{"product_id":"love-aos-labour-9781529932416","title":"Love’s Labour","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCompelling new stories of love, desire and heartbreak from the consulting room by the Number One bestselling author, 'a combination of Chekhov and Oliver Sacks' (New York Times)  'The poet laureate of human emotion' ELIZABETH DAY 'Left me feeling wiser and more open to life' OLIVER BURKEMAN 'A work of genius' INDIA KNIGHT  Change the way you think about love.  When it comes to relationships, why do we find things so difficult? Drawing on more than forty years of candid and surprising conversations with his patients, psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz shows us how we can be better at love.  In the intimate space of the consulting room, we meet the woman who can't post her wedding invitations but then, decades later, can't decide whether to get divorced; the ex-nun whose unconscious fear of pregnancy drove her into the convent; and the friendship group that explodes when an adulterous affair begins. Compelling, revealing and full of wisdom, Love's Labour shows us that only when we see ourselves and our world clearly are we truly ready to love one another.  'Powerful and compelling' GUARDIAN 'This is a beautiful book' NIGELLA LAWSON 'This man could save your marriage' SUNDAY TIMES\u003ch4\u003eDetails\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN13: 9781529932416\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumber of Pages: 208\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication Date: 01 Sep 2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: Vintage Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication City, Country: London, United Kingdom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions (cm): 19.8(H)x12.8(L)x1.5(W)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeight (gm): \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h4\u003eStephen Grosz is a practicing psychoanalyst - he has worked with patients for more than forty years. Born in America, he was educated at the University of California, Berkeley, and at Oxford University, and now lives in London. His Number One Sunday Times bestseller, The Examined Life, has been translated into more than thirty languages.\u003ch4\u003eReviews\u003c\/h4\u003e‘An \u003cb\u003eexceptional writer and psychoanalyst\u003c\/b\u003e … the \u003cb\u003epoet laureate of human emotion’\u003c\/b\u003e * Elizabeth Day, author of How to Fail *\u003cbr\u003e'A \u003cb\u003eprofound meditation on love and healing\u003c\/b\u003e. \u003cb\u003ePowerful and important. Essential reading\u003c\/b\u003e' * Tara Westover, author of Educated *\u003cbr\u003e‘Love really \u003ci\u003eis\u003c\/i\u003e a labour: that's something they don't tell you in the fairy stories or the reality shows.\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003eBut \u003cb\u003eStephen Grosz knows a lot about the pain and joy of human relationships and in this book he generously shares his wisdom with the rest of us’\u003c\/b\u003e * Zadie Smith, author of The Fraud *\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eFull of moments of revelation that stay with you forever \u003c\/b\u003e... \u003cb\u003eIt would not be humanly possible for me to recommend his work more highly\u003c\/b\u003e' * India Knight, author of Home *\u003cbr\u003e‘Reading Stephen Grosz is \u003cb\u003ea deep sort of pleasure\u003c\/b\u003e, and this book's \u003cb\u003emovingly told true stories left me feeling wiser and more open to life’\u003c\/b\u003e * Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSomeone whose work I’ve long admired\u003c\/b\u003e… \u003ci\u003eLove’s Labour,\u003c\/i\u003e is a collection of true stories about love and the ways we struggle to find and sustain it -- Esther Perel\u003cbr\u003e‘This is \u003cb\u003ea special book,\u003c\/b\u003e full of little epiphanies. Grosz combines\u003cb\u003e illuminating stories from therapy \u003c\/b\u003ewith\u003cb\u003e such beautiful writing\u003c\/b\u003e that you forget these people are his patients and not fictional characters. He reminds us how complex love is, how much it requires of us, and how many times we can misunderstand each other – and ourselves – in the process. It's \u003cb\u003ea love story about the relationship between lovers, between a therapist and patient, and between us all,\u003c\/b\u003e if we are brave enough to attempt it’ * Natasha Lunn, author of Conversations on Love *\u003cbr\u003e‘Grosz’s transfixing stories will increase your openness to and aptitude for the greatest of all emotions: \u003cb\u003eyou will be better at love after you read this book\u003c\/b\u003e’ * Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon *\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eStephen Grosz is a beautiful writer, a clear, compelling thinker, an observant, wise, and deeply empathetic human being\u003c\/b\u003e' * Nick Hornby, author of Funny Girl *\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eFull of thought prompts and ideas that resonate\u003c\/b\u003e long after you finish the book ... It’s a \u003cb\u003estrange, thoughtful, deeply compelling \u003c\/b\u003ebook' * Pandora Sykes *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'This is a beautiful book'\u003c\/b\u003e * Nigella Lawson *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e'Love’s Labour\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003ea hopeful book\u003c\/b\u003e and all the more convincingly so because it promises relatively small shifts rather than miraculous recoveries' * The Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A compressed, brilliant distillation\u003c\/b\u003e of 40 years of clinical experience and deep thought, \u003cb\u003ewritten to last.\u003c\/b\u003e Grosz conveys what he knows, in all its richness, in as pithy and digestible form as possible' * Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003e'Chilling, moving, unforgettably…\u003cb\u003e what a privilege it is for the reader to catch a glimpse of this process\u003c\/b\u003e * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eClearly written and deeply moving. \u003c\/b\u003eAbove all, it\u003cb\u003e brings the experience of psychoanalysis to life\u003c\/b\u003e ... A \u003cb\u003ehumane and compelling book full of astonishing insights i\u003c\/b\u003ento his patients' lives' * Jewish Chronicle *\u003cbr\u003e'Another work from \u003cb\u003ethe master of writing about therapy\u003c\/b\u003e. Whisper this sacrilege: he’s a significantly better writer than Irvin Yalom.\u003cb\u003e A book to savour, re-read and return to for new insights\u003c\/b\u003e' -- Naomi Alderman * The Spectator *Books of the Year 2025* *\u003cbr\u003eGrosz is \u003cb\u003ean exceptionally deft writer and his insight are as revelatory as ever…\u003c\/b\u003e a powerful antidote to the idea that therapy can be performed by AI * Prospect *\u003cbr\u003e'Who isn’t fascinated by the inner lives of others? In\u003ci\u003e Love’s Labour\u003c\/i\u003e, psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz takes you inside the room as his (heavily disguised) patients dissect their relationships, behaviour and deepest longings. \u003cb\u003eBeautifully executed, each vignette offers an insight into the human condition. I defy you to read it and not feel seen\u003c\/b\u003e' -- Alice Fishburn * Financial Times, Books of the Year *\u003cbr\u003e'Stephen Grosz is \u003cb\u003ea supreme exponent of this kind of analytic writing \u003c\/b\u003e... The final story, 'Hauntings,' is \u003cb\u003ethe most moving and memorable case study I have read'\u003c\/b\u003e * Inside Story (Australia) *\u003cbr\u003e[A] \u003cb\u003ewonderfully earnest \u003c\/b\u003esequel [to \u003ci\u003eThe Examined Life\u003c\/i\u003e] * The Times, *Books of the Year* *","brand":"Stephen Grosz","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49241062572249,"sku":"9781529932416","price":26.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0502\/9530\/8441\/files\/9781529932416.jpg?v=1789264433","url":"https:\/\/www.arielbooks.com.au\/products\/love-aos-labour-9781529932416","provider":"Ariel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}