The Year of Magical Thinking

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

The only reason I picked up this book is because it was a suggested flight pick for a Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club book.  I love a good memoir, but the catalyst for this just sounded a little too morose…and it was.  While there were parts of the book that felt like a random mind dump, other parts were completely relatable and eye-opening.

The Premise: One evening, Didion sat down to dinner with her husband and her life completely changed.  One moment they were talking, and the next he was on the floor, unresponsive and according to the timeline she worked out later, already dead from a massive coronary event.  At the time of her husband’s death, their daughter was in a nearby hospital, in ICU.  I can see where surviving this time in her life would lead her to write it all down and share with the world.

If the trigger warnings of sudden death, widowhood and adult children in critical condition don’t scare you away, this book may be worth picking up.  If you prefer more light hearted topics, you may want to give this one a pass.