I think some people will find this book very helpful as it has good ideas and follows people as they grow older and gain insight into their lives and those who surround them. I found it difficult to keep the people highlighted, separate esp in the first half of the book. Toward the end this becomes more clear but did leave me hanging until the middle. Sometimes I lost focus while reading due insufficient interest or suggestions that seemed too obvious. The transition between topics w/in chapter at times changed in a rather random fashion. All and all this book supplies helpful insight esp if you have lived in one community for most of your life.

Not a typical self-help book, but instructive, none-the-less. Whether you are rowing north yourself or supporting someone who is, vignettes and recounting of personal experiences share ways of finding peace, grace and happiness in later years.

A very good book, but I think it is too long. At times, it feels that Pipher keeps repeating the same thing again and again.

Pipher writes through the eyes of a 60 plus person. One can more fully experience emotions, past pleasure, and pain - all leading to more appreciation, healing, and hope. She says, "This is not a "how to" book, ....but a "how to think" book. I like her final words of wisdom - Embrace everything!

I usually shy away from the 'self help' genre. This book truly spoke to me. I will be 70 later this year and while I don't think of myself as 'rowing north', I found this book thought provoking and helpful. Mary Pipher emphasizes gratitude and grace rather than grimness and anger as we age. We ARE strong and resourceful, and talented and wise and vulnerable, and it's all ok. I feel validated and valued.

It's finally time to drop the narrative about older women being invisible and useless. Hello, Nancy Pelosi?