Grief is a hard concept to understand. In this beginning quote the reader is given a pseudo definition of this concept but is left to interpret the rest on their own. In the “The year of magical thinking” is a memoir, written by Joan Didion, that explores this idea of loss and grief over the death of her husband, John. Joan Didion, the writer, portrays this grief and loss by writing down details of how she copes with this in a random fashion but in a strange way connects it all back to the central theme: magical thinking and grief. She uses this term magical thinking as this idea where she believes her husband is still alive and will come back. Her relationship with her daughter is also present in the story. Her daughter, Quintana, is very