The author perfectly captures the complexity of sisterhood, and untangling complicated feelings about your family and history. The story is beautifully written, with in-depth knowledge about the Spanish and English cultures that come together in the character's ancestral home.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wonderful read, it made me miss my sisters so much. I love the sense of family in this book.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

This is an emotional story about three sisters, Anna, Julia, and Marion, who return to their childhood home in Madrid after the death of their father. It is not easy for them as he was difficult and affected each of them as a result. As they work through selling this home, they work through their past, their current relationship and love for each other. An intense and heartfelt read that was very well done.

This read a lot like a play, in the sense that much of the action takes place in the house/its gardens during the time of the cleansing ceremony. At first I wondered where this book was going since it seemed so 'stuck' in place, then I realized this was deliberate and used almost as an anchor to delve between present and past, feeding us bit by bit morsels of history to get us to understand where everyone stands in present day. While this did feel a bit slow at times, the language was absolutely beautiful! Ms. Aikin has such a lovely and evocative way with words, it was a joy just to sink into the prose and let it carry me throughout the times and characters

I loved The Weight of the Heart so much. I thought Susana Aikin painted such a beautiful and well written story of a family working their way through some pretty difficult situations. I thought the author had great character development and the more that I read the more I wanted.

The Weight of the Heart followed the lives of 3 sisters as they navigated their teen/young adult years. This was very character driven and the writing gave amazing details. I felt like I was in the house and watching their lives unfold.

There are two time periods, Past/present day. They sisters are now back at their childhood home having a limpezia to cleanse the house of negative energy before they are able to sell it. Each woman has a different feeling about the home and the past that it stirs up.

It was a little slow at parts but if you like a character driven plot this is for you.

The weight of the heart by Susana Aiken explores the complicated relationship between three sisters and their father. On the surface the sisters seem vastly different but in the end, are they more alike than they ever thought? They come full circle in their relationship and come to terms with past events. Beautifully written, a lyrical, even poetic at times. The descriptions of the landscape make me want to travel to Spain! Family, relationships, forgiveness, coming full circle. The story is as beautiful as the cover of the book is

This is a great novel about the relationships between three sisters after the death of their domineering father. The sisters are put in a position where there relationships with each other, their lovers and their domineering father are put into perspective. I found the journey of these three women to be a great read!

Set in Madrid, Spain this book about three sisters and their desire to sell their childhood home. Now, this sounds like an ordinary goal, but Ms. Atkin takes this to a much higher level. With her writing she enfolds you with the emotions of these three sisters...Anna, Julia and Marion. She brings you into Madrid, you feel the heartbeat of the city, it's history. But more than that we feel the journey that brought these sisters to this point, their reflections and each of their baggage. It's easy enough to review a story, tell you about it and sign off. But when a novel takes your hand, and you read the pages, it's the emotions, strong and powerful, that grasps you. The Weight of the Heart is that novel and the author, through her writing, enables those feelings. As you read about a dysfunctional family and see the transformation, you know you have read an amazing book. Highly recommended. My thanks to NetGalley for this book in exchange for an honest review.

An intriguing novel about complicated family relationships and how they dealt with so many unexpected situations is what Susana Ailkin has given us. She provides many situations that are thought-provoking to the point you want to hug the sisters.

The characters were well developed and the three sisters Anna, Julia and Marion were well developed. Delia and Constantine were very memorable with their “limpieza” of the house.

“The Weight of The Heart” is an emotional and intense story with many complex situations throughout that kept me turning the pages.

I finished this tale of sisterhood in one evening.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for fair and honest review.

This is a slightly different take on the dysfunctional family novel- and one well worth reading. Set in Spain- and with terrific atmospherics- it's the story of Anna, Julia, and Marion. These three sisters are home to deal with the death of their father and to sell his house. Julia hires a santera to do a cleansing ritual (this is more than burning sage!) and it opens up more than any of the sisters expected. Each one has issues to deal with. You might like one more than the others (Anna is the most grounded) but know that they will function best as a team. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Very good.

Though it’s not my favorite genre I accepted this book for a tour feature, not necessarily a review.
That being said I did find most of the elements beautiful, the imagery was fantastic. I also love anything with sisters, I am a sister of three so they’re dynamic was a lovely part.
Overall it’s a lovely book and I can’t penalize it for not being in my favorite genre. I am not fond of supernatural elements in literature so that’s why I really didn’t connect with the book. But I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good family drama.

It's only nine in the morning and it's already got. The sisters are adjusting to their father's death they live in madrid.

At first, I wasn't sure what I thought of this book. It felt...cringey and weird. I still. Julia was a pest and Marion probably needed therapy and the younger sister, Anna, was the responsible, level headed one who just wanted there to be peace among the sisters. I felt bad for her! The sisters just used her, and ordered her around. She was basically the adult of the sisters because Julia couldn't be bothered. I loved her and loved the book. I'm definitely going to be looking into more work by this author.

I've been excited about this book since I first heard about it, and it did not disappoint. The characters sucked you into the story and the story kept you turning pages as fast as you could. I devoured it in a day. I loved it.

The Weight of the Heart by Susana Aikin is an excellent novel about the fundamental concept of family and the bonds that are formed and broken.

In this book, we follow the current day musings and past events that make up this family of three different, yet more similar then they realize, sisters: Anna, Marion, and Julia. We are placed in current-day Madrid, Spain after the passing of their father. The reader can feel the oppressive and dusty heat as the sun beats down on their necks while they sit in on a different fire: a sink or swim meeting of the trio at their childhood home and all the baggage that comes with it. Here we learn of their father, James, and the control, possession, manipulation, and yet still duty and love that is associated with a parent, is depicted. We see sisters at odds within their own lives in part due to their upbringing, and with each other. We see sisters starting this venture at odds, and luckily come out on top forged together stronger then before. The journey of reflection, acceptance, understanding, and love replaces what was there before.

This book brings up monumental concepts: faith, family, loyalty, sacrifice, friendship, and the debate whether these concepts are worth what is given up in order to achieve these instances. Here, family represents all that is loved and loathed. This book incorporates some of the push and pull of family dynamics and how one can either chose to triumph or succumb to their adversities.

I enjoyed reading through the transitions of the three women, and am glad to see they come out all right. I enjoyed the location and also the inclusion of the concept and character of Delia the Cuban santera and the cleansing ritual that was added to the plot by one of the sisters to help diffuse some of the negative energy that, I feel, not only enveloped the house, but also the sisters’ memories of their troubled past. It was interesting to see an alternative to “traditional” therapies of the Western world.

All in all, a good read with an interesting family and a positive outcome.

4/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.