'The Art of Hearing Heartbeats" by Jan-Philipp Sendker

This is perhaps the most splendid love story in decades. Originally a bestseller in Germany, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats is a romance that spans five decades and is set off by a mysterious disappearance. A prominent Burmese-American celebrity lawyer in New York vanishes without a trace on a routine business trip to Boston by switching to a plane bound to Thailand. In the years since he went missing it is the conclusion of many that his disappearance was of his own making. Thus starts the story, of how a formerly blind man known as Tin Win, was marked by a tumultuous childhood and bond that lasted despite time and place.

When Tin's daughter Julia leaves New York in search of her father, armed with a love letter from 1955 written to a mysterious woman, she travels to Burma and the village of Kalaw to learn about her father's past. What Julia discovers is not the betrayal and drama that she and her mother expected but an unbelievable tale of faith. Julia finds out about the tragic circumstances of her father's blindness and upbringing amongst Buddhist monks and his love for Mi Mi. Mi Mi was a crippled woman who helped Tin navigate his way around Burma as he carried her on his back while she acted as his eyes.

There is definitely a sense of epic truths being unraveled in this book. When many a book club decided to read it as part of their monthly hobby they were undoubtedly surprised. Sendker has constructed a very potent plot that encompasses pre and postwar Burma and events leading up to modern day New York. Tin Win has lived many lives and from his birth was surrounded with a superstition and tragedy. What is unimaginable is that, despite an intense bond with Mi Mi, Tin ended up in America living a celebrity lawyer's life without ever mentioning his past and her. Reading this book makes you wonder, what other secrets do all of us keep?