In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss

In this powerful memoir of boundary-defying love, the New York Times bestselling author of Away and White Houses tells the story of her husband’s discovery of his early onset Alzheimer’s, their growing understanding of the illness and his painful and affirming decision to choose his own ending.

“If you think that a long life is of great value just because it is our only time here on earth, or because you appreciate what God has allotted you, or because there might be the possibility of treatment or cure for whatever ails you within your lifetime, if only the lifetime is long enough—your view will be different than mine."

In Love is an unforgettable portrait of one couple’s determination to support each other in their last journey together. Amy Bloom and her husband Brian’s world was changed forever when an MRI confirmed the truth they could no longer ignore. Bloom reflects back on the loving marriage they shared, and then the sudden cascade of things going wrong: Brian’s decision to retire, his withdrawal from friends. Suddenly, it seemed there was a glass wall between them, and they weren’t able to talk as they always had. Finally confronted with the diagnosis and the daily frustrations and realities of Alzheimer’s, Brian became determined to die on his feet, not live on his knees. Together they find their difficult way to Dignitas, an organization based in Switzerland that empowers a person to end their own life with dignity and peace. 

Written in Bloom’s captivating, insightful voice and with her trademark wit and candor, In Love is an illuminating story of two people whose love and shared life experiences inspired them to find a courageous way to part—and of a woman’s determination to find peace in the aftermath of loss.