What more can be said about this lovely collection of thoughts? Even as it celebrates its 50th anniversary, it is as fresh as the day it was penned. This book is a keeper if ever there was one, a volume to be read and re-read and handed down to one's children, which is what I intend to do with the most recent Gift from the Sea that I bought.

Listed as a 'summer read' in a local magazine list - I hadn't heard of this book. I picked it up and finished it from one afternoon into the next morning. And -- there was nothing surprising or new to be found here in the book - the pace at which its written and the uncomplicated natural way Lindbergh examines her life and her impressions of life's stages will have me passing this book on to many people in my life.

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.

This book came very highly recommended by two friends who are avid book readers. However I hate to admit that the book did not move me as much as my friends claimed that it moved them. I was more interested about the background references to the author's personal life and how the book came into being. That I would have read voraciously. The book is short but I don't intend to read it again to see what I missed. I believe a book either moves you or it doesn't. This particular book despite other rave reviews did not move me despite my great affinity for the sea and women writers. I wonder if perhaps if the book would have touched me differently if I read it in the beach rather than on a plane which I did.

I have never been a big fan of books on CD. This changed with Gift from the Sea with the forward by Reeve Lindbergh and beautifully read by Claudette Colbert. This is a beautifully written and recorded book. I keep it in my car and play it quite often. I have orderered additional copies to share with friends. It is indeed as relevant today as it was fifty years ago and probably even more pertinent in today's fast paced world where we fail to slow down give ourselves alone time to comtemplate our lives. Reeve Lindbergh's forward about her mother was a lovely bonus. Although I have not read any of her children's books, I have read everything else she has written that I can find and encourage anyone who has not read her books to check her out on [...].

This is a very touching book and it brings up many feelings that I needed to get in touch with. I would highly recommend it.

Eventhough this book was written almost sixty years ago, it speaks to women today. Anne Morrow Lindburgh writes as though she is visiting with the reader. It is so easy to hear the sea, see the sea shell she is describing and feel as though you truly know this author. This is a book I will read again and again, as well as give as a gift.

This is a must read for anyone & especially for women (of all ages). I
re-read it every few years just to be rejuvinated again. I've been giving
it ,for yrs., as gifts to special friends. The last time I gave it to my
friend ( a Presby. lay pastor)who took it with her from the WV mts. to
her family home in Fla....she read it while on the beach & upon returning used it as the basis for her sermon for Women's Sunday.Each time I find
something "new/eye-opening & worthy" in the examination of the shells to
our individual lives.

Everyone should read "A Gift From the Sea". This is a book filled with wisdom. Unfortunately I read it later in my life. I wish I would have had this book in my twenties. Anne Morrow Lindbergh was a woman who understood life.

There are a gazillion books out there on how to find yourself, follow your bliss, and cope with midlife crisis, but none more succinct or more profound than this slim and elegant volume. Each chapter is lovingly structured according to a particular species of shell, and the result is a beautifully observed prose poem about the evolution of the female psyche. With its compact size and attractive cover art, it makes a particularly charming gift.

Read it once, pass it on, read it later, pass it on, read in when even older, pass it on . . .

This book will touch your heart. I rarely ever read a memoir more than once, but this book is an exception. When you're reading it, you can feel yourself transported to the beach. There's a peacefulness that settles over you as Anne Lindbergh talks about shells, and oysters and the sand and sea.

Interwoven with the talk about the sea are her observations on life. How modern gadgets complicate life, rather than simplify it. Or how a good relationship is like a dance, where the two partners love so completely, they forget to ask themselves whether they're loved in return.

This is a beautiful and inspiring book, which continues to touch your life long after you read it.

Kara Lane, author of Wake Up to Powerful Living: 12 Principles to Transform Your Life!

This book will touch your heart. I rarely ever read a memoir more than once, but this book is an exception. When you're reading it, you can feel yourself transported to the beach. There's a peacefulness that settles over you as Anne Lindbergh talks about shells, and oysters and the sand and sea.

Interwoven with the talk about the sea are her observations on life. How modern gadgets complicate life, rather than simplify it. Or how a good relationship is like a dance, where the two partners love so completely, they forget to ask themselves whether they're loved in return.

This is a beautiful and inspiring book, which continues to touch your life long after you read it.

Simple Grace: Living a Meaningful Life
The number one gift of inspiration. After reading Gift from the Sea I was never the same (for the better). If you love this book after reading it you'll see how she inspired my book: Simple Grace - Living a Meaningful Life. www.bethjannery.com
and thank YOU for reading.

I found an original print of this book, and have loved every single page. She just gets it.

