Peace and Plenty: Finding Your Path to Financial Serenity

by Sarah Ban Breathnach

As featured on Oprah's podcast, SuperSoul Conversations

"When money is plentiful, this is a man's world. When money is scarce, it is a woman's world." Unearthed in a 1932 Ladies Home Journal , this quote is the call to arms that begins Peace and Plenty , Sarah Ban Breathnach's answer to the world's-- and her own personal-- financial crisis. As only Ban Breathnach can, she culls together this compendium of advice, deeply personal anecdotes, and excerpts from magazines, books, and newspapers-- particularly those of the Great Depression-- to inspire readers who are mired in today's financial difficulties.

Focusing on her own personal path, Sarah Ban Breathnach will relate never-before revealed details about how she fell from the financial top to the bottom. Readers will immediately see how deeply she understands the plight of those trying to maintain a happy and comfortable home, while at the same time not even knowing if they will be able to make the mortgage to keep that home.

Sarah has proved to be the voice of comfort for years to women who are spiritually bankrupt, and now she will reach to those who are financially strapped, showing them how to pull themselves out of their psychic and fiscal crises while providing deep comfort and reassurance throughout.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Memoir, Inspirational, Business, Personal Growth, Finance

426 pages, Hardcover

First published December 29, 2010

About the author

In addition to SIMPLE ABUNDANCE, Sarah Ban Breathnach is the author of THE SIMPLE ABUNDANCE JOURNAL OF GRATITUDE, SOMETHING MORE, and MRS. SHARP'S TRADITIONS. She currently resides in California. Please visit her website at www.simpleabundance.com.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

A First Reads win. I think I could use this book about now.

So was my thought a month ago. Now, after having read this book, I realize I did not need it. Let me start by pointing out the positives about Peace and Plenty. 1.) I got one piece of truth out of it--something I already knew but didn't ever verbalize, but Sarah Ban Breathnach verbalized it for me: "There is no such thing as financial security." 2.) Breathnach draws from many old (1860s-1950s, but especially 1920s-1940s) periodicals, such as Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful, The American Lady Magazine, and McCall's. From a historical perspective, these bits were fascinating. 3.) Breathnach is quite open about her own financial woes and personal inadequacies that led to her losing the million plus dollars she got from writing Simple Abundance in 1995.

Now, the negatives (in my opinion) about this book: 1.) Most of the advice in this book comes from those Victorian-, Great Depression-, and World War II-era writers that I found historically fascinating. Breathnach quotes them at great length, to the point that at times she seems more an editor of a compilation or the writer of a college term paper. I think I would have enjoyed just reading some old periodicals more. 2.) You really get a picture of the author as a person through this book, and I have to admit I did not care for her. She seems to have the emotional maturity of a romantic teenager who has no life experience of hardship or introspection, and who is trying to be something other than she is. She seems to have a hole in her sense of self that she desperately tries to fill with extravagant purchases (e.g. Marilyn Monroe's furs, penthouse apartments, flights on the Concorde). [At one point in the book I just *had* to know what this woman looked like to see if she looked at all like I imagined. So, I Googled her; the first photo that came up was from her website, and I almost laughed out loud. She is semi-reclined in a chair, wearing a clearly expensive evening gown and shawl/cape (I have no idea what it is called, as is something I have never worn; it would look more at home on the First Lady). It's a very affected pose and would only be made better by her having her right forearm draped over her forehead.] I digress. As I was saying, she is quite open about her financial foibles, but as I kept reading, it was clear that she didn't really change her worldview of money because of her negative experience. 3.) Poor advice. The author seems to define a “lack of money” as a misuse of money rather than a true lack. For example, she assumes we have enough money for essentials (which she defines as “food, clothing, shelter, childcare, savings, transportation, and insurance”) and can then “have a good idea how much money you can put toward debt reduction” (p. 95). She also assumes we are, “…saddled in credit card debt over designer dresses, shoes, and handbags” (p.287) (she also assumes we don’t pay our bills and that we have a belief in god). There was a disconnect between different pieces of her advice. Since she had a husband who took all her money, part of her solution is to advise readers to have “…a bank account that’s solely in your name and that no one else knows about…your ‘I’m Out of Here’ money” (p. 304). When I read that, I thought, “How about getting smarter at knowing yourself, picking a husband, and learning how to communicate honestly?” I was especially unimpressed with her when, 14 pages later, she states, “Having your own bank account is a statement that you have your own identity, your own dreams, and your own goals” (p. 318). So, why have it be a secret? How authentic does that feel to hide this expression of your identity? She also asks, “How do you talk to your husband (about money)?” and then bets “almost to a reader that most women don’t have an answer because they’ve never really considered the question” (p. 302). Really? Is my relationship with my husband that out of the ordinary because we communicate about money on an almost-daily basis? Perhaps so. I just never considered not talking with my husband about money. 4.) There was often a feeling of the whole “Law of Attraction” theme. It just felt hokey.

