A unique story line written with emotion and understanding. Leo writes obituaries. The ones that are written before a celebrity's death. When his wife Emma is faced with a serious medical condition, he uses his emotions to write her obituary. Leo will find that Emma's life story is not the story he knows. As a unique story line, the emotions are stirred with each new discovery, yet she's still his Emma. Isn't she? With a mix of genres and a dash of daring, Rosie Walsh has skillfully written the life into these characters and through them, into ours.

This book explores something I think we all grapple with - how much of our pasts the most important people in our lives are entitled to be privy to, and how much we can keep to ourselves without something being a lie of omission. While others might have knocked this book down a few stars for not managing to squarely fit into just one genre, I thought the shifts made the storytelling more honest. If life is messy, why can't a book about a woman's life be the same?

I am a huge Rosie Walsh fan and loved about the first 3/4 of this but the ending took a really odd turn for me that I didn't quite get -- like I was reading a totally different book. That said, I'd pick up her next one without hesitation.

This book was a bit all over the place, but the story was a good one. It is told in perspectives of both Emma and her husband Leo. It seems like they have the perfect life, with their child and Emma's clean bill of health.

Except Leo comes across some papers that are a bit confusing, as they contridict things Emma has told him throughout their life together. He confronts her about it and the book tries to explain what is going on. There is another woman who has disappeared - is Emma connected to this?

Without going into more detail for fear of spoilers, the book does a very good job of showing Leo's grief, trying to understand his wife. He tries to reconcile what he knows with the new truths he is finding out. He needs to understand why his wife lied and if he wants to forgive her.

This is a bit of a thriller and a bit of a domestic drama. There were a few things that were a bit weird (Jill's behavior... not explained well?) but overall it was well done.

One of my favorite books from last year. I've passed it along to 3 different friends and they all loved it as well. Well written, way better than I expected from the description and cover.

I rated this 5 out of 5 stars as soon as I finished the book, but forgot to come back to write the review while it was fresh on my mind. However, I only rate few books a full 5 stars, so I know it is one I highly recommend

When I tell you that I love Rosie Walsh, I mean I LOVE her. Her book Ghosted is an all time favorite of mine that I reread/relisten to every year. So TLOML had a lot to live up to - and it delivered! Walsh is amazing at crafting books that don’t fit neatly into any one genre. This is a mystery/family drama/love story all wrapped up into one un-put-downable book. I could not stop reading - literally just read the whole thing in one sitting, promising myself “okay just ONE more chapter” (each promise was a lie) until I finished the whole book. Waaaay past my bedtime - but it was worth it.

Grab yourself a copy of The Love of My Life - and Ghosted! - asap!

This was an interesting read and while I enjoyed it it was not a favorite read of mine. My main issue was that the genre seemed to be all over the place. My favorite genre is mystery/thriller, and while this is part of the book there are also parts that are more drama and women's fiction.

Emma is a marine biologist who has battled blood cancer. Her and her husband Leo struggled for a baby and when she found out she was pregnant it was scary as she was in the midst of the cancer. But, Ruby was born and Emma seemed fine. So, when she starts to feel unwell they are scared and rightfully so.

Leo writes obituaries for a living and even though it sounds morbid he starts to write his wife's. Not because he is anticipating she will die but it helps him get through. But, the more digging he does the more he finds out he doesn't really know his wife at all. And some of the things he finds out make him question -who did I marry?

The plot was decent as were the characters. I just felt that the writing was a little all over the place for my liking.

I somehow neglected to post my review on time! But my customers and book friends know I loved it. There are lots of issues to discuss, dealing with marriage, secrets, social circles, parenthood, and illness. And I loved the unusual coupling of an obituary writer and a marine biologist! An enjoyable read, though definitely heartstring-tugging at times.

I really liked this book. I thought I knew where it was headed, but I enjoyed being proven wrong! It was creative and compelling and grabbed my interest from the very first chapter. I couldn't wait to finish it!

When his wife Rosie becomes ill and it seems she may not survive, obituary writer Leo begins to write her obituary as she is a well-known writer. He uncovers some confusing information and soon finds out that there are some serious things he did not know about his wife and her past.

This was just riveting at the start and I was in suspense trying to see how everything would fit together. As the book went on, the explanations became pretty far-fetched and it became harder to connect to the characters or story.

I stayed up until dawn to finish The Love of My Life, engrossed by the mystery surrounding Leo and his wife, Emma. Leo is an obituary writer at a London newspaper. Emma is a well-known marine biologist battling cancer. While they await the results of her last round of chemo, Leo is tasked with writing an advance obituary for his wife. He agonizes over such a morbid duty, but he figures that he knows Emma best and is the most qualified to write it. He starts writing in secret, not wanting to burden his already stressed wife. However, he soon uncovers things he never knew about her, leading him to realize that Emma has been keeping some huge secrets from him, and he starts to delve into her past.

The story switches between their viewpoints, between present and past, slowly uncovering all the devastating secrets Emma has been keeping. Walsh keeps ratcheting the tension, revealing more twists and turns in the story, until a wonderfully satisfying denouement is reached.

Thank for the opportunity to read this book. This one ended up not working for me. I found it hard to connect with the characters.

