The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Mehmedinovič, Semezdin. My Heart. Catapult, 2017.

Semezdin Mehmedinovič's novel My Heart, is written from Sem's first person point of view, and employs a fragmented narrative structure. Though the novel shifts frequently between past and present, the following summary adheres to a more linear form of explanation. The novel also uses a multiplicity of tenses, while this summary primarily uses the present.

In the novel's opening section, "Me'Med," Sem wakes up one morning and feels strange. While getting ready for work, he has a metallic taste in his mouth, and is overcome by a profound exhaustion. Though his wife, Sanja, tries making him comfortable, Sem is immobilized by pain and fatigue. When the ambulance arrives, the paramedics tell Sem he is having a heart attack. Sem suddenly feels calm. He not only disbelieves what the paramedics are telling him, but his mind has drifted outside his body, and is observing the scene from the third person.

At the hospital, medical personnel swarm Sem. None of them seem to regard him as a real person, and treat his body as if it is an inanimate object. After open-heart surgery, Sem feels better. He spends the following days in the hospital, where he shares a room with an elderly Slovakian man named Lukas. Observing Lukas, and his adherence to Slovak instead of English, moves Sem. He is reminded of the country, culture, and life he lost years prior when he immigrated to the States from Bosnia.

Throughout his time in the hospital, Sem contemplates mortality, the human spirit, and the finite nature of all existence.

In the second section, "Red Bandana," six months have passed since Sem's heart attack. Realizing that his medication is affecting his memory, he tells his doctor he no longer wants to take it. The doctor advises against, but to Sem, forgetting is another form of dying. He decides that he needs to be in the company of someone with whom he has shared large portions of his life, and buys a plane ticket to Arizona. There, he meets up with his son, Harun. He and Harun then travel through the southwestern states for a week. Harun works as a nomadic photographer, perpetually hunting the best photos in remote landscapes.

Though Sem hoped the trip would allow him and Harun to talk about their shared memories, and rediscover their past, he soon realizes that Harun has suppressed almost all of his memory from Bosnia. Throughout the journey, Sem obsessively records everything he sees and feels. He addresses a large portion of his notes to Harun, hoping to one day pass them on.

In the final section of the novel, "Snowflake," a year after his southwestern trip, Sem's wife Sanja has a stroke. Sem is horrified to discover in the hospital that Sanja's stroke has erased large swaths of their life together. During the weeks he spends by her bedside, Sem feels as if he is losing his sense of self. Sanja was one of his only connections to his past life and world. Her inability to remember threatens his.

Once Sanja is finally released, Sem's hope is renewed. He thinks bringing her back to the familiarity of their home, will suddenly awaken her to what she has forgotten. When they arrive at their apartment, however, Sanja is seeing the building as if for the first time. In the weeks and months that follow, Sem helps Sanja remember as much as he can. He realizes that the experience has deepened their love. Writing about the experience also helps him process their shared and distinct versions of loss and isolation.