Rating: 
Summary: Thoughtful Comments about a Relationship
Review: I loved Joan Anderson's book "A Year by the Sea" and I was very happy to see that she had written another book about her life. I wasn't disappointed with this novel and read it in one sitting. I have come to the conclusion that either you like this writing style, a memoir with a homey feel, or you don't. With that said, what this book is, is Joan's opinions about her life and her observations about her marriage. This book won't appeal to everyone. Not everyone will agree with her opinions and may find her constant observations egocentric but for me, it was a wonderful look into an intelligent woman's world of what makes her relationship work and not work. I love the way Joan writes through the seasons, expressing her transformation from the self limiting roles of wife and mother to the open ones of companion, trusted friend and soulmate. Anderson is not afraid to take a hard look at herself and analyze the reasons she falls into negative behavior and attitudes. What's more she genuinely wants to transform and allow her husband to transform in his own unique way without interfering. Not an easy thing to do. As I finshed the book, I felt as if I had just ended a conversation with a friend who had shared some secrets, fears, laughs and accomplishments with me. This was an enjoyable and enlightening memoir.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful Comments about a Relationship
Review: I loved Joan Anderson's book "A Year by the Sea" and I was very happy to see that she had written another book about her life. I wasn't disappointed with this novel and read it in one sitting. I have come to the conclusion that either you like this writing style, a memoir with a homey feel, or you don't. With that said, what this book is, is Joan's opinions about her life and her observations about her marriage. This book won't appeal to everyone. Not everyone will agree with her opinions and may find her constant observations egocentric but for me, it was a wonderful look into an intelligent woman's world of what makes her relationship work and not work. I love the way Joan writes through the seasons, expressing her transformation from the self limiting roles of wife and mother to the open ones of companion, trusted friend and soulmate. Anderson is not afraid to take a hard look at herself and analyze the reasons she falls into negative behavior and attitudes. What's more she genuinely wants to transform and allow her husband to transform in his own unique way without interfering. Not an easy thing to do. As I finshed the book, I felt as if I had just ended a conversation with a friend who had shared some secrets, fears, laughs and accomplishments with me. This was an enjoyable and enlightening memoir.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful Comments about a Relationship
Review: I loved Joan Anderson's book "A Year by the Sea" and I was very happy to see that she had written another book about her life. I wasn't disappointed with this novel and read it in one sitting. I have come to the conclusion that either you like this writing style, a memoir with a homey feel, or you don't. With that said, what this book is, is Joan's opinions about her life and her observations about her marriage. This book won't appeal to everyone. Not everyone will agree with her opinions and may find her constant observations egocentric but for me, it was a wonderful look into an intelligent woman's world of what makes her relationship work and not work. I love the way Joan writes through the seasons, expressing her transformation from the self limiting roles of wife and mother to the open ones of companion, trusted friend and soulmate. Anderson is not afraid to take a hard look at herself and analyze the reasons she falls into negative behavior and attitudes. What's more she genuinely wants to transform and allow her husband to transform in his own unique way without interfering. Not an easy thing to do. As I finshed the book, I felt as if I had just ended a conversation with a friend who had shared some secrets, fears, laughs and accomplishments with me. This was an enjoyable and enlightening memoir.
Rating: 
Summary: Trying to lead a simpler life, complicated by marriage
Review: I loved this book even more than A Year By The Sea. The best part was the time spent in the beach shack - truly a simpler life. Will they work it out? I assume book # 3 will tell.
Rating:
Summary: It has taught me to hope.
Review: I read this book in one day on the eve of my 20th wedding anniversary. Although it held no surprises for me, I found it so intriguing I couldn't put it down. The parallels I could draw between my marriage and hers are quite similiar almost reassuringly so. We get to see what thoughts go thru Joan's mind during this reunion of husband and wife, I would be curious to see her husband's view. Makes me want to run off to a secluded shack with my husband. 20 years, seems almost ridiculous...
Rating:
Summary: It has taught me to hope.
Review: I read this book in one day on the eve of my 20th wedding anniversary. Although it held no surprises for me, I found it so intriguing I couldn't put it down. The parallels I could draw between my marriage and hers are quite similiar almost reassuringly so. We get to see what thoughts go thru Joan's mind during this reunion of husband and wife, I would be curious to see her husband's view. Makes me want to run off to a secluded shack with my husband. 20 years, seems almost ridiculous...
Rating:
Summary: A MASTERPIECE FROM START TO FINISH!
Review: Readers who read Anderson's first book, "A Year by the Sea" will find this a beautiful sequel and equally as compelling as her first book. After seeing Anderson on the Oprah show, I was as impressed with the author as I was with her book. In this book, Anderson and her husband reunite after a year apart. The reunion was not without its ups and downs as would be expected after the author's year sabbatical. According to Anderson, she and her husband had to make several changes to avoid making the same pitfalls and mistakes that had caused the couple to drift with a different tide. I particularly enjoyed "their trip to the dump", a learning experience that proved, like many objects we cast away, marriages can also be recycled.Anderson is a down-to-Earth woman who spent considerable time searching for her true self - much of which had been lost in her marriage. In discovering what made her tick, she also discovered a part of her marriage that was worth saving. As a counsellor, I hear so many stories of marriages that lose their spark. Not all marriages can be salvaged or "recycled" and some should not be; however, love is our most powerful emotion - it can overcome all obstacles if we are willing to make the commitment and changes to resolve the issues. Through the pages of this wonderfully inspiring book, many readers, particularly women, will be able to relate to Anderson's tale and perhaps see a little of themselves. The book reminds me of the saying, "If you love something set it free; if it comes back, it is yours; if it does not, it never was." Hats off to Joan Anderson for having the courage and wisdom to take a journey into self-discovery with all the risks involved and the determination to write a book which contains a valuable lesson for women everywhere. The only constant in life is change. If we are not able to go with the changes life throws our way and are not willing to take risks, we will never reach our goals. Hopefully, she and her husband will have many beautiful and enriching years together, and ebb and flow with the same tide.
Rating: 
Summary: An Unfinished Woman
Review: There is one voice in this book and every character uses it in exactly the same pedantic, stilted manner. (At a dinner party, with the alcohol flowing freely, the husband finally lets his real feelings rip: "Joan might wax poetic about the Cape's bucolic nature, and this place may have filled the soul of Thoreau, but I'm not sure what it's going to do for me".) Each tiny situation is analyzed to death within the narrow prism of Anderson's self-centered nature. Considering her broken ankle: "It is no coincidence that the left side of my body sustained the injury, as it is the left side that is thought to be the feminine side - the side that receives and surrenders. In the healing of my ankle, am I also meant to allow my softer energies to flow more freely"? Geez. Joan needs to get out and do some volunteer work.
Rating: 
Summary: An Unfinished Writer
Review: There is one voice in this book and every character uses it in exactly the same pedantic, stilted manner. (At a dinner party, with the alcohol flowing freely, the husband finally lets his real feelings rip: "Joan might wax poetic about the Cape's bucolic nature, and this place may have filled the soul of Thoreau, but I'm not sure what it's going to do for me".) Each tiny situation is analyzed to death within the narrow prism of Anderson's self-centered nature. Considering her broken ankle: "It is no coincidence that the left side of my body sustained the injury, as it is the left side that is thought to be the feminine side - the side that receives and surrenders. In the healing of my ankle, am I also meant to allow my softer energies to flow more freely"? Geez. Joan needs to get out and do some volunteer work.
Rating:
Summary: An Unfinished Woman
Review: This is a memoir about a woman so selfish, so castrating, that it is wonder that she has any marriage left to finish. I kept wondering why her husband, Robin puts up with her. She appears to have very little to offer. She shows him no love or understanding - it's all about her, her needs, her yearnings. She has no sympathy for his new premature retired state in an isolated beach community. She resents his furniture, his music, his golfing, his plans She gives him a hard time about a TV he wishes to install in the house and his plans for some home remodling. She announces to friends that she would like Robin to take a job in social services. She complains about the lack of money coming in since her husband retirement, yet balks at going to work. She left him the year before to "find herself" It appears as though she still hasn't.
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