A gem. Honest and intimate reflections by a woman finding her way out of wounding and despair through self-imposed solitude. Lovely, simple writing. ( )

A pleasant small book about a woman's separation from her husband for a year and how she grew in that time. ( )

Loved this. Women need to take risks and this woman did it. She shook things up,went against the norm for a wife and mother!
This is all about lessons in life, lessons to learn and lessons learned. This should be required reading for all young women!!!!
All women period! ( )

I was glad this was a short book or I dont think I would have finished it. Not a whole lot really happens, but if you like books that focus on thoughts and feelings, i think you would like it. ( )

A Year by the Sea chronicles Joan Anderson's life after she chooses to take a break from her marriage. Her children grown and on their own, her husband was offered a job in a new location. She chooses to move to their beach house instead of following him, reflecting on her feelings of repression and lack of appreciation on the years of marriage and motherhood. She takes time to find herself, her inner courage, and comes out the other side more confident and content.

Anyone who has been in a long-term marriage will be able to appreciate this book. Although her journey is different from mine (a beach house, really, Joan?), I could relate to her feelings and the experiences she gave herself during this year alone. It made me celebrate my relationship with my husband a little more and reminded me that regardless of our strong partnership, that I should always take time for myself.

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This book speaks volumes for any woman in a difficult relationship. Leaving all you know, to live for one year alone, to "yourself", is a frightening concept. After reading "A Year by the Sea", it becomes clear that a woman certainly needs to be her whole self after giving her whole self to her family, almost always drained and void of energy and self-worth. A good, and pleasant read, full of delicious nuggets of womanly wisdom. ( )

Excellent, insightful endearing. ( )

Analytical account of reconstruction of marriage after separation ( )

I picked this book up to present how to write genealogy stories observing the relationships found in the book. Writing how she felt about her family members, experiences with regular people not of her cultural status, and how her past effected her present. A good read from a women's points of view on life. ( )

Dreamlike and lovely, but I felt like the story never got deeper than the lyrical skin. Surprise cameo by Eric Erikson's wife, who was awesome. ( )

Perhaps because I was going through 'that time' of my life as well, I found this story very inspiring. As women, we are often times judged when we take time out for ourselves. But that is what Joan did, and she found out lots of things about herself, that she wouldn't have realized any other way. Would recommend (to women reaching 'middle' age). ( )

A woman leaves her husband to live by herself for a year. ( )

Some years ago I read 'A year by the sea' by Joan Anderson.

The book really inspired me and some lessons learned are:

Silence can be a good friend.

Believing in yourself isn't everything, but you can't begin to live unless you do.

Joy comes from the capacity to appreciate all things elemental.

Be at home in your body.

The four necessary steps to finding yourself are the four R's: Retreat, Repair, Regenerate and Renew.

Put your relationship with yourself first.

I always find it interesting to read about what I call 'Wonderful Women'. ( )

I liked this book - the ideas of thinking deliberately about the life one builds for oneself, not just going along with the status quo. I was glad to see the author come back to her marriage, since I think marriages are precious. ( )

I picked this book up on the book swap table at my office thinking it sounded interesting. It was ok. I sometimes had to force myself to finish it. In some ways it was interesting, but I think what turned me off to it was that I picked it up during a time when I was feeling less self assured. The books drug me down a little, but it was interesting. Not one of my favorites by any means. ( )