Heartsick: Three Stories about Love, Pain, and What Happens in Between
Written by Jessie Stephens
Narrated by Jessie Stephens
()
About this audiobook
This program is read by the author.
Heartsick unpacks the destruction of love by following the true stories of three lives altered by a major heartbreak.
I wrote this book for the person who doesn’t want to be told that this too shall pass. Not yet. Who wants to sit with it. And see it for what it is. Who wants to know they’re not alone. That their pain is at once unique and universal. Belonging to them and everyone.
When we’re thrown into the chaos of heartsickness, we focus so much on the end. The fact we are now unloved seems so much more important than the reality that we once were.
This book was born in the hours I’ve waited for men to message me back and who never did…
In the years full of almost-relationships, I thought, “I cannot handle another rejection,” and then found myself turned down by someone I wasn’t even sure I liked. I wrote this book because I know what it is to feel fundamentally unlovable. I knew when I was looking for Ana, Patrick, and Claire that their stories had to be true, because within them would be nuances I’d never noticed before and realities I couldn’t have invented. I didn’t want to be limited by what I happened to know about love and loss. I wanted to learn from people as I wrote, injecting wisdom from different places and genders and ages into this book.
Weaving together these three true stories, Jessie Stephens captures the painful but wholeheartedly universal experience of heartbreak. Deeply relatable, addictive to the very last word, and powerfully human, Heartsick reminds us that emotional pain can make us as it breaks us and that storytelling has the ultimate healing power.
In the solitude that reading a book demands, one is forced to reflect on one’s own life. After all, every time we explore others, we’re mostly just exploring ourselves.
These are their stories—Ana’s and Patrick’s and Claire’s. But it is also my story and our story. I trust within it you will find echoes of yourself.
A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company.
Jessie Stephens
Jessie Stephens is a Sydney-based writer and podcaster, with a Master’s degree in History and Gender Studies. She’s the assistant head of content at Mamamia and co-host of the podcast Mamamia Out Loud. She also hosts Mamamia’s True Crime Conversations and Book Club podcasts, where she’s had the pleasure of interviewing some of her favorite authors. Heartsick is her first book.
Related to Heartsick
Related audiobooks
No Happy Endings: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nobody Asked For This Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI'll Tell You In Person Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Normal: Sex, Love, and Taboo in Our Hyperconnected World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Forget Prayers, Bring Cake: A Single Woman's Guide to Grieving Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Manual for Heartache Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Listen to the Marriage: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Is This OK?: One Woman's Search For Connection Online Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAdrianne Geffel: A Fiction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSex and the Single Woman: 24 Writers Reimagine Helen Gurley Brown's Cult Classic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is Not A Pity Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Be Sad: Everything I’ve Learned About Getting Happier by Being Sad Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Joy Enough: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gutsy: Mindfulness Practices for Everyday Bravery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nothing Will Be Different: A Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFierce Love: Creating a Love that Lasts---One Conversation at a Time Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5But You Seemed So Happy: A Marriage, in Pieces and Bits Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thalia Book Club: Sloane Crosley, Look Alive Out There Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThis Story Will Change: After the Happily Ever After Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Art of Not Falling Apart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Reckonings: Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pocket Therapy: Mental Notes for Everyday Happiness, Confidence, and Calm Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All Grown Up Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Really Didn't Think This Through: Tales from My So-Called Adult Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Be Loved: A Memoir of Lifesaving Friendship Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWedding Toasts I'll Never Give Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Burning Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5BFF: A Memoir of Friendship Lost and Found Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Year of Loving Kindness to Myself: & Other Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Relationships For You
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All About Love: New Visions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'm Glad My Mom Died Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Talk to Me Like I'm Someone You Love, Revised Edition: Relationship Repair in a Flash Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Not Die Alone: The Surprising Science That Will Help You Find Love Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Boundaries in Marriage: Understanding the Choices That Make or Break Loving Relationships Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Many Lives of Mama Love (Oprah's Book Club): A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Games People Play: The Basic Handbook of Transactional Analysis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/58 Rules of Love: How to Find It, Keep It, and Let It Go Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hit and Run Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 5 Love Languages Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Highly Sensitive Person in Love: Understanding and Managing Relationships When the World Overwhelms You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sh*t My Dad Says Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spoiler Alert: You're Gonna Die: Unveiling Death One Question at a Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grow Up: Becoming the Parent Your Kids Deserve Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You’re Not the Only One F*cking Up: Breaking the Endless Cycle of Dating Mistakes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You're Cute When You're Mad: Simple Steps for Confronting Sexism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Heartsick
0 ratings0 reviews