"And finally a new development puzzles me: that after so many years, and such great achievement by women, my book should continue to be read. Why should Gift from the Sea, after all we have undergone in these tumultuous twenty years, have any validity for a new generation of women. To look back on those years is a sobering experience. We have lived through the terms of four presidents and the assassination of one."This passage is from the 50th Anniversary edition of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea. It actually appears in a new chapter called, "A Gift from the Sea Re-Opened". I discovered this book sometime after college, maybe even after I was married. Whenever it was, it affected me profoundly. Finally, I had found an author whose voice echoed my own.
As fate would have it, I now live a few distant miles from the beach that inspired and gave birth to this little book, Captiva Island. Captiva is a small, barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Fort Myers. The dear friend who gave me this prized edition lives in Fort Myers. Captiva, the island, is a metaphor for Lindbergh's life: exclusive, isolated, vulnerable to the fickleness of weather (Hurricane Charley). I wonder whether I see myself in there as well.
I tag any of my readers who wants to take a moment and share a snippet of their literary world. Thanks once more to Stunt Mother for a little inspiration.
1 comment:
I've been meaning to read that book, having heard good things about it. I'll add that to my wish list while I'm thinking about it.
I think I'll take you up on this tag. :)
Post a Comment