Rosie Walsh lived and traveled all over the world, working as a documentary producer and writer. Ghosted, her American debut, was a bestseller and has sold more than one million copies worldwide. The Love of My Life is her second novel. She lives in Devon, England, with her partner and two children. You can find her online at RosieWalsh.com.
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 just might have gotten away with it if it weren't for her husband's job. Leo is an obituary writer; Emma is a well-known marine biologist. When she suffers a serious illness, Leo copes by doing what he knows best: researching and writing—but this time about his wife's life. Yet 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.
This novel is divided into three sections that cleanly bring about the narrative. In the first, we learn about Emma's and Leo's marriage and relationship. We watch as Leo begins to uncover secrets, things that don't line up with what Emma has told him over the years. In the second section, we get the full story. And in the third, the subsequent fallout and ending. The story is narrated by Leo and Emma, both of them providing insights and their own thoughts. Emma's perspective, though, also misleads readers, creating a twisty type of mystery to the overall book. While absolutely a story about two people trying to come together in the face of years of secrets, there can be no doubt about how mystery plays a key role in both the past and present timelines.
What I really enjoyed about the book is how we don't fully connect the dots between Emma, Leo, Jeremy, and Janice until the very end, but none of the characters hold themselves back from sharing their emotions with us. While those emotions are expertly written in a way that sometimes misleads and confuses, it is all done deliberately to keep readers on our toes, and for maximum enjoyment of the novel itself. I found this to be the biggest strength of the novel, possibly tied with how Walsh so beautifully and heartbreakingly depicted the many stages of Leo's and Emma's relationship.
So much of the story revolves around lies, identity, secrets, and how other people help us define our sense of self. This description of the themes makes the novel sound ambitious, like something that would be impossible to pull off. But with a truly unique type of story, I do believe Walsh succeeds, not only in making us believe and root for her characters, but also in making us recognize the power secrets and identity have in our lives. We also see a real depiction of how secrets and lies affect a seemingly-perfect relationship, and the power of resilience in that situation. I truly won't be able to think of secrets and lies the same way, just based on the quietly (and not-so-quietly) destructive nature they have in just this one novel.
Rosie Walsh is truly an expert storyteller, and I am so glad I had the chance to read The Love of My Life. I hope others also take a chance on this one, and enjoy it as much as I did. You can find more of Rosie Walsh online at RosieWalsh.com.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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