After her kids are grown and have left the family home and her marriage has become stale, Joan Anderson begins a journey to self discovery by taking off to her cottage in Cape Cod for a year of living the sea on her own. During what will become a year long separation from her husband, Joan will indulge in adventures and reclaiming her self.
Joan wants to be self-sufficient and not rely on her husband as much so she will take on a job at the fishmongers. Along the way she'll make some new friends, play with seals and all along ruminate on her life, her triumphs and the changes she wishes to make.
She acknowledges that her life has been spent making everything good and perfect for her husband and kids. From fitting her mood to her husband's mood on any given day, to even putting her grief aside when her father dies so she can take care of her mother's grief. Joan knows she's always been the care-taker but she wants to make sure that she comes first now. Most important of all she wants to infuse her days with bliss and not allow for any dull days.
Joan's exile to the beautiful surroundings is not all spent in solitude. Aside from her job selling fish and where she interacts with the locals, on a chance outing to the beach she meets Joan Erikson, another adventurous woman who'll become Joan's mentor and soul-sister. And, Joan will also re-encounter her husband at Christmastime. While he notices a shift in her he still doesn't seem to quite get what Joan is after.
This encounter leaves her feeling still a bit adrift and not knowing what will become of their marriage. It will take more than one holiday together and a true understanding to make a new start. We don't understand her husband much and while the reader can glean that he is a good guy he does come off quite a bit unsympathetic. Then again, we only get her side of the story and in reality she hasn't had what I'd call a bad life. So is Joan being a bit selfish? Perhaps that is part of what it means to take care of your soul.
I found this book easy and pleasant but not memorable. I've read a lot of books along the lines of living creatively and awakening the soul so perhaps this book suffered as a result of that. I didn't find any big revelations and so will probably not be quoting any of it's gems of inspiration.
Added 09/07