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The Days I Loved You Most by Amy Neff

Contemporary fiction

The Days I Loved You Most

Debut

We love supporting debut authors. Congrats, Amy Neff, on your first book!

by Amy Neff

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Quick take

Elegiac but ultimately life-affirming, a devoted couple near the end of their lives grapple with the past and legacy.

Melancholy

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Romance

    Romance

  • Illustrated icon, Multiple_Viewpoints

    Multiple viewpoints

  • Illustrated icon, Nonlinear_Timeline

    Nonlinear timeline

  • Illustrated icon, Sad

    Sad

Synopsis

Unforgettable and utterly romantic, The Days I Loved You Most is an emotional, life-affirming novel that asks, What if you could write the final chapter of your own love story?

In the summer of 1941, on the New England shores where they were raised, Evelyn and Joseph fell in love. Now, more than sixty years later, with a lifetime between them, they have gathered their three grown children to share the staggering news: she has received a heartbreaking diagnosis, and he can’t live without her. So in one year’s time they will end their love story on their own terms.

Over the next year, the couple retraces their past—all the joys and regrets that brought them to this moment. They embark on a journey to live out their greatest dreams and to connect with each of their children. But as their final days draw closer, they must confront the stark reality of what’s to come, and make peace with the legacy they will leave behind for their family.

Spanning the twentieth century from World War II to 9/11 and beyond, The Days I Loved You Most is a timeless tale of unwavering devotion—a moving tribute to the enduring power of love and a reminder that even in the darkest moments, there is always hope and beauty to be found.

Content warning

This book contains mentions of suicidal ideation.

Free sample

Get an early look from the first pages of The Days I Loved You Most.

The Days I Loved You Most

One

Evelyn

June 2001

Joseph’s words loom before us, waiting. I reach for his hand, calmed by the map of calluses, cuticles rimmed with dirt from planting bulbs this afternoon. My fingers shake in his grip. Sweat forms where our palms meet.

Our children sit across from us on the sagging couch. They are silent. The two lamps nearest us glow yellow beneath their shades. Joseph clicked them on as the room darkened, no one willing to interrupt the conversation to stand and flip on the lights overhead. Moonlight spills onto the dual pianos in the study, glinting off the ivory keys. The windows are open to the night that moved in as we spoke and the air is stale and thick, exceptionally hot for late spring in Connecticut. The only sound is the whirring ceiling fan above and the echo of waves from Bernard Beach around the bend.

When the kids were growing up and our home was still the Oyster Shell Inn, the coffee table hid beneath half-finished puzzles depicting New England lighthouses. Tonight, it’s buried in appetizers, blocks of cheese that have begun to gloss and soften; stems of plucked grapes and a few lone crackers litter the platters. Joseph told me not to go to the trouble—but Thomas had come from Manhattan and we hadn’t seen him since Christmas. This rare visit from our son gave me an excuse to walk to the new wine and cheese shop in town. The one across from Vic’s Grinders that had been there since the grandkids were young, and Joseph pressed dollar bills into their palms before sending them to fetch wax paper-wrapped sandwiches for lunch on the beach. Joseph tried to talk me out of it but I can still find my way, though I move slower now. The mission kept me focused, my mind from drifting.

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Why I love it

Seldom have I been so moved by a book as I was by The Days I Loved You Most!

When Evelyn learns that she has a terminal illness, she and her husband of sixty years, Joseph, make a stunning decision: In one year, they will end their lives together. They inform their three adult children and begin to live out the plan despite their family’s suggestions.

The story that follows is both a chronicle of that year and of the sumptuous preceding decades of their lives, from the Second World War to the present. The Days I Loved You Most is equal parts touching romance and family saga, set against the backdrop of more than a half century. It is about the lives we build and the legacies we leave and learning to savor the most important moments. The book’s ending is as surprising as it is moving, and it left me asking hard questions even as I dried my eyes.

Fans of Nicholas Sparks and Jojo Moyes will devour, as I did, this unforgettable story about loss, second chances and the lengths to which we are willing to go for love. As a mother, child, and wife, I felt every moment of this story, and I laughed, cried with, and rooted for Evelyn and Joseph every step of the way. Grab your tissues and call your book club because your next must-read has arrived!

Member ratings (672)

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Debut authors
View all
The Collected Regrets of Clover
How to End a Love Story
Lessons in Chemistry
Ink Blood Sister Scribe
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow
All We Were Promised
A Thousand Times Before
Ariadne
The Wishing Game
The Days I Loved You Most
Red, White & Royal Blue
The Wives
Honey
Adelaide
Here After
Spitting Gold
The Ministry of Time
Did I Ever Tell You?
Northwoods
Middletide
This Spells Love
A Short Walk Through a Wide World
The Storm We Made
Neighbors and Other Stories
The Husbands
More
You, Again
The Other Valley
The Love Hypothesis
Shark Heart
Hard by a Great Forest
Maame
The Circus Train
The Mayor of Maxwell Street
The Other Black Girl
Weyward
Thistlefoot
The Push
Age of Vice
A Flicker in the Dark
The Lost Apothecary
Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?
One Day in December
Paper Names
We Are the Brennans
Black Cake
The Last Russian Doll
Olga Dies Dreaming
She Started It
Bringing Down the Duke
Crying in H Mart
The Kiss Quotient
Somebody's Daughter
The Hacienda
Beautiful Country
Lunar Love
Kaikeyi
River Sing Me Home
Love & Other Disasters
The Fortunes of Jaded Women
Sign Here
The Stranger Upstairs
Damnation Spring
The Maid
The Verifiers
A Little Hope
In Every Mirror She's Black
Taste Makers
Fiona and Jane
Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?
Camp Zero
The Last Story of Mina Lee
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev
My Body
Honey Girl
Vladimir
Big Friendship
Black Buck
White Ivy
Three Women
White Horse
Someday, Maybe
Peach Blossom Spring
The Night Charter
Behold the Dreamers
The Mothers
The Animators
Marlena
The Windfall
Sharp Objects
The Girl Who Smiled Beads
Small Country
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
Golden Child
The Winter Sister
Small Fry
Too Much Is Not Enough
All That You Leave Behind
Doing Justice
Again, But Better
Free Food for Millionaires
Leaving the Witness
On The Clock
All of Us with Wings
Color Me In
Frankly in Love
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them
The Water Dancer
Full Disclosure
When the Stars Lead to You
My Friend Anna
Trick Mirror
The Girl with the Louding Voice
The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P
A Burning
The Boy in the Red Dress
Fleishman Is in Trouble
The Beauty in Breaking
The Comeback
The Prophets
Girl A
Arsenic and Adobo
What Comes After
Things We Lost to the Water
The Family
The Keeper of Night
Win Me Something
Four Weekends and a Funeral