Suddenly Alone: A Woman's Guide to Widowhood

When her husband of 38 years died in 1979, Manhattan attorney Gates ``felt as if my future had been wiped out along with his.'' And though she claims `` Nothingsic can prepare you for the shock and grief of widowhood,'' she sets out to do just that in her first book, offering ``strategies for coping with all the disasters you can imagine . . . and how to prevent most of them.'' She discusses how to adjust initially to a profound loss, how to find a job, make new friends, obtain a lawyer, attend to one's physical and mental health over a sustained period and even look again for male companionship. While Gates considers a broad range of problems, her ably suggested solutions apply primarily to women not hampered by limited funds or advanced age. Otherwise, her advice makes eminent good sense, based on the dictum ``I made myself happy because I wanted to be happy.'' (May)