August 2024

I read Amy Neff’s debut novel, THE DAYS I LOVED YOU MOST, about six months ago, and I have been waiting to share it with you. It’s a beautiful story about a 60-year marriage between two people who feel that they cannot live without each other. But it is so much more than that. It’s about falling in love, the ups and downs of a long marriage, and what more mature love feels like, as well as those early heady days.

Evelyn and Joseph grew up side by side in a beach town in Connecticut. There were tender moments at the beginning of their attraction to each other --- truly the making of young love. Then they find themselves married and sharing the ups and downs of everyday life as they raise a family.

At the start of the book, they have decided that Evelyn’s Parkinson’s disease has progressed, and in a year’s time she will not be herself. Knowing she will not want to live like that and Joseph believing he can’t live without her, they make a pact to die together in a year. Their children have varied reactions to this, each of which is told in single chapters that are shared in their voices. The rest of the book is told in the voices of Evelyn and Joseph as we walk with them through the days they loved each other.

Yes, this is a book that packs an emotional punch, but the beauty of the writing will grab you. Be sure to have tissues handy, but do ponder this: Amy is in her 30s. I marvel that she has the maturity to write about such a deep subject while she is so young.

If you want to hear more about THE DAYS I LOVED YOU MOST (with no spoilers), be sure to watch or listen to my interview with Amy.