My grandmother gave this to my mother. When I was in my mid thirties, my mother passed it on to me. Originally written in 1955, Anne Morrow Lindberg has captured a timeless understanding of the stages of life that women experience. Using the metaphor of the shells she finds on the beach one summer, Lindberg provides insight on topics like love, marriage, motherhood, the loss of identity, the subtlety of living and finding meaning in even the smallest events of life. Outstanding! Since I don't have a daughter to whom to pass this on, I only hope I can convince as many women as possible to obtain their own copy--or two: one to underline and keep on their nightstand, another to pass on to their best friend, mother or daughter.

This short little book makes a great gift to any women in your life. It is my favorite nonfiction book. I highly recommend it.

My mother had loaned me her 20th anniversary edition of this book and i was completely struck by it. I was thrilled to see Amazon offered it and had a 50th anniversary edition! I ordered four copies for my friends and they were all delighted (they read them on our recent trip to the beach!) The entire book was gorgeous with a silver foil emboss and rich deckled thick paper on the inside.
This book is for all women and is one that could be and should be read every year to reevaluate your stage in life.
I absolutely recommend this book!

I first listened to this book on CD and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It is pretty much just the musings of a wife and mother about her life and relationship with her family. She talks about her need for alone time, simplification of her life, and her marriage. I read it quite a while ago and I still reflect upon insights from the book. I would highly recommend that everyone take a chance to read this book. It's not long, but it is truly a gem.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh (AML) originally wrote these words only for herself, her own processing, her own experience of the cycles of life, of love, of friendship, of feelings. I am grateful she expanded her reach with these words to include any of us who care to take a brief break from our everyday routines to read this slim, very accessible volume.

A couple surprises - I found this title in the Christian Inspiration section of the bookstore. I had previously read "War Within and War Without" in which I discovered Anne Morrow Lindbergh didn't regularly attend church. I had thought she was one of those "iconic" Christian writers - instead in these pages I discovered a woman who deeply knows the tenets of the Bible and uses them, integrates them in her life without being preachy about it.

That is a good way to sum up the entire tone of the book - using metaphors from the Ocean itself, AML opens her own heart - and ours - to an entirely new way of seeing. Her writing voice is clear, concise. She says absolutely everything that needs to be said and nothing more.

Her writing is like the perfectly sized meal. Satisfied, not satiated, with plenty of space to breathe, converse and make new discoveries about the entire experience.

In the closing chapter, written for a new edition of the book twenty years later, AML writes of being "astonished" about the impact of this volume "written to work out my own problems" was still being read and appreciated by so many readers - and continuing for another generation... and now, continuing still to future generations.

AML's daughter, Reeve, also scribes a heartfelt introduction for this fiftieth anniversary edition which allows us another view into the life of the woman who left these words for us, more than fifty years ago... yet feel as if they could have been written five minutes ago.

This book makes me hungry for more. I now have two AML books under my heart. I will now read more, as well as books by her children. (One note that probably means nothing else to any of you, but the copyright was reissued in 2003 by four of her children. My heart literally leaped in reading those familiar names. I actually exclaimed "Land! Jon!" outloud. And then, "Where is (daughter) little Anne?"

That is what the writing of Anne Morrow Lindbergh does, in a nutshell. She makes you care, not only about her and her life, but about life itself.

This is a book that you don't just read once. It is one
that you reread over and over, everytime you get sometime
new out of it.

This book was last months book club read. While I think Anne Morrow Lindbergh was ahead of her time, I enjoyed her daughter's introduction to the book more. It was worth reading but it wasn't my favorite type of book.

This is a timeless classic, it should be on everyone's bedside table. You will pick it up over and over throughout the years.

I have to admit that I have a problem with finishing books, and so I did not completely finish reading this book. That aside, the majority of the book that I actually read was absolutely fantastic. It made me think about who I am on the outside in contrast to who I am on the inside. It was absolutely intellectually stimulating. I would recommend this book for all ages.

I discovered this book last year after hearing friend after friend rave about it. After reading a library copy, I had to own it for myself.

Even though the book was written decades ago, it is absolutely timeless in a woman's life. I gleaned so much from this small but powerful volume!

Like the gentle, rocking sea -- this book gently opens your mind with each "wave" of insight from the author, wider and wider until you feel like you've ridden the tide of wisdom and have obtained some true secrets of life -- though oddly they feel like they've been with you all along and this book just reminded you of their existence.

I loved this book because of its imagery through words and the delicate touch of the author to balance hard truths with beautiful surroundings to arrive at some very valuable life lessons. Would highly recommend this!

