Whole Heart by Michelle Felix

Author Michelle Felix pours out a lifetime of powerful confessions in her moving memoir Whole Heart: One Woman’s Incredible and Heartbreaking Journey from Africa to America.

Felix’s initial recounting of her childhood in South Africa is both charming and compelling, as she weaves the painful tale of her humble family with early attempts at self-analysis and deeper understanding. Following an uprooting, however, that family life begins to crack and crumble, and her parents’ marriage falls apart. Readers are pulled into the psyche of the author as a vulnerable young girl trying to navigate the complexity of relationships, parenting, depression, suicide, abandonment, deception, and isolation from the only world she’s ever known.

Despite the tragedies of her youth, Felix imbues this book with hope for change and a spirit of resilience. The cyclical experience of disappointment and trauma is something many readers can unfortunately understand, and the author handles such struggles with tact and grace – without coming across as paternalistic or preachy. The passages of self-reflection, including those moments where Felix sees herself following in her mother’s dangerous footsteps, are some of the most revealing and relatable.

The prose is cleanly edited, but there is a surprising lack of emotional language, even in the most intense moments. Additionally, the pure narrative approach, almost entirely lacking in dialogue, can come across as monotone, and could use some stylistic variety.

Despite these minor issues, Whole Heart is peppered with bursts of profound wisdom, resulting in an inspiring and uplifting tale of triumph over what many would deem impossible odds.