How my ‘grief book’ became a romantic comedy
When my husband died from a heart attack in 2016, I turned to words to wrangle my way through the trauma and grief. I couldn’t seem to process any aspect of loss until I’d written about it. Tens of thousands of words later, I had a series of published articles about being a young widow (I was 42 when Jeff died, with a five-year-old son). But there was more to say—and it was information I couldn’t squeeze into a 600-word article.
I wanted—needed—to write a book about grief, but wasn’t clear on the genre. Non-fiction? Self-help? Memoir? None felt quite right.
It wasn’t until I landed on the idea of fiction that I felt liberated to go hard and deep into the rawest aspects of loss. I could tell the story of someone who knew grief intimately, but she wasn’t me.
Forty-year-old Kate Whittaker is juggling the loss of her husband with motherhood, her demanding job in university fundraising, an overbearing mother and a best friend intent on matchmaking her with someone new. It’s not until she becomes stranded with her boss, Hugh, on a work trip gone wrong, that she finally has time away from her child to process all she has lost, and everything the future may hold …
I wrote the romantic comedy, The Last Love Note , as a fictional tribute to our love, an attempt to articulate the magnitude of my loss, and a life-affirming commitment to hope.
Penguin Random House published the novel in January this year, and New York publisher Zibby Owens is bringing it to the US in November. The Australian Women’s Weekly chose it as their fiction extract, and several film companies, including some from Hollywood, have enquired about the film rights.
It’s the kind of novel I want people to emerge from with mascara running down their cheeks, loved up and inspired by the joy of love and life, having plunged to the life-changing depths of loss, drawn to the magic of second chances.
Humour and sadness coexist in real life, and they coexist in this novel. I wanted to tackle grief in an accessible, romantic story that would carry people through the full spectrum of emotions, never shying away from the devastation, but with a strong commitment to the magic of a Plan-B future.
One of the most precious offshoots of having this story published has been the connections I’ve made with readers. The conversations at book talks and writers’ festivals or in private messages are incredibly open and healing. There’s a strong sense of us all walking each other through.
My only regret is that I can’t turn to my husband and share with him the unfolding of this publishing journey—one I’d surrender in an instant if it meant I could have him back.
This book is my last love note to him.
You can find Emma here: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
The Last Love Note
In the aftermath of crushing grief, sole parent Kate Whittaker must learn to live and love again. It’s been tough raising her young son and wrangling a university fundraising job, an overbearing mother and a best friend intent on matchmaking her with someone new.
When Kate and her boss, Hugh, become stranded in a sleepy hamlet north of Byron Bay, she finally has a chance to process all that she’s been through and all that the future might hold. Caught in an impossible tangle of loss, love and unexpected longing, Kate wonders if she can risk her heart again.
But when it becomes clear that Hugh is hiding a secret from her past, all she has to guide her is the trail of scribbled notes she once used to hold her life together. The first note captured her heart. Will the last note set it free?
A sparkling Australian romantic comedy that will break your heart into a thousand shards and piece it back together again.
Read an extract and reviews of The Last Love Note here .
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