Deep Water Passage: A Spiritual Journey at Midlife

I couldn't put this book down! I was there with every storm, every breathless moment of this incredible journey! I was exhausted when I finished this page-turner strictly from the adventure standpoint, but the emotional journey which parallels the physical is equally compelling and I found the author's honesty to be refreshing and comforting. This is a beautiful book to read and re-read when your own life's journey makes you wonder if you're on the right path and it makes a wonderful gift as well!

I read this book in one sitting and found it to ring true from my own experience. Some have criticized the author's presentation, motives, and sincerity. These criticisms only reflect the different perspectives and expectations that we all bring to our reading.For me the author's journey framed experiences similar to my own under different circumstances. Anyone that has tested themselves in the crucible of nature or human endurance will find resonance in the words of Deep Water Passage.Similarly, those that have sought refuge from the modern in nature will understand the link between spirit sensed and humanities struggle for understanding. Those embroiled in the today should probably wait for a later time to read and appreciate.If your ready, a very good read!

Deep Water Passage is one of the most honest and compelling stories of personal journey that I've ever read. I've now read this book four times, and have given it to countless friends and family members as gifts. (I can't keep a copy in my house!) Ann Linnea's amazing courage, her passion for her children, Lake Superior, and kayaking, as well as her quest for her own spiritual awakening and life make for an incredibly heartwarming and poignant story. Great information on Lake Superior too--that most majestic of the Great Lakes! You won't be able to put this book down!

A luminous book, filled with adventure, discovery and emotional truths. Since I live in Michigan, I'm very familiar with Lake Superior, and the images that Linnea evokes are wonderful: she made me feel the storms, the magic, and the fury that the Lake can unleash. The emotional part of the story is a somewhat familiar one, but it is beautifully told. Any woman who has taken the track that society told her to take--at her own expense (and many, like me, who actually had a mother who told them to question it)--can relate to this story. In taking this journey Linnea found the rest of her life. We are fortunate to be able to take both journeys with her: the inward and the outward. I am filled with pride that this strong woman had the courage to take both leaps: the one that took her around the big lake, and the one that took her away from a man who had no egregious flaws, but who wasn't meeting her needs in any way except financially. Sadly, societal pressures still tell women that any "decent" man is better than being alone, and if you find one, your happiness is less important than that of your family. Of course, "decent" is open to discussion: a man who won't even adjust his university schedule to spend time with his children doesn't seem like a particulary stunning father to me. For too long a woman's happiness has been subjugated to that of her husband and children. Linnea reclaimed her joy: I'm sure her children feel and appreciate that joy. My only gentle criticism of this book is that Linnea at times waxes a little too New Age for me, but the quest for traditions that speak to women in a way that our patriarchal choices do not is a very valid one. This is a wonderful book to give as a gift: It's an adventure story, an introspective memoir, and a delightful travelogue. Give it in good health!

Ann Linnea writes about many issues that women face as they grapple with motherhood, careers, love, relationships, and sense of self. Her harrowing kayak trip around Lake Superior is the back drop for her journey toward self realization. Her struggles with the elements, as she paddles, mirror her struggles toward self understanding. This is a wonderful book about courage, and an eloquent statement about what it means to be a woman. It is a good read for kayakers as well as non-kayakers, women, as well as men.