Description
When Gabi and Jay first fell passionately in love,
they lived on different continents.
Separated for nine years by circumstances and distance,
they eventually found a way to marry.
Over three decades though, alcoholism tore them apart, and Gabi moved on.
Then a fatal diagnosis forced them both to make decisions.
Without love, Jay’s final journey would be lonely and hard,
and Gabi knew she had to return to care for him.
But she never expected to fall in love again.
This moving memoir doesn’t shy away from the realities of life,
but the relationship between these two lovers,
tested by separations, alcoholism,
and to its ultimate limit by pancreatic cancer, proves that love—and a sense of humor—
can conquer anything, even death.
Praise for Love’s Journey Home’
A beautifully told true-life love story, facing addiction and death with candor and wisdom. Many readers will connect with Coatsworth’s story of building a family and navigating single motherhood, remarriage, divorce, and the unthinkable. She shares her story with candor, wisdom, and heart, and lays bare her feelings about facing those challenges with rare vulnerability.
I just loved this book! This is a wonderful memoir…the way the author describes love—she did a stunning job.
A compelling and honest memoir covering the history of a marriage where passionate love is lost and found. Each character comes alive on the page, demanding respect and sympathy, with scenes that evoke both laughter and tears.
What a wonderful book! Gabi Coatsworth brings this tale of love and loss--and love again--to life. Reading it, I felt as if I was right there in the room, experiencing all the sorrow and sweetness, the heartbreak and joy, of real, lasting love.
Love’s Journey Home is a moving love story, a memoir of a marriage, and a tribute to a caregiver and her patient, who rediscover the depth of their love as the hour of final separation approaches.
Readers' guide / Book club questions
I hope these questions provide food for thought for you and/or your book club.
- What surprised you most about the book as you were reading it?
- Do you believe in love at first sight?
- Gabi and Jay met in the 1970s. Do you think the social upheavals of the time contributed to their instant attraction?
- What effect do you think the frequent separations had on Gabi and Jay’s romance? Does absence make the heart grow fonder?
- Letters formed a huge part of the way Jay and Gabi really got to know each other though they were thousands of miles apart. Have you ever written a love letter? Do you have any love letters, either of your own or of an older generation? Do you wish you had?
- Gabi left England in 1979, expecting to be away for six months. Would you like to do something similar?
- How do you think the losses in Gabi’s life affected her emotional journey?
- What could she have done differently to improve the marriage? What would you have done?
- Many people have experienced cancer and or alcoholism in their life, either directly or via people they know. If you have, how did that affect your reaction to the book?
- Do you believe that this book has a happy ending after all, or is it tragic?
- What about this book has stayed with you?
Thanks for reading the book!
Gail Ingis
Gabi, every word spoke to me. Your life, your love, your precious family filled my heart. You amazed me with the structure you adopted to weave in backstory. You showed strength of character through the difficulties of divorce, remarriage, single motherhood, devastating sickness, and death. Thank you for sharing your life with truth, insight and caring. Your book, Love’s Journey Home, was the best of the many memoirs I’ve read and helpful to me as I write mine.
Gabi Coatsworth
Thanks so much Gail – I’m glad you found the memoir interesting – I never know how people will react, because everyone brings their own history to the table… Good luck with yours