The Second Journey: The Road Back to Yourself

The Second Journey picks up a decade after A Year by the Sea???what happens after Joan returns home to her busy life. It chronicles a moment of crisis in Joan??'s life as she tries to determine how she can be all things to all people and be good to herself. Told in three parts???Accidental Journeys, Second Journeys, and Spiritual Journeys???she speaks to women who, at mid-life, are open to embracing new possibilities in their life. Joan admits to still struggling with balancing work and play and finding her new role not only in her growing family, but also the demands of being a spiritual mentor to her ever-expanding group of fans. But with the help of good friends, family???and the Salty Sisters, a group of her workshop participants, Joan develops a new outlook on the second journey. Her goal is to inspire other women to do the same, and come of age in the middle of life.

                With characteristic humor and warmth, Joan offers her readers her signature advice and insights on how to regain the fun, playful, thoughtful selves they may have lost along the way. Through Joan??'s own journey, she reveals common hang-ups and insecurities all women face, and reminds them their journey has only just begun. The Second Journey is for any woman who has taken a detour from the life she expected, and helps her chart a new course. The best is yet to come.

"Anderson's warm, inviting tone will appeal to women who feel, as she did, that they need time and space to reinvent themselves."

--Publishers Weekly

"Encourages us all to take the breaks that we need to regain our emotional balance . . . a fulfilling chronicle."

--Philadelphia Inquirer

From the bestselling author of A Year by the Sea, this memoir is a coming-of-age story for every woman who has asked herself: "Now what"

The Second Journey chronicles Anderson's quest to restore equilibrium to her life after the responsibilities of being a mother, wife, grandmother, caretaker, and bestselling author distract her--almost dangerously--from taking care of herself. Suffused with Anderson's characteristic humor and warmth, this book is a permission slip for any woman who seeks to step out of line and create her own destiny. As Joan shares her stories of balancing love, marriage, family, parents, and spirituality, she inspires and instructs readers to find peace and a unique purpose within their own lives. She offers reassurance that the best is yet to come, and empowers other women to come of age in the middle of life.