Some of the other advice that left me rolling my eyes includes: a.) Advising not to put money in fortune tellers, but in bibliomancy—“One of the oldest forms of divination, bibliomancy is forecasting events by opening the Bible and seeing what message is waiting for you” (p. 125); b.) When talking about tiny indulgences for yourself, she advises, “Label the prettiest file you can find…and fill it up with your inevitable clippings from mail-order catalogs or glossy magazines” (p. 128). She does this a lot—focuses on the prettiness of objects rather than substance of the exercise, so that making things pretty becomes the exercise; c.) She devotes a chapter to a woman’s purse and how you must reorganize yours so it doesn’t weigh so much and doesn’t resemble a trash bag. She then proceeds to list what you should have in your handbag—sixteen things, including a small fold-up umbrella and a small bottle of water. I could not fit half of the things she lists in my pocketbook; d.) She advises getting new curtains to boost your morale (p. 329); e.) She recommends sorting your makeup to calm yourself when you need to put on a brave face (I can’t recall the page number, but it’s in there); f.) She gives the advice of eliminating two nights of take out a week to save money. Honey, we get take out two times a year. There is much more, but for the rest you’ll have to read the book.

Really, this book is not a book about "finding your path to financial serenity" but about her path to getting comfortable with her financial status/fall from wealth. There is no way following her advice would lead me to financial serenity. In fact, I feel like I (or anyone with a German grandmother) could have helped her find financial serenity.

I suppose this would be a good book for someone who has never NOT had money before, someone who has never had to make due with what they have. I imagine the ideal reader of this book to be a late-twenty-something, Sex-and-the-City-watching girlie girl who comes from money (or is at least middle class), but who didn’t have any education in how to handle money nor a role model, so she spent more money (on credit cards) than she actually had and now doesn’t know what to do.

I struggled a lot with feeling judgment while reading this book, but then I finally realized that I don’t judge her for her experience or who she is. I do feel judgment for her thinking that advising others about how to achieve financial serenity was a good idea, because that is when who she is becomes an obstacle to sound advice.

[El]

I hated this book. It did not live up to it's premise AT ALL. I thought this would be filled with practical advice and great ideas (from the author and all her historical sources) about how to get by with less, how to stretch a dime, how to have fun for less, etc. Instead, this book is like "The Secret," in it's complete and utter uselessness. All this author does is justify all the stages involved with realizing you're poor and coming to terms with it. I'm sorry, but if you need to read all 418 pages of this book to recognize that you've suffered a financial setback and need to make some tough life choices, then you're either pathetic, a democrat, or a member of the teachers union.

This book is not motivating or inspiring. The author does not seem to be able to look at poverty with true happiness. She tries to... but it all seems rather forced. She pities herself and others to an unbearable extent (seriously, after a year or so of being #1 on the NYT Bestsellers list, she has to have a drink because she's so depressed that she has slipped to #2! This woman is clearly out of touch with reality.). Stuff happens, and then you read some books about lifestyle changes and use the good ideas in your own life. This is not one of those books. If you're looking for a book that offers practical ideas for living simply and saving money, check out "America's Cheapest Family."

