The Love of My Life

The Love of My Life is a novel by bestselling novelist Rosie Walsh. The book, published by Viking in March 2022, is a romantic mystery that follows the story of Leo Philber and his wife, Emma Bigelow. After the traumatic experience of cancer treatment, Leo sets out to write an obituary about his wife, only to realize there are things about her he doesn’t know. As secrets are slowly revealed, Leo is both frustrated by the lies his wife told and amazed by the strength with which she endured a series of personal tragedies. The Love of My Life was first published in Germany, where it spent several weeks at the top of the bestseller list.

This guide refers to the 2022 Viking Kindle e-book edition.

Content Warning: This guide references the source material’s depiction of mental illness, alcohol addiction, drug use, and attempted suicide.

Plot Summary

Emma Bigelow has completed chemotherapy and is awaiting the results of her latest scans. Her husband, Leo Philber, is an obituary writer for a local paper. He has been writing her obituary to cope with her illness. After her scans show that Emma is in remission, Leo’s boss asks him to finish the obituary for their files in the event it should be necessary in the future. As Leo begins writing the piece, he realizes there are things he does not know about Emma, such as the cause of her mother’s death. Leo begins looking closer at paperwork and pictures in his home, leading him to discover his wife did not graduate from the university he thought she had.

Leo and Emma first meet at the funeral of Emma’s grandmother, a groundbreaking female Member of Parliament (MP). They hit it off and quickly begin dating. Not long after, Leo accidentally discovers that he was adopted when he finds some paperwork at his parents’ home. This causes a significant change in his relationship with his parents and makes Emma hesitant about revealing a secret she holds from Leo. It also causes Emma to lie to Leo about her meeting with Jeremy Rothschild.

Janice Rothschild, a well-known actress, has disappeared. Leo’s coworker, Sheila, is a friend of the Rothschilds, and she asks Leo probing questions about Emma that lead him to believe she knows something about Emma that he does not. Leo looks at Emma’s computer, emails, and text messages and discovers several messages between Emma and Jeremy, Janice’s husband.

Emma meets with Jeremy and learns that Janice wrote her a letter referencing a time when Emma and Janice were friendly and they came upon a crab carcass that might have been important to Emma’s work as a marine ecologist. Janice mentions the crab, but the letter is confusing and does not make much sense. Jeremy hoped it would give a clue to Janice’s whereabouts, but it does not.

After this meeting, Emma struggles to cut off contact with Jeremy. She writes a text message to him referencing his role as her child’s father that Leo accidentally sees. He jumps to the conclusion that his child with Emma is not his, and he leaves without giving Emma a chance to explain. When he finally returns home, open to an explanation, Emma does not show up. Worried, Leo turns to Jeremy for answers.

Jeremy explains to Leo that Emma became pregnant at university by Jeremy’s cousin, David. She turned to Jeremy because David was married. Jeremy and Janice offered to adopt Emma’s baby, and she initially agreed but changed her mind. After the baby’s birth, Emma experienced postpartum psychosis. Emma was treated in a hospital, and Janice began visiting. On one visit, Janice raised the alarm, claiming Emma was attempting to suffocate the baby. Shaken by this accusation, Emma once again asks Janice and Jeremy to adopt her baby.

After the adoption becomes final, Emma begins stalking the Rothschilds, trying to get a look at her growing child. One episode saw the child running up to Emma. She hugged him but walked away before anything else happened. However, Jeremy caught her leaving, and she was arrested for attempted kidnapping.

Leo is shocked to hear this story that Emma never told him. Shortly after, he learns where Emma is. She spent the day at her friend Jill’s where she met her now grown son, Charlie. Charlie has known about Emma all his life and has reached out to her now hoping to gain information about his mother’s disappearance. Emma has no answers for him.

Leo retrieves Emma, bringing her home. Charlie arrives at their home and reveals to Emma that Janice lied about the suffocation episode. The guilt of this lie has weighed on Janice, which is why she has disappeared. Emma has an idea about where Janice might have gone and takes Charlie there. She finds Janice with Leo’s help. Leo and Emma work out their differences and renew their wedding vows, and Emma begins building a relationship with Charlie.