This small memoir exposes the larger than life personality and intelligence of the British philosopher, Gillian Rose (1947 - 1995). Love's Work is not a book about cancer, but about life and death and the whole damn thing. Rose recounts experiences in London, New York, Jerusalem and Auschwitz, exploring her "life affair, love's work" in terms of friendship, sex, illness and philosophy.

Not until over half-way through the the book does Gillian Rose even allude to the ovarian cancer which caused her early death. Rose faced cancer as a part of life, counselling the reader: "Keep your mind in hell and despair not."