I'm a little behind in posting this book review since the book came out earlier this month, but here it is: Amy Bloom's new book In Love came out earlier this month! In this memoir, Bloom recounts her husband's Alzheimer's diagnosis and his decision to ultimately end his life by assisted suicide.
It's a heartbreaking story, though one I'm not sure was told in the best possible way. Each chapter takes you back and forth between the past and present, so one moment you're reading about Bloom and her husband in Switzerland preparing for his death and then you're taken back to the process of applying for the Swiss program, Dignitas, and then you're reading about how Bloom and her husband met, and then it's flash forward a bit to when Bloom first started noticing "off" things about her husband's behavior.
For me, the constant back and forth made it hard to keep track of what was happening and who the people were. It was very stream-of-consciousness, but I needed something a little more linear. Perhaps Bloom was trying to capture the stressful feeling of that time in her life or attempting to put the reader into a dementia mindset.
I did find it interesting how relegated death is in America, and I applaud Bloom for writing about her husband's very difficult and very personal decision, as well as her decision to support him.
In Love is published by Random House and is available to purchase now. I received a free e-ARC in exchange for this review.
Comments
Post a Comment