Adrienne Clarkson grew up in Ottawa after her family escaped Japanese-occupied Hong Kong in 1942. Decades later, she would become Canada’s 26th governor general. Clarkson reached out to Canadians everywhere, refashioning Rideau Hall into a real home and welcoming the public. Her determination to invest meaning in her official actions created controversy, and in her memoir, Clarkson reflects on the behind-the-scenes political machinations. Heart Matters is more than a public life remembered—it chronicles an astonishing journey through triumph and turmoil. Remarkably insightful and inspiring, it is an extraordinary work by an extraordinary Canadian.

"A memoir of Clarkson’s interesting and distinguished life"
—The Globe and Mail

"...Adrienne Clarkson has blazed like a comet through our national consciousness."
"...Clarkson’s affecting tale is more than a rags-to-riches story. It’s a story of race and assimilation and the ascendancy of feminism, with many moving lessons about grit, determination and never looking back."
"Clarkson didn’t just raise the bar during her tenure as Governor General; she sent it catapulting skyward."
"In the end, she gave us an impossibly audacious idea of ourselves, and it was one that we could never have imagined on our own."
—Chatelaine

"...Adrienne Clarkson is a fine writer..."
"...Canada’s 26th, and probably best, governor general."
"...is a fine book."
"By any standards, it could only be a fascinating narrative..."
"Clarkson is bright, articulate and engaged."
"...filled with tasty morsels, tidbits of quality gossip."
"Enveloping it all is her careful, polished prose, studded every now and then with a ripe observation." "...finely crafted reminiscence..."
"...wonderful smorgasbord..."
"Heart Matters is the story of an immigrant. It is the story of a pioneering woman in a man’s time and place. It is a fascinating look at life behind the TV cameras and, later, behind the doors of Rideau Hall. It is a sweet love song to cultural diversity and to the impossible dream that is Canada."
"...it is a kind of injunction, an ambitious nudge toward the moral imperative Clarkson suggests might make us all a bit better."
"Surprising, insightful and lovingly shaped...a passionate reminder of all those things in life that matter most."
—The Ottawa Citizen

"That Clarkson grew up to be a stoic, gracious, stylish over-achiever seems inevitable once we are acquainted with the circumstances of her childhood."
—The Star Phoenix