The Viscount Who Loved Me

The hero in this book, Anthony, lives with an intense fear that he will die young. His father and uncle both died before reaching 40, and he has convinced himself that he will do the same. It shapes his entire life, most notably when it comes to marrying and having kids. Quinn notes that this tends to be a male fear and that she worries the women reading her book won't be able to relate to it. But it struck home in a weirdly unexpected way.

You see, my husband's father died young. As did his father. We used to joke, blackly, that it had been a few generations since a man in his family had made it much past 60. And as irrational as it was, I entered my marriage fully expecting to outlive my husband. He would occasionally point out that there was no reason to believe he would die young. Nevertheless, in my heart of hearts, I did believe it.

Of course, by young, I was thinking 60. Not 34.

And now I have this fear, just as strong, just as irrational, that I will also outlive my son.

The point is that this book touched my core in a really unexpected and cathartic way. I cried really hard reading this book. So hard that, hours later, my son's preschool teacher asked me if everything is okay. Which, given everything, is really saying something. But sometimes a book comes along and it's exactly what you need and completely unexpected.

This book was perfect, for me, at this specific moment in time. I love when that happens.