Which C.S. Lewis book records his grief after the death of his wife, Joy Davidman?

A Grief Observed records C.S. Lewis’s grief after the death of his wife, Joy Davidman.

A Grief Observed was published in 1961, initially under the pseudonym N.W. Clerk. Lewis wrote it after Joy Davidman died of cancer in 1960, and the book explores bereavement, anger, doubt, memory, and faith.

The work differs sharply from The Problem of Pain. That earlier book offers a general Christian discussion of suffering, while A Grief Observed exposes the unsettled emotions of a widower facing a specific loss. Lewis later allowed the book to be published under his own name.

Joy Davidman and Lewis had a civil marriage in 1956 and a Christian marriage ceremony in 1957. Their relationship and her illness form the immediate background to this short, candid book.