Altea has also been the subject of other public controversies, including a legal battle with her own bookkeeper over embezzled funds and a media scandal regarding her inheritance of a donor's property. This information is offered not to diminish the potential value of her written work, but to provide a well-rounded view of the public figure behind the book and enable you to draw your own conclusions.

The core utility of the book lies in its attempt to teach the reader how to recognize when a departed loved one is near. Altea categorizes these communications into several distinct types of signs: