When Anne D. LeClaire decided to turn an ordinary Monday into a day of silence, she viewed her experiment as a one-time occurrence. Little did she realize she had begun an inner voyage that would transform her life.

In the seventeen years since, LeClaire has practiced total silence on the first and third Monday of each month. By detaching herself from the bustle of her hectic lifestyle and learning to listen to her deepest self, she has found a center from which to live—one that tests, strengthens, and heals her. In practicing silence, she has discovered her own secret garden—a cloistered, sacred, private place where true personal growth is possible.

In this eloquent book—part memoir, part philosophical inquiry—LeClaire reflects on how silence can help us attend to the world around us, expand our awareness, and achieve inner peace. Silence, LeClaire contends, reminds us to pay attention to the ordinary moments of our existence. In silence we can learn how to listen, become more compassionate, ignite and nurture creativity, uncover our inner yearnings, and ultimately find peace and improve our well-being. By confronting ourselves and learning from the anxiety that arises when we are freed from distraction, we can become whole. With clarity and humor, LeClaire reveals how silence has brought joy to her life and helped her foster new connections with nature, with others, and with herself.

"Against the cacophony that pervades our lives, novelist LeClaire (The Lavender Hour) offers a persuasive antidote: silence. Sixteen years ago, LeClaire decided to devote a 24-hour period to not speaking, and it became a twice-a-month practice. LeClaire draws deeply on this experience in calling for a wholesale rethinking of noise and a greater appreciation for quietude and nature. Especially revealing are scenes in which the author or her friends, husband and other family struggle with her practice. It is within this conflict that LeClaire finds the lessons that she wishes to pass on to her readers. With Ann Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea as a model, LeClaire, too, focuses especially on women, encouraging them to carve out a silent space in a demanding world. Both book and the practice seem at once self-indulgent and eminently sensible. LeClaire's prose is colloquial, friendly and familiar, and the book is as much memoir as it is inspiration. Nineteen photos by LeClaire's son illustrate each chapter opening." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

A critically acclaimed novelist offers an enlightening look at the joys and benefits of silence and shows how it can transform people's daily lives. 19 b&w photos throughout.

Anne D. LeClaire is the author of eight novels, including the critically acclaimed Entering Normal and The Lavender Hour, and her work has been published in twenty-four countries. She is a former reporter, radio news broadcaster, and newspaper columnist whose work has appeared in publications such as Redbook, the Boston Globe, and the New York Times. She lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Christopher D. LeClaire, the author's son, is a published author, visual artist, and commercial shell fisherman whose photography has been exhibited in galleries on Cape Cod and in Boston and Delaware. He lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.