Emma loves her husband Leo and their young daughter Ruby: she’d do anything for them. But almost everything she's told them about herself is a lie.

And she might just have got away with it, if it weren’t for her husband’s job. Leo is an obituary writer; Emma a well-known marine biologist. When she suffers a serious illness, Leo copes by doing what he knows best – researching and writing about his wife’s life. But as he starts to unravel the truth, he discovers the woman he loves doesn’t really exist. Even her name isn’t real.

When the very darkest moments of Emma’s past finally emerge, she must somehow prove to Leo that she really is the woman he always thought she was . . .

But first, she must tell him about the other love of her life.

I'm so glad I picked this up on the recommendation of bookseller friends. The premise is this: Emma and Leo have been happily married for ten years when Leo, an obituary writer, takes on an assignment at work. As an esteemed obituary writer, one of his jobs is to draft advance obituaries for well-known individuals so they're ready, should they be needed. As a noted marine biologist, Emma ranks an advance obit—but when Leo begins researching his wife's life, he quickly discovers the truth doesn't match the story she's told him. He doesn't even know her real name, and she's never breathed a word to him about the first love of her life. The multiple points of view Walsh employed served the story perfectly; I raced through this book to learn the truth alongside Leo. Two notes: I began this on audio, but quickly switched to print, a change I think was for the best. And while details would spoil the plot, sensitive readers may want to research this book's content warnings before diving in.

The Love of My Life is a novel full of suspense in the vein of Gone Girl or Girl on a Train. Emily was happily married to Leo and they have a beautiful young daughter, Ruby. Emily loves her life and her job as a marine biologist. When she falls gravely ill, Leo copes in the only way he knows how, by writing her obituary. It is while researching his wife - who survives the illness - that Leo finds Emily is not at all who she says she is, not even her name is real. As he uncovers the awful truth of her past, Emily must struggle to show Leo that she is the woman he fell in love with. And she must also face the horrors of her past. Rosie Walsh has written a book that grabs your attention and refuses to let go until the last page. It is impossible to put down. The Love of My Life has a great twist that makes for an excellent read and would provide hours of discussion for book clubs. I enjoyed reading this book and I'm grateful to Net Galley for the chance to read the ARC.

Emma and her husband, Leo, are celebrating the "all clear" she received from her doctor. Cancer that has been invading their lives for the last several years is officially in remission. Now that they are out of the woods, Leo, a well-known obituary writer, writes his wife's obituary. Being a well-known marine biologist qualifies her for having a stock obituary ready to go, so he digs into her life to tell her story. But as he digs, he realizes that Emma has been keeping secrets from him. For their entire relationship. When Emma goes missing, Leo digs even deeper to discover that some of the secrets she has been keeping could end their marriage. Will Leo ever understand Emma's secrets before it is too late?



If I have said it once, I have said it a dozen times. So many of the issues couples have in books like The Love of My Life could be solved with proper communication. Just talk to each other! I didn't hate either of them, I just didn't connect with them. Either Emma or Leo. As Leo investigates his wife for her future obituary he discovers secrets she had kept from him. And I felt bad for both of them, but again, the communication should have been better between a husband and wife. Things worked out for both of them, but only because they finally started talking to each other.



Bottom Line - I am getting discouraged with thrillers that really aren't thrillers because communication could solve all of their problems. I love a good thriller, but I hate it when the root of the issue is just two people who don't know how to communicate.



Details:

The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh
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Pages: 384
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Publication Date: 3/1/2022
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Thank you to NetGalley!

I really liked this book. The story line and the mystery of it. I like alternative chapters and different POV in a book. Keeps me interested. Good character building and a good story line. It's a good one, you should read it.

I read several reviews of this book that were all very favorable.. However, I did not enjoy this book at all. A young couple(she Is a Marine Biologist, he an Obituary writer) seem to have it all. A wonderful marriage, a beautiful child, what possibly could go wrong? Hidden secrets threatened to destroy their lives as they knew it. I found the first part of the book slow to catch on, I did finish it. I will not be recommending it.

Emma is a marine biologist, studying tide pools in England. Her husband Leo writes obituaries for the local paper. They share a lovely life together with their daughter Ruby until all is upended by Emma’s lies.

This book is a mystery-and while I don’t usually gravitate towards mysteries, I have heard a lot of buzz about this book. I loved it because unlike many mysteries that keep you guessing until the last page, this mystery unfolded about halfway through but the book remained a page-turner because you wanted to see how the characters developed. Like other reviewers, I was reminded a little of “The Last Thing he Told Me” but that may be because I do not read a lot of mysteries:) Solid book that I highly recommend!

Thank you to @vikingbooks and @netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this ebook, which is available now.

Rating rounded up from 2.5 stars.

The more I've thought about this book since finishing it, I keep realizing more details that bug me. There was more than one instance of a situation that would be overly drawn out or exaggerated to manufacture drama where it wasn't remotely necessary. And then parts of the story that SHOULD have been big and dramatic got very little elaboration.

I wanted to like it more. I *did* like this book for most of the time I was reading it. And then the last several plot twists and reveals just felt ...off. I can't say much more without getting spoiler-y.