Gift from the Sea: 70th Anniversary Edition

Anne Morrow Lindberg was a well-educated, highly intelligent person, a gifted writer, and a poet par excellence. She was a loyal and loving yet subservient wife, a wonderful mother, and an accomplished pilot, navigator, and adventurist. She also had quite a story to tell herself and to be told by others. I have seen the movie depictions, read the books about her super hero husband, and most recently read a wonderful historical fiction work by Melanie Benjamin, The Aviator's Wife that filled in numerous voids in what the public knows about the intimacies and facts surrounding the Lindbergs, fictional though some of it may be. All these literary glimpses and silver screen journeys into the private lives of the not so private first family of aviation encouraged me to read Gift from the Sea. Anne Morrow Lindberg was not the first or only woman to suffer, sacrifice, and take up her dutiful place in the shadow of a powerful and influential husband and remain quiet and unimposing up to a point. But she is unique in the fact that she has allowed a look into her mind, heart, and soul through her own works. Gift from the Sea is a treasure to be appreciated slowly and repeatedly because one fast read will not disclose the wonders and beauties of the great pearl formed through the tragedies, irritations, heartbreak, and disappointments that deposited themselves in the oyster of Anne's life. What does a woman subordinated to the egotistical needs and demands of the most famous man in the world, with a vision the size of that world need, want, and dream of in the mature years of her life. Her repayment for years of dedicated service and seemingly unrequited love for a man with an agenda was to betrayal and placed second, third, or fourth in line of her dear, sweet husband and his other lovers and mothers of his illegitimate children. Alone on a beach, in a small cottage, walking along the shoreline with only the gentle rolling surf and waves lapping at the sand to speak to her, Anne finds that she resonates with the beauty, utility, freedom, and natural splendor of the vacated sea shells that she finds. A variety of colorful and gracefully designed shells speak different messages to her soul. And she shares those musings with the readers. The past will not change, the present is being formed in the crucible of her life already lived and the decisions she will make based on where and who she's been. Anne spoke out to the myriad women of the world who could say to and about her life experiences "Amen Sister, speak it, preach it." And preach it she did. Read Gift from the Sea once, put it down and go back again and again. Almost as if the shells are magic the message matures and morphs with age and the frame of mind of the reader at the time of the read. It's a small book, but it contains a wealth of spiritual jewels for the seeker. As a male, I recommend this book to both men and women with the suggestion that oftentimes women are better at sharing their heart than are men. I agree with Anne's daughter Reeve that re-reading the book brings renewed blessings originally penned in 1955 but are still relevant in 2013.

Beautiful book, beautiful thoughts, wonderful gift for a lady friend.

It is a great book especially for women. The book arrived in great shape and well before it was suppossed to.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote "Gift from the Sea" while vacationing at a cottage on Florida's Gulf Coast. Her poetic descriptions of the sea and shells draws you into intimate thoughts about life. The words form waves of sentences that have a calming rhythm. As I read I caught a scent memory of salty air and remembered my childhood discovering hermit crabs at the beach. Anne Morrow Lindbergh had incredible powers of poetic description and that makes the book so comforting and beloved. Through this book we realize that the author is seeking peace with herself. She talks about solitude quite a lot. She also talks about the most exhausting things in life and how living on her own terms creates more sincerity. While she contemplates islands, she also speaks of spiritual isolation and the benefits of going inward. Like a good treasure hunter, Anne Morrow Lindbergh sees more than the surface of things. She contemplates marriage, friendship and family and decides people need more time to get away and be with themselves. Had she lived today I have to wonder what her take would be on the Internet. Perhaps she would see now how isolated we all have become. Since the time this book was written the world has changed in unimaginable ways. So it is nice to go back to the past and read what women thought about in the 50s. In some ways that made the book very calming. I enjoyed this book and think women over 50 will really relate to the topics covered. But it can be read at any age if one is willing to look deeply into life and find its beauty. ~The Rebecca Review

This book takes me away from every day life and transports me to place where there is solitude and peace, where I can slow down and be fully present. After reading it the first time, it stayed with me, and I reflected on the meditations on "youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude, and contentment (from the 50th anniversary edition)." Life is change. The things we love and want to hold on to are transient and intermittent. Nothing stays the same and live moves on. More layers are revealed. As I have gone through and will go through the different stages of life and experience different relationships, I see what lies beneath the external part - deeper connections, beauty, joy, contentment, insight, creativity. After reading it, I have less fear of the unknown. Heading toward the unknown is where you find beauty in the lightness of touch and living in present. This book is a gift that transcends time and a multi-read for me.

