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.

Adore this book. This is my go to as a gift for mamas that have over extended themselves needing a gentle reminder that they are not alone and it's ok to take a moment for some solitude. As an empty nester, I try to reread at least part of A Gift From the Sea once a year as I need reminding too.

lOVE THIS BOOK. easy, THOUGHTFUL READING. i HAVE PURCHASED SEVERAL FOR GIFTS. highly RECOMMEND.

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.