In Love

Moving, compelling, captivating, heartbreaking. Audiobook perfectly narrated by the author.

My guess is that writing this book was an enormously helpful way of coping with the experience of accompanying her husband on his journey. It's an important story, beautifully told.

A moving, heartfelt, but courageously honest memoir about Amy Bloom's lived experience, from her first realization that her beloved husband, Brian, was showing symptoms of early-onset Alzheimer's through the devastating diagnosis and finally, his decision to choose assisted suicide through Dignitas, an organization in Zurich, Switzerland that empowers a person to end their own life with dignity and peace. She supported him throughout the process even as she jumped through legal red-tape and frustrating obstacles to make it happen, while occasionally succumbing to overwhelming grief at the thought of letting him go.

This was a blisteringly moving account, brutal to read but so necessary in today's world. It's a love story of a woman who cared enough to let her partner die peacefully rather than force him to tolerate gradual deterioration and humiliation. You will find yourself wishing for a different outcome even though you know what is coming, you will find yourself crying as you imagine the scenario with your own loved ones, and you will thank whoever urged you to read this unforgettable and important book.

My thanks to NetGalley for letting me read an advanced reader copy of this memoir that releases coincidentally on the same day as my own debut, March 8, 2022.

A lovely, poignant memoir.