{"product_id":"book-e50n","title":"The Heart Begins Here","description":" \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Heart Begins Here\u003c\/i\u003e is the story of the ever-optimistic, earnest Sara Requier and her disintegrating seven-year relationship with the cynical Wanda Wysoka. Along with her relationship struggles, Sara must contend with the drastic changes in the book industry that threaten her feminist bookstore and a mother who refuses to accept her daughter’s lesbianism. Then, just as Wanda decides to leave Sara, Wanda’s new young lover, Cindy, is murdered. The story takes place in a western Canadian city in 2001 — much of it in Sara’s bookstore, Common Reader Books — in the shadow of the disturbing political climate that followed the 9\/11 attacks in the U.S. This is a transitional point in the Canadian book industry: the proliferation of big box stores, the expansion of the Internet — and Sara is caught up in the concomitant changes in her community. The book explores themes of love and loss, of the lingering effects of a dysfunctional childhood, of misogyny, of personal and societal homophobia, and especially the challenge of integrating the personal with the political.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ECW Press Ltd.","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49371823472944,"sku":"BDe50n","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/222908-e50n-Square.jpg?v=1734680272","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-e50n","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}