The Days I Loved You Most

DEBUT Neff’s first novel, featuring five generations operating a family-run inn on Long Island Sound, is a candid romantic saga highlighting the impact of national events (World War II, the Kennedy assassination, the first moon walk, 9/11) on the family and the inn’s guests. Innkeepers Joseph and Evelyn, childhood friends, are now a long-married couple in their 70s. When Evelyn is diagnosed with stage-two Parkinson’s, the couple announces their pact to die with dignity and end their lives, together, in one year. The plan is to have one last good year of memories and celebrations. The plot unfolds with glimpses of Joseph and Evelyn’s young love and family struggles as they lived then through history and now must adapt to illness and aging. The story also reveals Evelyn’s dream to tour the world as a concert pianist, a goal she deferred to become an innkeeper’s wife.