I loved this book so much that I bought several more copies to give as gifts. Although the book was written in the '50 it is completely relevent today as we shuffle kids to soccer and ballet and juggle dinner parties with snatched moments to discuss leaky faucets, poor grades, new tires and other highly romantic pairings before falling asleep with our equally exhausted spouse.

Her premise is that everyone needs some quiet time; time away from your family. No matter who you are, no matter what your social or economic station and no matter what age you are. Women will read this book openly. Men will read it on the sly. Men might fib about reading it, but they'll be better for having received the gift from the sea.

This book is timeless and genderless,an encouraging and realistic take on life,an easy reading little gem to own and to give. Buy a few copies, you'll want to give them away spontaneously.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh crafted this classic of lyrical meditations while on a private beach retreat on Florida's Captiva island, away from family and work. The book remains as fresh and meaningful today as when it first came out over a half century ago. Though most known as the wife of famous aviator, Anne was very accomplished in her own right as the first licensed woman glider pilot int the US, the author of 13 books, including Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead, in which she shared her pain at the kidnaping and murder of her infant son. In it, she wrote, "I must write it all out, at any cost. Writing is thinking. It is more than living, for it is being conscious of living." Anne died on February 7, 2001 at the age of 94. Gift from the Sea, has sold more than three million copies during the past half-century, and has been translated into 45 languages.

Lindbergh wrote this inspirational book for herself "in order to think out my own particular pattern of living, my own individual balance of life, work and human relationships. . . . " It became a bestseller among all who find the complexity and demands of life and work eroding their idea of who they are, why they are here and how to regain a more peace filled life. Of the beach and peace, Lindbergh writes: "Here there is time, time to be quiet, time to work without pressure, time to think, time to watch the heron, watching with frozen patience for his prey."

The beach is not a place to work, to answer long overdue letters, or read a half dozen books or even to arrive with the intent to do anything. At first it is a place to rest and descend into apathy:

One is forced against one's mind, against all tidy resolutions, back into the primeval rhythms of the sea-shore. Rollers on the beach, wind in the pines, the slow flapping of herons across sand dunes, drown out the hectic rhythms of city and suburb, time tables and schedules. One falls under their spell, relaxes, stretches out prone. One becomes, in fact, like the element on which one lies, flattened by the sea; bare, open, empty as the beach, erased by today's tides of all yesterday's scribblings.

During the second week her mind comes alive, and wanders and turns over like the gentle waves and a life that had drifted away with the ebb and flow of doing and being comes ashore as lessons from the sea. The gifts are in the form of rare sea shells that find their way up form the ocean floor like lost dreams and are deposited upon the sandy beach awaiting discovery and careful study which Anne does each evening..

Each chapter of the book is titled for a different sea shell. A Double-Sunrise seashell, a Moon shell, an Oyster shell, or even an Argonaut all serve as metaphors through which Lindbergh reviews her life and obligations to work, family, marriages, children and career. In coming across a deserted Channeled whelk shell that was once home to a hermit crab, who mysteriously ran away and left his only shelter, Anne wonders about her own running away and how in comparison to this pear shaped beauty that winds in a gentle spiral, she sees her life as untidy, barnacled, a barely recognizable shape that now seeks the grace of inner peace.

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. I want, in fact - to borrow from the languages of the saints - to live "in grace" as much of the time as possible. . . . By grace I mean an inner harmony, essentially spiritual, which can be translated into outward harmony. I am seeking perhaps what Socrates asked for in the prayer from the Phaedrus when he said, "May the outward and inward man be at one." I would like to achieve a state of inner spiritual grace from which I could function and give as I was meant to in the eye of God.

The adaptable and tenacious Oyster Shell was her choice to represent the difficult middle years of marriage about which she writes:
. . . marriage, which is always spoken of as a bond, becomes actually, in this stage, many bonds, many strands, of different texture and strength, making up a web that is taut and firm. The web is fashioned of love. Yes, but many kinds of love: romantic love first, then a slow-growing devotion and, playing through these, a constantly rippling companionship. It is made of loyalties, and interdependencies, and shared experiences. It is woven of memories of meetings and conflicts; of triumphs and disappointments. It is a web of communication, a common language, and the acceptance of lack of language, too; a knowledge of likes and dislikes, of habits and reactions, both physical and mental. It is a web of instincts and intuitions, and known and unknown exchanges. The web of marriage is made by propinquity, in the day to day living side by side, looking outward and working outward in the same direction.
Ths is a book full of timeless insights, one that explores in exquisite language and imagery what is most important in life: a time to oneself, the need for spirituality, the dangers of "a life on multiplicity," balance, creativity, inner strength solitude, intimacy and independence, and the shedding of masks. Gift from the Sea transcends gender boundaries and is like reading the shared confidences of a special friend. And of course, it makes for ideal beach reading,

"The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy or too impatient," she writes. "To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should be empty, open, choiceless, as a beach waiting for a gift from the sea."

