Rating: 
Summary: Ladies this is a must read--for both young and mature!
Review: Joan Anderson steps outside of her "Comfort Zone" to take a good, long, hard look at her life. She is like many of us women who have been married 20 years or longer. Joan wonders if there is more to life than the everyday--wake, eat, work, sleep, and family care. She risks the choice of going out to survive alone for a year by the sea in the old family beach home. Finding a job, she learns to pay her own expenses and deal with emergencies. She ventures out to evaluate what is really important in her life, while learning to take care of herself along the way. Because of Joan's new experiences alone, she is able to live comfortably with the biggest decision she could ever make regarding the rest of her life.
Men will find this book as interesting a read as we women.
Rating: 
Summary: Tedious and self pity
Review: Someone should say to Joan - "you are unique like everyone else." She is so involved in self-pity the book becomes tedious. For all the moaning she does you would think she had a real tragedy in her life e.g. death of a child, etc. She needs to read a few books such as "A Walk Along the Cliff or Hostage to Fortune." Glasses are always half full or half empty -- the difference is attitude. Get one Joan.
Rating:
Summary: Courageous Women Rule
Review: This is a masterful piece of work. I am ordering 3 more copies for friends today. If you are a baby boomer and have approached that 50 year milestone there will be much you will recognize in this writing. I just wonder how Ms. Anderson knew my thoughts so perfectly.Read it... you will fall in love.
Rating:
Summary: Very reflective
Review: This book touched my heart and parts of my inner self in which I could relate. If every woman could do this once in their life, it would benefit the world. Her relection of herself and the courage to follow through with what I consider solitude certainly nurtured her. I highly recommend every woman to read this.... You will come away a much more fulfilled person.
Rating: 
Summary: An easy read about difficult issues!
Review: I found this book to be both revealing and disturbing. I very much liked her approach and there were few indications as to what her final decisions would be. A good book for couples facing these issues as well as women.
Rating:
Summary: A life altering read!
Review: I was really looking forward to reading this book for my monthy book club discussion and I was not disappointed. This book has had a profound influence on me. There are so many issues which the author addresses in this book that I could relate to in many ways. Many of her life's events mirror my own. There are many times I said to myself while reading this book that I could have written the passage I had just read and I wished that I had. This book really spoke to me. It finally acknowledges the fact that woman suffer through mid life crisis as well as men and it is not just hormonal! The journey that Joan Anderson made to find herself again is one that I won't soon forget!In the back of the book, there are discussion questions for use with book groups. I found these to be especially helpful in formulating answers to discussion groups questions when the book was discussed.
Rating:
Summary: I Wish I Could Do This!
Review: Joan Anderson has written a really lovely book of independence strength and fulfillment during a crucial period in a woman's life- and it's all true! I would love to be free myself of the constraints that men often put upon us as women and spend time alone to ponder on life and where I am headed, so this book was right up my ally. I think I would have stayed on my own unlike Joan however the sea and the seals all sounded so peaceful and beautiful to wake up to every day!! I highly recommend this book to women struggling for survival amongst the demands of family.
Rating: 
Summary: Shallow Self-indulgence
Review: In A Year by the Sea, Joan Anderson writes a shallow memoir lacking both style and complexity. In page after page of superficial metaphors that try too hard, she reveals little about who she is or how she has grown and changed during her "year off". Each day becomes more tedious than its predecessor. She hardly paints herself as an inspiration to the reader nor as a sympathetic character. After a three or four chapters it becomes almost embarrassing to read about an adult babbling on like an unfulfilled teenager. The only aspect of the book that seems to work is her attempt to keep hidden from the reader the reasons behind her resentment and anger toward her one dimensional husband.
Rating:
Summary: Self discovery
Review: In sharing her journey into herself, the author inspires us to delve into our thoughts and feeling in order to determine who we are and what we want from our lives. For many of us who feel that our lives may have drifted in a direction different than we had anticipated, mid-life is a time of reconsiderings. This book helps us to find a way to do that well, without the psycho babble of so many self-help books. The honesty in which Joan Anderson tells her story, inspires us to do an honest assessment of our story and to make a plan for our future.
Rating:
Summary: A touching and moving book
Review: This is one of the best books that I have ever read. It was very moving and explores thoughts of a woman in which I think many women have the same thoughts! They just don't know it. After experiencing Divorce and being very afraid to be alone, this book has helped in opening my mind and soul and accepting life in the present. This book is not written as a self help book but it sure drives the message home for women in which they are unique and beautiful and how to search and find your true inner self. I recommend this to every woman and have given this book as a gift to my friends.
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