“The Love of My Life” Dig Into This Twisty Tale With This (Free!) Book Club Guide
The Love of My Life immerses you in twisty turns, deep deceptions, and a sheer force of love that will break your heart. This free guide — complete with book review, discussion questions, & activities — will enhance your book club & take your bookish fun off the page!
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You finally pick up that long-awaited novel, settling in for a tranquil evening. Immediately you realize this book is bursting with many “feels,” but tranquility is not one of them! Soon the night feels darker, the air seems thinner, and you find yourself stealing glances across the room at the one you know so well, wondering if you actually know them at all… That is when you realize you’re immersed in a great domestic thriller!
If The Love of My Life is in your hand, prepare for twisty turns, deep deceptions, and a sheer force of love that will break your heart. You’ll find yourself silently (or maybe out loud!) screaming “How??” and “Why??” and wondering just what you would do if you were one of the characters in this story.
But First…Is This Book For You?
Just the facts.
Things to note.
Some readers know the type of books they always like, and more importantly, exactly the type of books they don’t enjoy. If that is you, these tidbits will be helpful.
To be near to my wife, to Emma, is to return to source... So when I learn, in the days following this morning — this innocent, commonplace morning, with dogs and frogs and coffee … — that I know nothing of this woman, it will break me.”
LEO BIGELOW, THE LOVE OF MY LIFE
You might like this book if…
Different readers like different books for different reasons, so I hesitate to give “similar reads” or “you’ll like this if you liked that” recommendations. However, if you enjoy domestic thrillers, complicated and flawed characters, and are okay with sensitive topics, this book is likely a good choice for you. You may appreciate The Love of My Life if you enjoyed:
The Story’s (Back) Story
Rosie Walsh, our author, met an obituary writer at a dinner party. Intrigued and surprised that obits are written in advance, she immediately made a note on her phone “Obituary writer researching someone’s life. Discovers things that don’t add up.” Later she narrowed the idea to “An obit writer starts researching his wife’s life and discovers she is not what she says she is.” (Point 19:07 in the video). And so The Love of my Life was born.
The interesting aspect of obituary writing was her first inspiration for this book. Equally inspiring was the tragic-comic aspect of how we all — consciously and unconsciously — curate the image the world sees, both while we are living and after we are gone. It’s an interesting question and I admit I haven’t spent much time considering it until I read this book.
Prompts for a year’s worth of literary inspiration!
Now…Was The Book For Me
Just a few pages in, we know that, despite the loving relationship Emma and Leo Bigelow share, at its very core rests Emma’s deceptions, layered one atop another.
But you’re not supposed to like the deceiver in a domestic thriller, right? Rosie Walsh throws that convention out to sea when she creates the characters in this book, and she does it brilliantly!
Walsh is a talented writer and she constructs this story masterfully. The alternating viewpoints and clever use of pronouns rather than names provide enough ambiguity to keep me guessing. I loved the dual first-person point of view (it was fabulous as an audiobook!). The layers of this story seamlessly overlapped from one narrator to the next, revealing more secrets and twists with each perspective. Each time I thought I knew where the story was going, the twisty tale led me deeper and deeper into the mystery of Emma’s past.
What would persuade you to erase every detail of yourself from the record and start again as someone new?
Rosie Walsh, GMA Bookclub instagram
The multifaceted and complex characters struggle to discover just how much they are willing to sacrifice and forgive for “the love of their life,” and as readers, we find ourselves asking the same questions. I’m still marveling at the depths of the human heart. There is no neat bow at the end, though I found the conclusion completely satisfying.
Was this a love story? A suspenseful mystery? Psychological domestic thriller? Women’s fiction? Yes — all of the above. The Love of My Life didn’t fall into one specific genre, and while that may bother some readers, I found it a reflection of, well…life.
Moral dilemmas abound in this book and the author hopes to open discussions around those topics. Believe me, there is much to discuss! Oh, and she wants you to feel like you just came to the end of a thrilling roller coaster ride. I think she succeeds on both counts!
Book Club Discussion Questions for The Love of My Life
- Was it right for Leo to research and write Emma’s obit without telling her?
- How would writing a preemptive obit for the central person in your life feel?
- Did this book leave you with any loose threads? Did the ending frustrate or satisfy you?
- Journaling/keeping a diary: do you regularly journal? Why? What is the benefit? Do you want to but are afraid? Do you worry someone will read it?
- Who kept the darkest secret in this story? Did this blindside you or did you see it coming?
- When Leo tells his brother Olly that Emma has secrets, Olly says he has secrets from his wife, too, and that we all keep things to ourselves. Do you think this is true in a healthy intimate relationship?
- At what point do “things we keep to ourselves” cross the line and become detrimental to a healthy relationship?
The W·O·L Twist (aka The Reason You Are Here!)
The Words On Location (W·O·L) Twist is the secret sauce that brings your book to life. From the most laid-back to the most adventurous reader, there is something here for everyone. Choose any of these book-inspired activities, or use them to prompt your own ideas.
Visit Hampstead. In-person or virtually, Hampstead offers up buckets of charm. If you are lucky enough to live close by or have ever visited Hampstead, you no doubt have a camera roll full of blooming flowers, quaint pubs, and colorful ivy climbing over old architecture.
If you can’t visit personally, virtual tours are always a good option. Blue Badge Guide Katie from Lookup London delivers lots of interesting history in this video.
Explore Keats House & Learn about John Keats. John Keats wasn’t just Emma and Leo’s dog ?, he was a famous poet who lived in Hampstead. Though he died tragically young, his work over a short span of six years is considered extraordinary. Learn more about Keats, his home in Hampstead, and his poetry at the John Keats Foundation. Your group may enjoy listening to these videos of his poetry readings, or this narrated video tour of Keats House.
Get wet (or not!) with various marine activities. Emma was a renowned intertidal ecologist (I admit I didn’t even know that specialty existed before I read this book!). If your location allows, consider spending the day at an aquarium, or walking on the beach during low tide paying attention to the intertidal life you find there. Even the seashells you think are simply ocean debris may still house living creatures!
Learn more about intertidal ecosystems with this short video.
Take your book club for something yummy. Ice cream isn’t just for little kids like Ruby! Host your book club at your favorite ice cream parlor. Better yet, enjoy your treats in a nearby park.
Prefer a dinner gathering? Seafood would be a great choice (just don’t tell Emma if you opt for the crab dish — cringe!)
Journaling/keeping a diary. Do you regularly journal? If not, today is a great day to start! Consider easing into the practice with one of the many One Line A Day journals. If journaling is already a habit, it would be fun to enhance the practice — I am personally excited to dig into The Artist’s Way books.
The Last Page…Now It’s Your Turn
Now it is time to take all your bookish fun off the page! Let me know which W·O·L Twist your book club chooses. Share your fun in the comments or on Instagram — tag me @wendy_staton and use #WordsOnLocation.
Pin this to your bookish boards!
