Mi can’t walk. Thus they experience life and love from a unique perspective that intensifies their connection. Tin Win abandons his family to return to his love, and this may trouble the reader, but as the author explained, the two bonds are incomparable, and each one of us project his or her concept of what love supposed to mean.

The book is really one of the best books I read about love. He does not restore to a cliché love story, but crafted a breathtaking story about a connection that surpasses everything. The love between the two was indescribable. The book is full with inspirational quotations. I don’t think a review can fully acknowledge the beauty of this book, one only just need to read it and enjoy it!

“We see only what we already know. We project our own capacities—for good as well as evil—onto the other person. Then we acknowledge as love primarily those things that correspond to our own image thereof. We wish to be loved as we ourselves would love. Any other way makes us uncomfortable. We respond with doubt and suspicion. We misinterpret the signs. We do not understand the language. We accuse. We assert that the other person does not love us. But perhaps he merely loves us in some idiosyncratic way that we fail to recognize.”

It is worth to note that this is Sendker’s debut novel and I just learned that he has already published a new book “ A Well-Tempered Heart” as its sequel. Can’t wait to read it! Recommended.