Product Description

Three of Marianne Williamson's previous bestsellers -- A Return to Love, A Woman's Worth, and Illuminata -- explored the issue of relationships. Now, in this deeply personal collection of essays, prayers, and self-reflection, she turns to romantic love.

In Illuminata, Williamson wrote that "we experience God to the extent to which we love, forgive, and focus on the good in others and ourselves." Now, in Enchanted Love, she writes that "enchanted partnership begins with the conscious understanding, on the part of two people, that the purpose of their relationship is not so much material as spiritual, and the internal skills demanded by it are prodigious." High romance, she says, "is not about past or future. It is not about practicality. It is not about society or worldly routines. It is an audacious ride to the center of what is, at the heart of every person. It is a bold and masterful inquiry into what two people really are and how we might become, while still on earth, the angels who reside within us."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #101544 in Books
• Published on: 2001-02-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Amazon.com Review
"Romance is one of the sacred temples that dot the landscape of life," writes Marianne Williamson (A Return to Love, The Healing of America). "We tend to lack humility toward love, to patronize it rather than bow before it, to put mundane considerations before the emotional need to hold someone in our arms." When we make routines and practicality more valuable than love, we deny ourselves the opportunity to experience true enchantment and a deeper connection with God. Ultimately, Williamson offers a compelling invitation to overcome fear of heartache and enter into the whirlwind mystery of romance. Chapters include topics such as "Removing the Ghosts," "Grace and Forgiveness," "Marriage, Monogamy, Safety and God," and "Bodies and Soul."

Some readers may find Williamson's theories about male-female dynamics validating, while others may find them offensive. For example, Williamson believes that males are natural-born hunters, which means men need the thrill of the hunt during courtship and beyond. "A man should never have to totally stop working to figure out his woman, not if the woman wants him to remain interested," she claims. In fact, she believes that a fascinating woman is like a "Mercedes" or "Jaguar"--she is "high maintenance and doesn't apologize for the fact." --Gail Hudson

From Publishers Weekly
Musing about deeply passionate love in prose that's sometimes overwrought, spiritual thinker and bestselling author Williamson (Illuminata, etc.) pleads for a millennial movement toward "holy romance," based on deep spiritual connection between partners. Essentially addressing baby boomer women, she advocates a "new model of romance" and relationships containing "love, righteousness, compassion." Describing her blend of Christian-influenced belief tempered with goddess worship and myth as "mystical feminism," Williamson calls on women to help men find a similar cosmic rebirth. Cautioning women not to strategize or use manipulative tactics to gain a man's attentions (otherwise, he'll be the wrong one), she offers many insights, especially about forgiveness, healing and partnering. Williamson's views on monogamy, sexuality and male and female characteristics are provocative ("a woman should always be one step ahead of a man"). She often wraps her ideas in self-conscious, muddled prose, though her many fervent fans may not mind the overflowing images of mermaids, spaceships, angels and castles. Each chapter is accompanied by tender, candid entries from the author's journal and lovely prayers crafted for relationships. Women seeking the right relationship will find the book reassuring and ardent, if not always clear. Agent, Al Lowman. 14-city author tour; 20-city radio tour. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Williamson, who came to prominence as an interpreter of A Course in Miracles, has had a career filled with controversy. But in her newest book--a reflection on marriage, sex, and love--she speaks, uncontroversially, with independent authority. Her devoted readers will get great pleasure from this work; newcomers should find little that will surprise or offend. ("All joining of hearts is a joining in God," she says. "There is no love but God's.") This new work is recommended for collections where Williamson's work or New Age writing is in high demand.
-Graham Christian, formerly with Andover-Harvard Theological Lib., Cambridge, MA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Her best book yet.
This is her best book yet. There is a mystical quality to the writing itself. Marianne creates a context for relationships in Enchanted Love, rather than just telling you what to specifically do to get them to happen. Without this context, it doesn't even matter what you do, in a certain kind of a way. With this book, Marianne goes more to the essence of what is needed in order for us to create the kind of relationships we all dream about. I read some of these customer reviews and I think a lot of people are maybe looking to this book as some kind of self-help book, having certain expectations for what it's supposed to be. You know, step one, do this...step two, do that. I think Marianne breaks that mold with this book. For me, just reading it shifted me, opened me. She is speaking to another part of our brain, I think. In other words, it's the kind of book that gets in there, even when you are not looking. For instance, I read Enchanted Love and then a couple of days later I found myself referring to certain ideas Marianne talks about in the book, while I was talking with a friend...concepts I didn't even know had particularly registered with me while I was reading them. I find myself doing that a lot...going back to sections of it over and over again. Almost everyone I know who's read it says they want to read it again. I am constantly amazed at how much more I can see about life, about love, and about romance since I read Marianne's remarkable book. Do yourself a favor, sit with it. Read it slowly. Let it sink in. Think about it. Savor it. It'll open doors. It did for me, anyway.

I think they missed the point...
Oh, you silly willies! She says in the introduction that "ENCHANTED LOVE" is a collection of prayers, meditations, and little more than her own impressions about love - it's not a "book" in any sense of the word at all - and she didn't mean it to be. It's instead sort of an intimate evening at home discussing romantic love with Marianne. She's just sort of free-associating at times - and if this works for you, great! If not, well, there are plenty of "how to" books out there. This is a great book, if you're willing to "forget logic. Forget your head. Open your heart, and come with me," as she writes in the frontispiece. And I think the dedication is VERY classy!

Truly, an enchanting read.
"Enchanted Love" is simply a beautiful book. Particularly in the introduction and through the early chapters, it truly is an enchanting journey along a path of romance into a woman's essence. While some of the enchantment seems to be abandoned in the later chapters, where she turns more philosophical, the poetic dialogues that illustrate the book have the ability to carry the reader back into the greater depths of love where enchantment lives, and bring bearing to her more surface, technical beliefs and observations.

In particular, I was surprised by her views on monogamy. They seem almost to be an intrusion on the feelings carried earlier in the book; but as she says, she is a complex woman who makes no apologies for being, "high maintenance". She does, indeed, appear to be a woman leading the way into a new era of open expressiveness and freedom, although I'm not convinced through reading this book that her ideas are as independent as they are rebellious, which is where the intrusion is made on the enchantment.

Still, from a man's perspective, reading this book has the familiar comfort of laying in a lover's arms for a beautifully intimate moment. Williamson's words often assume the texture of a golden honey being poured into the reader's soul, and bear a sense of authenticity and subject-knowledge reminiscent of her work in "A Woman's Worth" This book is highly recommended reading for anyone who has ever felt in love.