My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me: A Memoir

by Jason B. Rosenthal

Overview

An inspiring memoir of life, love, loss, and new beginnings by the widower of bestselling children’s author and filmmaker Amy Krouse Rosenthal, whose last of act of love before her death was setting the stage for her husband’s life without her in the viral New York Times Modern Love column, “You May Want to Marry My Husband.”

On March 3, 2017, Amy Krouse Rosenthal penned an op-ed piece for the New York Times’ “Modern Love” column —”You May Want to Marry My Husband.” It appeared ten days before her death from ovarian cancer. A heartbreaking, wry, brutally honest, and creative play on a personal ad—in which a dying wife encouraged her husband to go on and find happiness after her demise—the column quickly went viral, reaching more than five million people worldwide.

In My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me, Jason describes what came next: his commitment to respecting Amy’s wish, even as he struggled with her loss. Surveying his life before, with, and after Amy, Jason ruminates on love, the pain of watching a loved one suffer, and what it means to heal—how he and their three children, despite their profound sorrow, went on. Jason’s emotional journey offers insights on dying and death and the excruciating pain of losing a soulmate, and illuminates the lessons he learned.

As he reflects on Amy’s gift to him—a fresh start to fill his empty space with a new story—Jason describes how he continues to honor Amy’s life and her last wish, and how he seeks to appreciate every day and live in the moment while trying to help others coping with loss. My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me is the poignant, unreserved, and inspiring story of a great love, the aftermath of a marriage ended too soon, and how a surviving partner eventually found a new perspective on life’s joys in the wake of tremendous loss.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062940612
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/20/2021
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	662,115
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Jason B. Rosenthal is the number one New York Times bestselling author of Dear Boy, cowritten with his daughter, Paris. He is the board chair of the Amy Krouse Rosenthal Foundation, which supports both childhood literacy and research in early detection of ovarian cancer. A lawyer, public speaker, and devoted father of three, he is passionate about helping others find ways to fill their blank spaces as he continues to fill his own. Jason resides in Chicago, a city he is proud to call home.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I The Nest

1 A Love Story 7

2 No Longer Just One 21

3 Fun, Whimsical, and Creative Parenting 35

4 On Our Own 53

Part II Loss

5 Something Is Not Right 61

6 Together We Are One 67

7 Is It All a Bunch of Crap? 75

8 One Last Bash 81

9 I'm That Guy 101

10 The End 111

Part III Filling a Blank Space

11 Empty, Not Nest 129

12 Refueling Mind and Body 141

13 Navigating a Maze of Emotions 149

14 The Heal Jason Tour 159

15 Transitions 169

16 Connecting 189

17 Burning 201

18 Deepening the Loss 209

19 Have You Remarried Yet? 217

Epilogue: A Permanent Place to Gather 221

Acknowledgments 225

Editorial Reviews

"The book is a 228-page love declaration to Amy." — Washington Post

“Jason B. Rosenthal’s brilliant and achingly honest memoir captures the true boundlessness of love and the absolute heartbreak of loss. I smiled and cried the whole way through this extraordinary reading experience, convinced more than ever that, as Jason writes, ‘people are good.’” — John Green, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars

“I feel very lucky to have known Amy since high school and watched admiringly as she built a family and a body of work that will outlast us all. Her partner through it all, Jason B. Rosenthal, is a man of honor and great sensitivity, and their lives together tell us how to live and how to say goodbye. This book is everything Jason is—warm, approachable, inquisitive, and relentlessly honest.” — Dave Eggers, bestselling author of Heroes of the Frontier and The Captain and the Glory

“Jason’s profoundly personal book is about loss and what comes after, but it is, at its core, also the story of two soul mates and a love that lives forever.” — Katie Couric, journalist, New York Times bestselling author, and cancer advocate

“Rosenthal’s gut-wrenching, honest, and uplifting memoir offers reassurance and connection to readers experiencing their own losses.”  — Booklist

“An essay gone viral leads to this memoir about deep loss and navigating profound grief…filled with advice and support for anyone else going through similar circumstances.” — Kirkus Reviews

“It's about love, loss, and family — and it's guaranteed to make you cry.”  — Buzzfeed

“Rosenthal’s grief journey is expressed with candor, humor, and gratitude…recommended for readers either experiencing grief or wanting to understand how to support someone experiencing loss.”  — Library Journal

From the Publisher

"The book is a 228-page love declaration to Amy."

Washington Post

"The book is a 228-page love declaration to Amy."

Washington Post

It's about love, loss, and family — and it's guaranteed to make you cry.” 

Buzzfeed

Rosenthal’s gut-wrenching, honest, and uplifting memoir offers reassurance and connection to readers experiencing their own losses.” 