I read a Gift of the Sea for the first time about fifteen years ago. A used copy of the book was given to me by a close friend. I just love the book. The book helps you focus, slow down and most important, feel good. The author describes the ocean, and the beach, beach house and the experience so well, you can almost smell the salt air, hear the waves and feel the sand on bare feet. I've given the book as a gift four times. The first time, I gave my mother a copy, and she enjoyed it very much. The second time, I gave a copy to a mentor in a Family Development Course I took. I gave the book as
a thank you gift. This Christmas, I gave copies to two of my friends. One of my friends read the book out loud to her mother.

I read this while at a bed and breakfast for a weekend celebrating an anniversary with my husband and I couldn't put it down! I read it in two nights. It was a great read and I have since bought several copies to give to my girlfriends because I think that all women could benefit from Ann Lindbergh's wisdom.

This is one of the most inspiring books I have read. I bought 4 copies, one for each woman in my family.

My gifts of the inspirational book, "Gift from the Sea" were well received. It is a book for all seasons on how to cope with a busy life. Ann Lindburg was a special lady that most people know nothing about. Her take on how to find time for "self" is very profound. The analogies she found at the seashore give inspiraton to anyone, women and men, who are restricted by schedules and how to adjust those schedules. Finding inner peace and knowing one's self is the key to a more productive and acceptable way of life. Gift from the Sea can be read and re-read at all times of the year. I have read my copy three times.I'm sure I will read it throughout my lifetime.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh was as introspective a woman as I have come across in my reading. She addresses in this book, among other things, simplifying one's life, the importance of alone time, and how relationships metamorphose over time, all in her thoughtful, elegant style.

This book is absolutely inspiring. I'm a busy working mom who is expecting her second child and this book helped me calm down & find my priorities once again. It's a wonderful read, full of beautiful imagery. I could almost smell the salty sea air as I was reading. Lindbergh doesn't give advice per se, but she takes you by the hand and reminds you of what you already know about your relationships with others and with yourself. It's a wonderful gift for a friend, your mom, or yourself!


Marina Kushner
Author
The Truth About Caffeine: How Companies That Promote It Deceive Us and What We Can Do about It

This is a terrific book for awoman of any age. It provides much food for thought and is a source of inspiration through her personal musings and easy flowing prose. I like the 20 year "report" from the author where she shares her surprise that her own refections and thoughts have influenced others. Obviously others have the same life experiences to consider and learn from.

This is a terrific book for awoman of any age. It provides much food for thought and is a source of inspiration through her personal musings and easy flowing prose. I like the 20 year "report" from the author where she shares her surprise that her own refections and thoughts have influenced others. Obviously others have the same life experiences to consider and learn from.

There is much to gain by reading this book. This book captures the aspects of life and love by a woman's reflections while looking over her "Gifts from the sea."

This is a book everyone (women and men) would benefit from reading sometime/anytime in their life.
I enjoyed the simple style of the book. You can get into it easy, and then can't put it down.

It's just beautiful. If ever you don't know what to get a woman for a gift... this book would be a great gift.

I picked this up at a bed and breakfast and finished it in 2 nights!

As a man I immensely enjoyed this 'woman's' book. Mrs. Lindberg uses masterful metaphor to tell her tale of inner discovery. Her level of insight kept my attention throughout this short memoir. I will go on the record and call this a man's book also. There are so many lessons that cross the gender lines. I believe that I also have a better understanding of women in general. Her relationship advice is sublime. I have included my favorite quotes:

"Duration is not the test of true or false."

"There is no one-and-only, there are just one-and-only moments."

"Neither is the answer in dissipating our time and energy in more purposeless occupations, more accumulations which supposedly simplify life but actually burden it, more possessions which we have not time to use or appreciate, more diversions to fill up the void."

"Saint Exupery said 'Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction.'"

Five Stars

This is Anne Morrow Lindbergh's masterpiece.

Ms. Lindbergh was a great writer. She had the ability to make a few words say a lot, to express the transcendant through the mundane. In none of her books, does she do a better job than this one. In all of her writings, Ms. Lindbergh shares a little part of herself; in this book, she shares her essence. One tends to feel, while reading her book, that one is receiving the confidences of a dear friend.

