The Road to Tender Hearts with Annie Hartnett

About this episode

Annie Hartnett discusses her novels and the intricacies of parenting and writing with host Annmarie.

Annie Hartnett is the award-winning author of three novels: Rabbit Cake, Unlikely Animals, and the national bestseller The Road to Tender Hearts, which won the 2025 New England Book Award for fiction and was named a best book of 2025 from NPR, LitHub, and Southern Living. In today’s episode, Annmarie and Annie discuss parenting worries, janky rental houses, and how to write a road trip book with or without a cat that can predict death. Episode Sponsors: Newtonville Books – An independent bookstore located at 10 Langley Rd, in Newton, Massachusetts -- in the old stone building at the north corner of the triangle parking lot. Come for the books. Stay for the books. And learn more and shop online at newtonvillebooks.com. Blue Willow Bookshop – A locally-owned, independently-minded West Houston bookstore. Blue Willow is run by a team of opinionated, well-read women. Our staff meetings are full of laughter, our back room is full of snacks, and we absolutely love putting the right book into a reader’s hands. We’ve got recommendations. We’ve got pizzazz. And we look forward to welcoming you to our happy place. Stop in or shop online at bluewillowbookshop.com. Titles Mentioned in This…

People in this episode

Host: Annmarie

Guest: Annie Hartnett

Topics covered

• parenting
• writing
• book recommendations
• fiction
• road trips

Keywords

• Annie Hartnett
• parenting worries
• road trip book
• fiction
• book awards

Sponsors

Newtonville Books, Blue Willow Bookshop

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Rabbit Cake, Unlikely Animals, The Road to Tender Hearts, Margot’s Got Money Troubles

Places: Newton, Massachusetts

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