Nothing Was the Same: A Memoir

Perhaps no one but Kay Redfield Jamison---who combines the acute perceptions of a psychologist with writerly elegance and passion---could bring such a delicate touch to the subject of losing a spouse to cancer. In spare and at times strikingly lyrical prose, Jamison looks back at her relationship with her husband, Richard Wyatt, a renowned scientist who battled severe dyslexia to become one of the foremost experts on schizophrenia. And with characteristic honesty, she describes his slow surrender to cancer, her own struggle with overpowering grief, and her efforts to distinguish grief from depression. Jamison also recalls the joy that Richard brought her during the nearly twenty years they had together. Wryly humorous anecdotes mingle with bittersweet memories of a relationship that was passionate and loving---if troubled on occasion by her manic depression---as Jamison reveals the ways in which Richard taught her to live fully through his courage and grace. A penetrating study of grief viewed from deep inside the experience itself, Nothing Was the Same is also a deeply moving memoir by a superb writer.