Joan Anderson has been wondering about relationships her entire life. Her first memoir, A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman, won her national acclaim when it appeared on the Best Seller Lists of the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the San Francisco Chronicle, and ignited a grassroots fire among women looking for a way to make sense of their lives.

Anderson's books have been published in fifteen languages. She has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and The Today Show, and is a frequent speaker at colleges, universities, women's clubs, and writers' conferences. She has spoken at the National Business Women's Association, Harvard Medical School, Georgetown Medical School, The Center for Career Renewal at Harvard University, Harvard Divinity School, Colby-Sawyer College, 92nd Street Y in New York City, Southeastern Booksellers Association, Chicago Dental Society, and the Marion Foundation in Massachusetts to name a few. 

Her very popular Weekend by the Sea retreats, during which attendees learn to retreat, repair, regenerate, and renew, have attracted women from all over the country. Recently she has begun hosting these retreats in other locations - such as Sonoma, California, Iona, Scotland, and Sedona, Arizona.  She has also run workshops on the road in New Jersey, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Michigan, Florida, Texas, and Massachusetts.

A graduate of Yale University School of Drama, Anderson lives with her husband on Cape Cod.