Decades ago, after a brief perusal of Gift from the Sea, I concluded that it was a book for women. For years, I gave away copies to female friends as Christmas gifts. More recently, I took a closer look and realized that it transcends gender boundaries. This book is for everyone who longs to find and maintain their spiritual center in the midst of a busy and hectic world. Take Gift to a quiet place in nature and read it alone. If you're like me, when you get to the end you'll want to whisper a word of thanks to the author.

This is a beautiful book. One of my most favorites. It's a classic written for women to reflect on the beautiful things in life. I give it often as a gift to other women. I bought this as brand new on Amazon and it came in excellent condition. I would recommend this to anyone.

20 years or so ago this book stunned me with its timely message for women and artists. Recently I heard Anne Morrow Lindbergh's youngest child, Reeve, discussing the 50th anniversary release of her mother's book. She said her mother's sister thought Anne had gone to Captiva alone, intending to "write herself out of her marriage, but instead had written herself back into it." Intrigued by this personal insight I took up my old copy and have started reading it again.

I am now a few years older than she was when she wrote the book at mid-life. I amazed at how the book holds up, how relevant are her words to modern life and Feminism (with a captial "F" as she writes it), and her spot-on advice to artists of all media. Recent revelations that her American hero husband was a secret world-class philanderer, fathering at least seven illegimate children with three different European women, make the veiled anguish she must have been experiencing all the more poignant.

Without whining or humbling herself, the author conveys with grace her personal truths, wrested in the quiet solitude of beachcombing. A spare and simple writer who yearned for a simple life, she must have been often overwhelmed by the complexities of her own. The seashell analogies are thoughtful and lovely, simple and clean as her writing. But this simple book of few pages requires a long and gentle read, made so by the inevitable introspection it will provoke. I hope that Anne Morrow Lindbergh achieved the inner peace she sought, because her simple words have surely been a gift to others.

This book contains the mid-life reflections of Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The Lindberghs had a summer cabin on the beach. Anne relished the time she spent at the cabin alone, free from the worries and petty details of raising five children. One summer, she decided to write out her daily meditations, and the result is found here in this slim book.

Inspired by the seashells she found washed up on the shore, Lindbergh has arranged the book in chapters based on analogies with types of shells. Although the writing was produced in one particular summer in the 1950s, the topics of the chapters are timeless. The chapter on simplicity has become a classic in the simplicity literature, and some readers may already be familiar with its content through encountering excerpts elsewhere. Besides simplicity, Lindbergh also discusses the need for taking time for oneself to rest, and how this need is particularly strong for caregivers (like mothers of small children). She reflects on the types and stages of intimate relationships, and ways to nourish closeness between partners. When I first picked up the book, I figured I would read it cover to cover in an hour or so and move on to something else. But the content of the book was so thought-provoking, I soon put the brakes on, slowing my reading pace down to savor every word. The book is short and simple, but very profound.

I read this book years and years ago. Recently, when looking for a book club selection this was listed as a "must" because it created such a great discussion. Now after re-reading, I couldn't agree more! Anne Morrow Lindbergh's writing is as timeless as Shakespeare's. Although our society is much different now than in the 1950s, her thoughts are still as appropriate--in some ways even more so. From a literary standpoint, her use of shells to describe stages of life is remarkable! Can't wait to discuss this in our book club.

This book and it's message are timeless. The message is as true today as it was 50 years ago.

This book was given to me many summers ago and it has become an annual read.

I would not have believed that any book written in 1955 about women's problems could be so absolutely relevant today, and not only that, but says exactly what I believe about aloneness and solitude and how combined with nature, such solitude can truly refresh the soul. Deserves many re-readings. And what a novel idea, having many different types of shells represent the stages and relationships in a woman's life. It echos so exactly that line from "Bridges of Madison County" - "Once a woman marries and has children, her life becomes one of details." How baking biscuits can be creative and renew the spirit.

Wow! What a great book. It was like taking another walk with my grandmother -- something I haven't been able to do since she passed away in 2002. While some of the specific details of Lindbergh's essays are out dated, they still spoke to me. The metaphor of the sea shell is a simple but powerful one. I ended up reading the book in the course of about half an hour.

I was given this book from a dear friend. When I finished reading it, I ordered 10 copies to give as Christmas gifts. This is a timeless book for women of all ages and stages of life. It speaks to your heart, no matter what you are going through, in good times and in troubled times. I can't believe it was written 50 years ago!
You will read it again and again.

This is a book you can read at various times in your life and get something different from it every time.