Amy Neff will give an author talk on Oct. 1 at West Hartford’s Noah Webster Library.

By Ronni Newton

The West Hartford Public Library has announced that resident Amy Neff will give an author talk at the Noah Webster branch on Tuesday, Oct. 1, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Neff’s debut novel, “The Days I Loved You Most,” has become an international bestseller and has been translated into 20 editions – and counting. It’s an epic love story – that she lovingly crafted over the course of a decade – that’s also a love letter to the seaside town where her family has spent summers dating back to the early 20th century.

In an interview with We-Ha.com this summer about her novel, Neff said it is about family, and a “celebration of the beauty of life.”

Amy Neff holds her debut novel during an interview at Hartford Baking Company. Photo credit: Ronni Newton (we-ha.com file photo)

Evelyn was literally the girl next door when she and Joseph fell in love in 1941, growing up in a town along the Connecticut shore that mirrors a beach town where Neff’s own family has spent summers for six generations. But this is not your standard romance story where a couple has a courtship and comes together and lives happily – or even not so happily – ever after.

“I knew it would have to end,” Neff said, as all lives eventually do, but in this case the end is prompted by Evelyn’s diagnosis of a serious illness. This is not a spoiler because in the first chapter, she and Joseph sit down with their three adult children and tell them that they want their story to end on their own terms – in a year – and they plan to die together.

Neff takes the reader through various stages of their relationship – from before they even realized they were in love, to difficult years during World War II and at other periods of their lives, as each looks to realize their lifelong dreams, and through the struggles of parenting, of illnesses and addiction. Joseph and Evelyn are the main voices, but some of the chapters are from the perspective from each of the children as well.

The novel is heartfelt, heartwarming, and – because the reader knows that the love story will end – it’s also heartbreaking. At the same time, Neff said, it’s also life-affirming.

“The Days I Loved You Most” was published in the United States and Canada by Park Row in July, and by Bloomsbury in the UK, as well as by a variety of publishers in other countries. In Germany, the translated version “Warte auf Mich am Meer” is the “lead title for this year” for publisher Goldmann. Neff said it was their biggest launch ever, with campaigns in 13 cities and blurbs in every possible lifestyle or women’s magazine.

The author talk will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 6:30 p.m. To register for this program, please visit https://bit.ly/3MMI7CB.

For more information about Neff, connect with her on social media (@amyneffauthor), or through her website AmyNeff.com..

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