by Amy Bloom
First published 2022
Amy Bloom notices troubling changes in her husband Brian. He leaves a job he loves early. He stops spending time with close friends. Their evening walks together end. An MRI delivers the diagnosis they both fear: Alzheimer's disease. Brian refuses to let the illness strip away his dignity. He decides he wants to die while he can still choose how. Amy supports his decision. Together they travel to Switzerland, where Dignitas helps people end their lives on their own terms. Bloom writes about their final journey with honesty and humor. She explores how two people can love each other enough to say goodbye while they still recognize each other. This memoir examines the hardest conversations couples face and shows how marriage can endure even its own ending.
Genres: family-life, contemporary, biography-memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, grief
Setting: Switzerland
Period: 21st-century
240 pages · Hardcover · Random House
Content warnings: terminal-illness