Gift from the Sea: 50th-Anniversary Edition

What a lovely and timeless book. Anne Morrow Lindbergh enjoys two weeks of solitude on an island off of Florida (I so want to do that.). During her time there, she walked the shoreline and collected various shells. With each shell, she explores a woman’s life in transition--of women trying, and needing, to rediscover their center.

Lindbergh reminds us to slow down. She suggests that women are pulled in so many different directions with ever-widening circles of contact and communication that we tend to lose our center. She urges us to get away from the busyness of life and spend some time alone.

“But I want first of all . . . to be at peace with myself. I want a singleness of eye, a purity of intention, a central core to my life that will enable me to carry out these obligations and activities as well as I can.”

“Only when one is connected to one’s own core is one connected to others.”

There is much wisdom in Gift from the Sea--wisdom that will touch women of all ages in different ways. Even Lindbergh herself ends the book with a short chapter written 20 years after she wrote the essays. She reflects on her work and the changes in her life with new eyes.

Lindbergh has written such a beautiful exploration of women’s souls that I will recommend it to all my friends. It is meant to be read again and again.

Beautiful poetic writing with messages for women and mothers that still ring true today. I found comfort in Lindbergh's perspective and thoughts on our relationships with others, the world at large, and the relationship we have with ourselves.

I found many sentences that could have been written today. Here we are 60 years later and this book still speaks to the issues men and women face. We are no closer to the answers. The questions are still with us. A brilliant summary of the problems faced in modern life. No cure but a program to live by.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh, wife of the famous transatlantic pilot, suffered the tragic loss of her baby who was kidnapped and murdered in about 1933. That may be the basis of Anne's deeply introspective reflections, but it's not subject of her book. Her meditations and quiet moments on the seashore inspire a re-evaluation of the simple objects of life. Her analogies of the sand, the shells, and the surf -- as they apply to man's existence -- are without parallel.

I attended a friends wedding in the Summer and the bides father read an excerpt from the book "Gift from the Sea". I fell in love with the book right away because what the writer said was so true. I requested for the author and soon as i got back I bought the book.
You cannot put it down once you start reading. You would think the author is talking to you or knows you.
It is a Must Have! to read and re-read.

Interesting book of journal like entries from Anne Morrow Lindbergh's early life when married to Charles A Lindbergh. I got this book after reading The Aviator's Wife so I could see what she herself had to say about marriage and CAL.

Interesting book of journal like entries from Anne Morrow Lindbergh's early life when married to Charles A Lindbergh. I got this book after reading The Aviator's Wife so I could see what she herself had to say about marriage and CAL.

when you consider when this book was originally written you might think it would become outdated. It really doesn't -- there are some things that fit in the past -- yet so much still applies today. Love the comparisons to shells. I have a tropical place and have one of these books waiting for each of my visitors!

Beautiful book which will leave you thinking. It's exquisitely written, and timeless.

When you need a gift, but are not sure exactly what to buy, this can often be a great option. I've sent it to many friends who have been thrilled with it.

Enjoy!