Booklist

Jason’s profoundly personal book is about loss and what comes after, but it is, at its core, also the story of two soul mates and a love that lives forever.

Katie Couric

I feel very lucky to have known Amy since high school and watched admiringly as she built a family and a body of work that will outlast us all. Her partner through it all, Jason B. Rosenthal, is a man of honor and great sensitivity, and their lives together tell us how to live and how to say goodbye. This book is everything Jason is—warm, approachable, inquisitive, and relentlessly honest.

Dave Eggers

Jason B. Rosenthal’s brilliant and achingly honest memoir captures the true boundlessness of love and the absolute heartbreak of loss. I smiled and cried the whole way through this extraordinary reading experience, convinced more than ever that, as Jason writes, ‘people are good.’

John Green

Rosenthal’s gut-wrenching, honest, and uplifting memoir offers reassurance and connection to readers experiencing their own losses.” 

Booklist

04/01/2020

Ten days before her death from ovarian cancer, an article written by author and filmmaker Amy Krause Rosenthal was published by the New York Times. "You May Want To Marry My Husband" praised the positive qualities of her husband and encouraged him to find love again after her death. In this memoir, her widower Jason Rosenthal (coauthor, Dear Boy) shares his story of grieving and discovering the next phase of his life. Rosenthal tells of his life before meeting Amy; their 26-year relationship together, including raising three children; and Amy's final struggle with cancer. Rosenthal explores his feelings during Amy's illness and death, as well as during several other losses that occurred shortly afterward. After delivering a TED talk about his experience, Rosenthal's life mission shifted; he is now a speaker and advocate about the grieving journey and finding joy after loss. VERDICT Rosenthal's grief journey is expressed with candor, humor, and gratitude. Fans of Amy Krause Rosenthal will want to know about the next phase of Jason's life. Also recommended for readers either experiencing grief or wanting to understand how to support someone experiencing loss.—Anitra Gates, Erie Cty. P.L., PA

Library Journal

Jason Rosenthal’s wife, Amy, wrote a famous NEW YORK TIMES column called “You Might Want to Marry My Husband” before her death from ovarian cancer. Now Jason recounts his life with Amy, the experience of her death, and how he is learning to fill the blank space afterwards. He gives a sincere and heartfelt performance and still sounds smitten with Amy, describing their marriage as a fairy tale. Jason gives a TED Talk about grief, and this memoir has something of the gloss and motivational pacing of that medium, in addition to the raw emotion of loss. Jason’s son, Miles, has a lovely cameo describing the mutual support he and his father provide each other, and Baize Buzan channels Amy to revisit the famous column. A.B. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2020 - AudioFile

Jason Rosenthal’s wife, Amy, wrote a famous NEW YORK TIMES column called “You Might Want to Marry My Husband” before her death from ovarian cancer. Now Jason recounts his life with Amy, the experience of her death, and how he is learning to fill the blank space afterwards. He gives a sincere and heartfelt performance and still sounds smitten with Amy, describing their marriage as a fairy tale. Jason gives a TED Talk about grief, and this memoir has something of the gloss and motivational pacing of that medium, in addition to the raw emotion of loss. Jason’s son, Miles, has a lovely cameo describing the mutual support he and his father provide each other, and Baize Buzan channels Amy to revisit the famous column. A.B. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2020 - AudioFile

2020-02-24
An essay gone viral leads to this memoir about deep loss and navigating profound grief.

In March 2017, on the eve of her death from ovarian cancer, bestselling author Amy Krouse Rosenthal published a piece in the “Modern Love” section of the New York Times. Titled “You May Want To Marry My Husband,” it read like an expanded dating-site post extolling the virtues of the man who would soon become a widower. It generated millions of views and plenty of responses, including a few marriage proposals, but also numerous messages of support from well-wishers who had experienced similar tragedies. This book contains the entire original column as well as a follow-up column, written by the author, titled “My Wife Said You May Want To Marry Me,” excerpts from many of the responses he received, and passages from notes and letters he and his wife exchanged during what seemed like an idyllic marriage. “If he sounds like a prince and our relationship seems like a fairy tale, it’s not too far off,” she wrote in her essay, and this memoir corroborates that account. Yet her death wasn’t the turn a fairy tale is supposed to take, and the author’s coming to terms with it is easily the most moving and useful part of the book. As he writes, he discovered that “grief as a process is unique to everyone, and there is no right or wrong way to flow through it.” He takes us through that process and shows us what kinds of support were particularly helpful. He doesn’t have any desire to let go, but he found that he was able to move on, even to fall in love again, perhaps partly because his late wife encouraged him to do so.

A memoir filled with advice and support for anyone else going through similar circumstances.

Kirkus Reviews