A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman | Joan Anderson

A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman | Joan Anderson | DID SHE HAVE ALL THAT TIME JUST TO THINK?

books:

A Year by the Sea:...

	A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman Joan Anderson Broadway, 2000 - 208 pages average customer review:based on 126 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Highly Recommended

Wonderful book for all women who are searching for answers to our identities.

DID SHE HAVE ALL THAT TIME JUST TO THINK?

MY FAVORITE AUTHOR IN THIS GENRE. I DID NOT AGREE WITH EVERYTHING, BUT IF I DID MAYBE I WOULD SPEND A FEW DAYS AT THE BEACH. WORKING THROUGH PERSONAL PROBLEMS WITH DAY TO DAY CHORES IN A PEACEFUL ENVIRONMENT. LOVE TO DO IT. CONNECT THOSE PROBLEMS TO OUR CHOICE OF HOW WE WANT TO LIVE OUR LIVES, AND ITS A HIT. NOT ALL WOMEN COULD EXPRESS WHAT THEY FEEL AS WELL AS ANDERSON, BUT THEY CAN IDENTIFY THEM AS THEY READ THEM. AND MARRIED WOMEN, OR SINGLE WOMEN, THIS IS A GOOD READ.

Reflective & Thought-provoking

I found this lying on the table at a bookstore during a one-nighter with my husband, which we both desperately needed as we're always surrounded by the things that needs to be done, two growing boys who demand all of our attention and time ~~ and reading the back of this book, I briefly thought of a friend who is going through her midlife crisis right now. So I picked it up.

It is a fast read but it is lyrical and yes, the author can be selfish at times but I think there is truth to her selfishness. Women, even today, have been raised to be nurturers and care-takers, and sometimes, I wonder, who takes care of us women? There is a lot of truth to Anderson's frustrations, fears, desperations, and feeling unfulfilled. She just turned 50 and her children are out of the house, so what is left for her? A marriage that doesn't seem to fill her and a husband struggling with his own issues? Heck, she did what I long to do sometimes ~~ take a breather and live by the sea! Sometimes, in this world, life is too harried and too hurried. We become creatures of routine and non-thought. Anderson broke away from all that just to reclaim her life and her soul. Selfish? Well, it depends on who labels it that. Whining? No. I didn't take it that way. I took it as a woman who really needs space and solitude to figure out what to do with the next thirty-forty years of her life. It's a period of transition. It's a period of growth, both spiritually and emotionally.

It is a reflective book. She looks back at her youth and rediscovers her dreams or the sense of the girl she used to be. She looks at her marriage with an honest eye and with objectiveness. She looks in the present and learns to live in today, without fretting about the future. She simply learns to be "as is." She learns after a struggle of many years to accept her body, her self and relaxes for the first time. This book may be written by a woman on her year by the sea, but it is a book for every woman at some time in their lives, to take stock and remember who she is and who she will become.

I am almost 37 and have a long ways to go before my house is emptied of children. I have just started on the journey of motherhood, whereas she has moved onto a different chapter of motherhood. My marriage is still new whereas she has been married over twenty years when she took that year by the sea. There are many differences in our lives but the searchs for meaning and for "what is" are still the same. This book is powerful in the fact that it reminds me that our journey never ends in spite of the days when it feels like it is the end. Life is there always and we just need to embrace it. Anderson has the grace and the ability to write about her thoughts which in turn provokes my thoughts ... sometimes, I just need a moment to reflect on the slower pace of life. This book did that for me.

It doesn't matter where you are in life ~~ this book will offer you some gems to think on. If you are middle-aged and your children have left the nest, you will appreciate this book more as it will speak to you more. If you're still raising your children, this book will just give you insights and remind you to hang onto those moments with your children as it will fly right by so fast. It is just a wonderful, thoughtful book that every woman should read sometime in her life.

7-28-06

for more information click here

Just what I was looking for.

This book touched my heart and my soul.I could see myself in Joan Anderson's place, and fervantly wishing I was, sharing the same frame of mind at her age. I could identify with her need to get away to a place by the sea and to just "be" by herself allowing time for life to reveal itself to her through wonderful abandon. It is a heartwarming read, not pie in the sky, very down to earth and what the ordinary person seeking to be authentic,real and at home with themselves will find a wonderful companion on their journey through life.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

products you might be interested in