Anne Morrow Lindbergh

50th Anniversary Edition

Gift from the Sea

In this inimitable, beloved classic—graceful, lucid and lyrical—Anne Morrow Lindbergh shares her meditations on youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude and contentment as she set them down during a brief vacation by the sea. Drawing inspiration from the shells on the shore, Lindbergh’s musings on the shape of a woman’s life bring new understanding to both men and women at any stage of life. A mother of five, an acclaimed writer and a pioneering aviator, Lindbergh casts an unsentimental eye on the trappings of modernity that threaten to overwhelm us: the time-saving gadgets that complicate rather than simplify, the multiple commitments that take us from our families. And by recording her thoughts during a brief escape from everyday demands, she helps readers find a space for contemplation and creativity within their own lives.

With great wisdom and insight Lindbergh describes the shifting shapes of relationships and marriage, presenting a vision of life as it is lived in an enduring and evolving partnership. A groundbreaking, best-selling work when it was originally published in 1955, Gift from the Sea continues to be discovered by new generations of readers. With a new introduction by Lindbergh’s daughter Reeve, this fiftieth-anniversary edition will give those who are revisiting the book and those who are coming upon it for the first time fresh insight into the life of this remarkable woman.

The sea and the beach are elements that have been woven throughout Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s life. She spent her childhood summers with her family on a Maine island. After her marriage to Charles Lindbergh in 1929, she accompanied him on his survey flights around the North Atlantic to launch the first transoceanic airlines. The Lindberghs eventually established a permanent home on the Connecticut coast, where they lived quietly, wrote books and raised their family.

After the children left home for lives of their own, the Lindberghs traveled extensively to Africa and the Pacific for environmental research.

Marion 

The joy of such pattern is not only the joy of creation or the joy of participation, it is also the joy of living in the moment. Lightness of touch and living in the moment are intertwined. One cannot dance well unless one is completely in time with the music, not leaning back to the last step or pressing forward to the next one, but poised directly on the present step as it comes. 

Nkechi A

But I want first of all- in fact, as an end to these other desires- to be at peace with myselt. 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 wel as I can. 

When the noise stops there is no inner music to take its place. We must re-learn to be alone.

I’ve come away with a lot to think about, but strangely, it doesn’t feel like an additional burden. It feels like a peeling back, a refocusing. 

I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to re-reading it. It is surprisingly timeless for a book published in the 50s. (Although it could be me who doesn’t know enough about books from that era)

I’ve come away with a lot to think about, but strangely, it doesn’t feel like an additional burden. It feels like a peeling back, a refocusing. 

I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to re-reading it. It is surprisingly timeless for a book published in the 50s. (Although it could be me who doesn’t know enough about books from that era)

Sarah Sammis

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. Also as I read through the book I realized that it would be a perfect birthday gift for my mother and I'll be ordering a copy for her shortly.

Melody Izard

A timeless treasure with no new information - just beautiful, simple prose to remind you that you to readjust your life and put the important things at the top and let the cobwebs stay in the corners of the room.

Ainsley Jeffery

Sally Lu

Nihan 

Dr Seth Jones

Claire Matthews 

Georgia Donmoyer

Gift From the Sea

Bee 

Liv Rockwell

liz mcclaran

'Quietly powerful and a great help. Glorious' Emma Thompson 'Women need solitude in order to find again the true essence of themselves.' Start the New Year with this classic and wise book for women: learn how to flourish in life, how to balance life, work and motherhood, and how to find space to think and breathe. Holidaying by the sea, and taking inspiration from the shells she finds on the seashore, Anne Morrow Lindbergh meditates on youth and age, love and marriage, peace, solitude and contentment. First published in 1955 and an instant bestseller, Gift from the Sea's insights – into aspects of the modern world that threaten to overwhelm us, the complications of technology, the ever multiplying commitments that take us from our families - are as relevant today as they ever were, perhaps even more so.

Gift from the Sea 50th Anniversary Edition

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