C.S. Lewis’s A Grief Observed was originally published under the pen name N.W. Clerk. The book appeared in 1961, one year after the death of Lewis’s wife, Joy Davidman.
Lewis used the pseudonym because the book presented intensely personal reflections on bereavement, doubt, anger, and religious faith. The disguise also reduced the chance that readers would approach the work primarily as a famous author’s autobiography.
After Lewis’s death, the book became widely associated with him and was republished under his name. Its title refers to the act of recording and examining grief rather than offering a conventional chronological life story.
N.W. Clerk should not be confused with Clive Hamilton, another name Lewis used earlier in his career. Clive Hamilton was the pseudonym for some of Lewis’s poetry, including Spirits in Bondage and Dymer, whereas N.W. Clerk was connected with A Grief Observed.