As bestselling author Emily Giffin prepares for the release of her newest novel, Love You More, she is also navigating a season of major personal transition. With her daughter Harriet graduating from Pace Academy and her twin sons, Edward and George completing their time at Columbia University, she is preparing for life as an empty nester while settling into her beautifully renovated Ansley Park home. I recently sat down with Emily to talk about family, writing, new beginnings, and what she loves most about calling Ansley Park home. 

I’m from the Chicago suburbs but have always loved the South and attended college at Wake Forest and law school at the University of Virginia. After practicing law in New York City for several years, I moved to London to write my first novel, Something Borrowed. My husband (now ex) and I planned on staying there indefinitely until I discovered that I was pregnant with twins. At that point, I really wanted to get back to the States, so my ex took a job in Atlanta. We moved into a home in historic Brookhaven here right before Edward and George were born on December 31, 2003. I can always remember how long I’ve lived in Atlanta by the age of my sons! 

We lived in Brookhaven until 2011 and then lived in Buckhead until 2022 when my sons graduated from high school. At that point, we were looking to downsize and began exploring other neighborhoods. The second I walked into our current house, I fell in love. I remember standing in the entryway and telling the seller’s agent, Jason Cook (who is now a close friend), that I was going to make an offer. It wasn’t the best negotiation tactic, but I couldn’t help myself! After two years of renovations, working alongside architect Robert Norris (Spitzmiller Norris), we moved in. I’ve never loved a home more. 

We love the historic feel of Ansley Park and all the beautiful old homes. There’s something about the smaller lots, front porches, and sidewalks that fosters a real sense of community. Being in the heart of Midtown has been wonderful, too. We can walk to Piedmont Park, the BeltLine, the High Museum, the Alliance Theatre (where I recently took acting classes with fellow Ansley Park resident Tanner Jonnson), our church, First Presbyterian, and a variety of restaurants. 

But it’s really the people who make the place. Ansley Park is remarkably diverse and friendly, and 17th Street is especially close-knit. A neighbor once announced a Publix two-for-one sale on Duke’s mayonnaise on our street text thread. That would never happen in Buckhead! 

Larakin is my favorite neighborhood gathering spot, equally good for a morning latte or a glass of wine at the end of the day. I mostly write in my home office, but when I venture out, I can be very productive at Refuge Coffee. I love Anne Marie Johnsen’s classes at onlYoga, a locally owned studio that emphasizes community and yoga philosophy. My favorite spot to buy presents is the High Museum gift shop which has a wonderful selection of books, and though technically not in Midtown, I have to mention Dixon Rye for beautiful home interiors and design inspiration. For drinks, I love the bar at Rumi’s Kitchen, and for special occasions, Lyla Lila is our favorite restaurant—special without being formal. As for dessert, I can’t resist the matcha ice cream sandwiches at Wagaya Japanese Groceries. 

My kids are all runners, and my life has really revolved around that sport for the past eight years—cross country in the fall, indoor track in the winter, and outdoor track in the spring. That will continue this fall year as Harriet runs for Wake Forest, and Edward and George attend grad school at Syracuse and Boston College for their last year of eligibility. (The Ivy League doesn’t allow athletes to redshirt, or they would have stayed at their beloved alma mater another year!) My top priority will be mapping out their schedules so I can make it to as many meets as possible. It helps that they’re all in the ACC and Syracuse and BC are in the same NCAA region. Still, it will be very different without Harriet at home, and although I’ll miss her tremendously, I’m trying not to be the cliché of a mournful empty nester! I think it’s important to try to embrace the space and fill it in a meaningful way. I’ll have more time to write and spend with friends. I look forward to that.

 

My ex and I grew apart, but we both agree that the best thing we ever did was raise three fundamentally good human beings. Edward, George, and Harriet are all hardworking, kind, and genuinely fun to be around. We still enjoy spending time as a family of five. Just last week, we stayed at an Airbnb together while watching our sons compete at the NCAA Track & Field championships. My mother once told me that the most important decision I would ever make—and the only one I couldn’t reverse—was who would be the father of my children. She was right about that, and I’m proud that I chose well. 

Love You More is about what happens when the life you've carefully built collides with the life you left behind. It follows Billie Wright, a successful fertility doctor in New York, whose world is turned upside down after a tragedy sends her back to her Wisconsin hometown—and back to the first man she ever loved.

Readers can expect an emotional story about friendship, grief, motherhood, family, and second chances, with a love triangle at its heart. It's ultimately a novel about the question many of us ask ourselves at some point: Are we living the life we truly want—or simply the life we chose long ago?

The book started with a question: What could pull someone away from the life they've worked so hard to build? Once I imagined a woman who seemingly had everything—a successful career, a loving fiancé, a beautiful life in New York—I became interested in what might force her to reevaluate all of it.

I've always been fascinated by timing in relationships and the idea that some people never fully leave our hearts. Add a child in need, a devastating loss, and a return to the place where everything began, and I had the foundation for a story I couldn't wait to write.

Absolutely. With all three of my children reaching major milestones at once, I've found myself thinking a lot about how quickly life moves and how often we're called to reinvent ourselves. As a parent, it's bittersweet. You spend years helping your children prepare to leave, and then one day they actually do.

I think that's why readers connect to these kinds of stories. At every stage of life, we're asking ourselves some version of the same question: What's next? That's certainly a question I'm asking myself right now.

More than any novel I've written, Love You More is about transitions. It's about letting go of one chapter, embracing another, and finding the courage to move forward when the future looks different than you imagined.

As I prepare to become an empty nester, that feels especially relevant. The book explores the idea that life's most meaningful chapters aren't always the ones we planned. Sometimes they're the ones that surprise us. I love that message because it's hopeful. No matter your age or stage of life, there is still the possibility of reinvention, joy, and unexpected love waiting ahead.