A Well-Tempered Heart
Sendker’s follow-up to The Art of Hearing Heartbeats (2012) picks up the story a decade after Julia Win traveled to Burma, seeking her missing father. Now a high-powered attorney mourning the end of her engagement, Julia has started hearing the voice of a bereft, heartbroken woman in her head. This voice propels Julia back to Burma, where she is reunited with her half brother, U Ba, who believes the voice belongs to Nu Nu, a woman who recently dropped dead while out for a walk with her sister. U Ba and Julia seek out Nu Nu’s sister, who tells them the sad tale of Nu Nu’s life: her happiness with her husband; the birth of her longed-for first son, Ko Gyi; and the arrival of her second son, Thar Thar, whom Nu Nu couldn’t bring herself to love. Tragedy compelled Thar Thar to step up and take care of his mother and brother, until Nu Nu was forced to make a fateful choice that ripped her family apart. An absorbing, moving sequel that likely portends a third entry. --Kristine Huntley