Love’s Labour

This book is not purchasable in your country. Please select another book.
How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

Compelling new stories from the psychoanalyst's consulting room; on desire, heartbreak and learning how to love.

When it comes to love why do we find things so difficult? Drawing on over forty years of candid and surprising conversations with his patients, Stephen Grosz asks, what gets in the way of our falling in love? And what must we do to stay there?

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 friendship group that explodes when an adulterous affair begins; and the man whose partner’s death is almost too much to bear.

As an analyst, Grosz’s unerring ability is to locate what ails the heartsick. As a writer, he elegantly shows how we can deploy the agonies of love as tools for understanding.

The labour of love is the work of a lifetime but in finally learning to see ourselves and our world clearly, we find we are truly ready to love one another.

‘Illuminating, beautiful . . . This is a special book, full of little epiphanies’ Natasha Lunn, author of Conversations on Love

'This is a beautiful book' Nigella Lawson

'You will be better at love after you read this book’ Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon

© Stephen Grosz 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Critics Review

‘An exceptional writer and psychoanalyst … the poet laureate of human emotion’
Elizabeth Day, author of How to Fail
'A profound meditation on love and healing. Powerful and important. Essential reading'
Tara Westover, author of Educated
‘Love really is a labour: that's something they don't tell you in the fairy stories or the reality shows. But Stephen 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’
Zadie Smith, author of The Fraud
'Full of moments of revelation that stay with you forever ... It would not be humanly possible for me to recommend his work more highly'
India Knight, author of Home
‘Reading Stephen Grosz is a deep sort of pleasure, and this book's movingly told true stories left me feeling wiser and more open to life’
Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks
‘This is a special book, full of little epiphanies. Grosz combines illuminating stories from therapy with such beautiful writing 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 a love story about the relationship between lovers, between a therapist and patient, and between us all, if we are brave enough to attempt it’
Natasha Lunn, author of Conversations on Love
‘Grosz’s transfixing stories will increase your openness to and aptitude for the greatest of all emotions: you will be better at love after you read this book’
Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon
'Stephen Grosz is a beautiful writer, a clear, compelling thinker, an observant, wise, and deeply empathetic human being'
Nick Hornby, author of Funny Girl
'Full of thought prompts and ideas that resonate long after you finish the book ... It’s a strange, thoughtful, deeply compelling book'
Pandora Sykes
'This is a beautiful book'
Nigella Lawson

More from the same

Author

About xigxag

Experience the best audiobooks with xigxag, an innovative and user-friendly audiobook platform designed for seamless discovery, purchase, and enjoyment of your favorite titles. Our flexible pricing model offers bestselling audiobooks for less, providing affordable prices and the best audiobook deals without requiring a subscription. Perfect for gifting, xigxag also features convenient audiobook gift cards and in-app audiobook gifting options.

 

Beyond the listening experience, xigxag stands as an exciting alternative to big tech, embodying a strong commitment to sustainability and ethical practices. As the only B Corp certified UK audiobook service, we ensure a guilt-free listening experience from a leader in audiobook innovation.

 

Effortlessly search audiobooks, access honest audiobook reviews that evaluate both the content and narration, and easily discover hidden gems. Whether you prefer to download or stream top audiobook titles, xigxag provides the best possible listening experience anytime, anywhere, on the UK’s best independent audiobook app. Discover the future of audiobooks today.