The Widowed Self: The Older Woman's Journey Through Widowhood

Christine Hughes is A/Manager, Developmental Services Branch, Ontario
Ministry of Community, Family and Children’s Services.

The Widowed Self provides readers with a sociological account of the
experiences of older women as they make the transition from married life
into widowhood. The book is based on the author’s in-depth narrative
interviews, conducted between August 1994 and January 1996, with 27
women in various rural and urban New Brunswick locations. The questions
asked were open-ended and provided each widow with the opportunity to
recount her story from her own point of view. After finding that many
works on widowhood focused on the experiences of younger women or on
quantitative, comparative aspects of this stage of life, van den
Hoonaard directed her qualitative research to fill the information gap
about the issues facing older women in widowhood and how they address
them. The result is an ethnographic account that uses a symbolic
interaction theoretical approach in which the world is viewed through
the eyes of those being studied.

The book is presented as a journey into a foreign country that begins
when a woman’s husband becomes ill and dies and follows with the shock
and numbness and accompanying legal and financial paperwork. Other
chapters explore the efforts of widows to renegotiate their
relationships with their children and friends, areas of growth (e.g.,
learning to live alone, caring for the car and/or learning to drive),
financial issues and surviving on a limited income, and connections
widows have with the broader community.

Van den Hoonaard’s book makes an important contribution to
contemporary sociological and gerontological research. It is written in
very readable and accessible language, and the widows’
autobiographical accounts interspersed throughout the text offer readers
keen insights into some of the experiences and practical problems faced
by older women as they launch into a new phase of life following the
death of their spouse.