MC: After your husband died, your biggest fear was that your children would never be happy again.

Sheryl Sandberg: Being a parent is a challenge for everyone, but being alone with two children in mourning was overwhelming. My friend Adam Grant, a psychologist, told me, "Grief will never disappear completely, but the best you can do is to help them recover. This book is the result of all our conversations.

Option B is a book to help others?

The first reason was to honor the memory of Dave, my husband. Right after his death, I experienced such a feeling of isolation that at the end of the mourning period - thirty days in Jewish tradition - I wrote a long post on Facebook. I was surprised by the number - over 70,000 - of comments he raised. Friends have finally dared to come to see me, unknown persons who have lost a loved one have written to me. The grief did not disappear, but they no longer looked at me like a ghost. We can not erase the tests, cancer, loss of jobs, prison, but we can and must support each other.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been a real support ...

When I got back to the office, I could not concentrate, I was crying in a meeting. Mark managed to give me confidence. People who return to work should be encouraged. He and his wife, Priscilla, have taught me one thing: you have to be able to have time. I am currently working with my teams to change the Facebook business policy and grant more leave.

Conscious of being very privileged, you denounce the situation of single mothers in the United States.

I understood what it means to be a mother who attends the birthdays and sports competitions of her children alone. This book is an opportunity to talk about the policy of our companies, which needs to be improved. We are the only developed country that does not offer maternity leave. Here, 37% of single mothers live in poverty. I can be a voice for it to change.
When the media talk about your new companion, you get insults. Girls live all the time this "double standard".

After a widowhood, men have more stories and earlier than women, but they are the ones who are judged the hardest. We support our loved ones by holding them in our arms when they go wrong, but also by helping them regain the joy of life. I wanted to spend my life alongside Dave. I did not have that opportunity.

(*) Ed. Michel Lafon, www.optionb.org.