What timeless wisdom there is in this little book. Although it was written many decades ago, the challenges and issues faced by Anne Morrow Lindbergh are the same ones faced by women in today's crazy, bustling world. In fact, although women in Siberia, Cameroon, or Ceylon might not have her specific set of circumstances, they can still identify with Lindbergh's ponderings about a woman's life, her obligations, her relationships, and her needs. She lived in an upscale suburb of Connecticut and was the mother of five children, and yet there's something in her writing that can touch the souls of women everywhere whether in a grass hut or trailer beside a busy highway The chapters in Gift from the Sea center on Lindbergh's musings during a two-week vacation at the shore. Leaving husband, children, and house behind, she lives in a bare beach cabin without heat, telephone, plumbing, hot water, rugs, or curtains. She finds simplicity beautiful and longs to take it home to Connecticut when her vacation ends. Lindbergh takes a shell at a time and describes it in relation to other things in a woman's life. For instance, the moon shell reminds her that quiet time, solitude, contemplation, and "something of one's own" is needed. The double-sunrise represents the pure relationship found in early stages of friendship and marriage, and she reminds the reader that there is no permanent return to an old form of relationship since all are in the process of change. The oyster bed symbolizes the middle years of marriage and family, especially as the home itself grows and expands to accommodate the growing family. I first read this book when I was a young mother and could readily understand Lindbergh's comment that saints were so rarely married woman because of the distractions inherent in raising children and running a house. "Human relationships with their myriad pulls--woman's normal occupations in general run counter to creative life, or contemplative life, or saintly life." Now in midlife, I can better understand her affinity for all the shells as reminders that each cycle of the wave, the tide, and the relationship is valid.

I found author that was my mothers age in site ful and groundbreaking for the time. Although somewhat overly optimistic in the realm of womens liberation, author had some very useful problem solving techniques for marriage relationships and raising children.

I only came across this book in 2019....and it was my immediate brand of heroin! It is one of the best books I've read in my entire adult life. Really, yes, that's no exaggeration. The author is so wise, unfortunately because of many heartbreaks in her own life. She rips her heart open with her fingertips, not aggressively, but slowly and allows her hurts to heal you. I was in shock when I realized that this was actually the 50th anniversary edition? It seems as if she was looking me in the eye and writing this solo for me and me alone. This book has become my devotional tool. The wisdom in this book is timeless. She isn't trying to tell you what to do. She is wanting to help you along the way, learning from experiences so that you will make better choices. I have started giving this book to anyone I become good friends with for a birthday gift. the first ones I wanted to give this book to was my daughters.

This is such a lovely book from a woman who really went through some stuff and, I think, a excellent gift for women.

言語で読むと味わい深いです

Written in the 50's, still applicable today. If you have a mom, a wife, a female friend, family member (over 30), a book of good reminders. I reread parts of it.

Received this through the post today and have read most the book as I just could not put it down , this is one of the most enlightening and beautiful books I have ever purchased and read . A great comfort and reassuring book that sums up so beautifully what it is like to be a family woman wanting to balance family life but also have the time to be her to not just a housewife not just a mother but to also have the comfort of time for herself interests and also be able to love without the need to cling on , in other words to be able to give love, but allow those she loves to be able to have their own lives too , to have their own space time and interests and yet she will still love them even through distance you can still love . I really appreciate that this book has been able to beautifully portray family life and being the family woman that wants to give so much and be needed but to also learn that just having that bit of time out from the hustle and the bustle of everyday living, can be a liberating and rejuvenating experience . I also learn that sometimes the shell from which you have to leave ,means you can move on particularly where relationships careers friendships are concerned , sometimes moving from that shell and finding happier calmer seas and beautiful beaches can really be so very beneficial . Someone I met more recently asked me what me about career /study , to which I replied I am just a mother and a housewife ..had I have read this book a while ago I would have felt that actually my reply would have been more than just a mother /housewife .. This book brings a great comfort its gentle calming approach is mother like and tender , almost like the feeling of being wrapped in a warm fluffy blanket . the fact that I feel more whole again and comforted from reading it is a wonderful experience . This is a beautiful book if a Mum /daughter a beautiful gift to give and treasure always . actually I promise you will read it and feel very much a sense of wholeness and calm ...

Este es un libro excelente!!