A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman

However, although I liked the book it didn't really work for me and presented one or two cringe-making comparisons between nature and her marriage (shudder!!) and also became a bit whingy (with a some 70s feminism thrown in) in parts.

Having said that, I do feel that if this woman was brave enough to confont her hubby and grown up kids with the idea and see it though, I do believe the material must have been there!!! Bit weak for me!


Self absorbed and rather boring book   January 4, 2003
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

I was disappointed that this book wasn't more original or thought provoking. It tells of a year in the life of a woman who is tired of her humdrum life and marriage, and bravely decides to go and live alone for a year to see if she can resurrect the "inner spark". I thought this was an interesting premise for a book, and hoped it would deliver some genuine insights into some of the problems faced by women today.

For me, however, it just didn't deliver. I thought much of the writing was cliched, and the author's observations seemed a bit obvious eg she writes that she is fed up by her realisation that she was too accommodating to her family, and always put their needs ahead of her own. So show me a woman with kids who doesn't feel like this!

So, I felt it was an interesting idea, but the book didn't hold my interest, had nothing radical or new to say, and just meandered along at a very slow pace. I couldn't recommend.


Inspiring!   May 5, 2001
ceaquin@hotmail.com (Wales, UK)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

A truly inspriing and envigorating book. Joan Anderson writes honestly, openly and from the heart about her year spent searching for herself alone in her cottage by the sea. She is brave in her honesty about herself and her life and her struggle to make sense of it and find something better for herself. It is a genuine and heartfelt journey through a year in one woman's life and the messages she gives us offer hope and inspiration for anyone who has ever felt that they were stagnating or stuck, and especially those who have spent a lifetime putting the needs of others before their own. It is never prescriptive and Anderson's tone never gets that 'holier-than-thou' edge that some 'self-discovery'-type writers can - she is open about her own failings in a really refreshing and encouraging way. She makes it clear that this is not about being super human in some way; she is an ordinary woman who took a chance, followed her heart and did something wonderful with and for her life.


A rich addition to the memoir genre   July 16, 1999
Ms. Anderson embraces solitude and physical labor during a year away from her husband in order to take stock and decide the direction her life should take next. She suggests that women (and men) of all ages are "unfinished" throughout life. She and we are on a daily journey of discovery and change that ends only with death, not with a specific age, station in life, or accomplishment.

The rich, poetic, and spiritual details of Ms. Anderson's particular story go beyond her life and speak to anyone who stops, or wants to stop, for a time along the way to reflect and assess, for whatever reason.

You might especially enjoy this book if you are drawn to the wonders of the shoreline.