This book was very helpful to my Mother after my Father, her husband of 63 years, passed away, and to both of us when my brother died 11 months later - especially the concept that grief makes you a little crazy. Those reviewers who read it after the loss of a parent probably didn't understand because it is expected and one doesn't experience the feeling of having been 'robbed' of many more decades of shared experiences. Whereas a remaining spouse who has to face that empty bed/house/dining chair will really find solace in Didion's experience.