'Imaginary Authors Cape Heartache' Cape Heartache is the lone American contribution to Philip Sava’s wildly popular series of exploration novels. It is based loosely on an expedition he made to the Pacific Northwest as a teenager in 1881 and is generally regarded as the most candid of his works. Revolving around a homestead he built in a coastal grove of old growth trees, the novel documents his romance with a young woman who was a descendent of the Nehalem Indian Tribe. It’s themes of leaving the familiar and finding comfort and solace in a new place still resonate today.