Susan Lucci lost her sense of self after her husband died, questioning whether she could act again. Books helped her rebuild her identity and find the confidence to return to work, even as others called her resilient, a word she couldn't believe about herself.
After I lost my husband, I was totally lost. I mean, I didn't remember what I do, although I've been an actress my whole adult life and I wanted to be an actress since I can remember as a little girl. But when I lost my husband, I couldn't imagine that I would ever do it again, that I would ever step on a stage again or ever be in front of a camera again. I know that people used to say to me, "Oh, you're so resilient. Oh, blah." And I knew that I had been, but I could not imagine that I had been. And I didn't— I wanted to find that again. I wanted to find me again. And these books helped me tremendously.
