This small book contains multitudes Marina WarnerFor those who have suffered for and in love this may prove to be one of the most useful books they will ever read Nicholas Lezard GuardianAn extraordinary uncompromising and consoling celebration of a life through childhood faith family love friendship pain and loss written as its author was facing her own mortalityGillian Rose was a star academic acclaimed as one of the most dazzling and original thinkers of her time. Told that she had incurable cancer she found a new way to explore the world and herself. Tender heartbreakingly honest and written with moments of surprising humour Loves Work is the exhilarating result.In this short unforgettable memoir Rose looks back on her childhood from the young dyslexic girl torn between father and stepfather to the adolescent confronting her Jewish inheritance. As an adult Gillian Rose proves herself a passionate friend a searcher for truth a woman in love and finally an exacting but generous patient.Intertwining the personal and the philosophical Rose meditates on faith conflict and injustice the fallibility and endurance of love our yearning for independence and for connection to others. With droll selfknowledge I am highly qualified in unhappy love affairs Rose writes and with unsettling wisdom To live to love is to be failed Loves Work asks the unanswerable question how is a life best lived