[K.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

All you bestselling authors out there (past, present, future)…listen up. Sarah is here to tell us to “Do as I say,” not as she did.
After Sarah got dramatically wealthy in what seemed to her like an instant (after being on Oprah! Hmmmm....David Bach also dropped Oprah’s name in his book #56 on my blog but Sarah doesn't sound smarmy when she does it), she hired financial advisors, but surprise! None of them told her that she should financially protect herself. Now (one might argue), should she have had to be told that?
This book is about how she wrote her first book, “Simple Abundance” which made her fabulously, unexpectedly wealthy, and how she screwed up and lost all of that money. As I read the opening to this book, I couldn’t help but think that Sarah was hoping that history could, nay would, repeat itself; that she could write another (similar) book and get fabulously wealthy again. Well, I guess it’s been well proven over the years that it can happen. I’m wondering if her gamble will pay off. Right there on the book's cover above the title of this new book is the title of her first (did she mention that it was a bestseller??) book, “Simple Abundance“. Some of her assertions, such as “I discovered that women just love to spend money,” really were just kind of offensive. There were other sentences though, like “Cheap is not cheerful, but homespun thrift wraps is in a warm tapestry of fulfillment…” (pp. 38-39) that I thought were just lovely. Here’s another: “…appreciate the precious but fleeting well spent moments of every day’s sacred ordinary…” (p.39). She is the queen of alliteration, but I happen to be a fan of alliteration. so it was all good. “The Thrill of Thrift” and “Creating a Comfort Companion” are two good examples. Sarah loses it all, and then writes her way back from that brink. She turns to history and finds solace in the life stories of other women who have been in similar situations and how they deal with it is woven in throughout this book. One of the best sayings she finds to help get her through the darker times is this: "Keep calm and carry on," p. 86. The chapters are fairly short, so if you wanted to read this book a little at a time, the format lends itself nicely to that. In the end, I liked this book very much, and think that every woman, whether she is struggling financially or not, will related to much of what Sarah says here and find it a worthwhile read. I hope it makes it to the bestseller list and that she can get back on her feet financially.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of Peace and Plenty by being a First Read lucky winner. I want to thank Good Reads and also Hachette Book Group for sending it to me in a timely fashion.

I did feel lucky because Sarah Breathnach was the author of the book and I had previously bought and read three books by her.

So as I bonded with the new book I thought of it as being titled "Finding Sarah" as that is exactly what happened for me. I had one of my favorite authors back in my hands.

As I read the book I first saw it as a Simple Abundance of Victorian stories and antedotes entertaining us but also leading the reader to something more. As hard as it was for Sarah she revealed her own financial crisis and at the same time held our hands as we journeyed down a path of self-help to peace and plenty.She had done her research and was well prepared for the task at hand.(leading us to finacial security)

The book offered good practical advise and some tips while the world around us seems to deny the crisis so many people are in today.

Sarah understands women and their needs. She reaches out with hope and reassurance that it can better. Then shows us the tools we need and the path to follow her on as she herself holds on to you giving comforting words of encouragement.

I feel that this book is an effective way to help yourself in many ways and that it may be possible to find peace and plenty in your life once more just as Sarah is doing with this book.

On page 287 Dorothy B. Hughes is quoted, "Nobody can take away your future..."Nobody can take away something you don't have."
SB says, "So hold tight to your dreams-they are yours to keep."

It can all begin by reading this book. It will your first step to peace and plenty.

This is a book that is meant to be shared with others.

By the way Oprah if you see this you might want to give Sarah a call and sign her up to reappear on your show. (Yes, I'm serious.) After all, it might help our economy to be a bit more fluid and our homes to feel more comfortable and secure.

[Natasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Sarah's first book, Simple Abundance. I bought a copy for my sister and several friends. I bought her 2nd and 3rd book hoping to continue the journey with this author and teacher, but I could not get through them. They fell flat with me and only seemed a way to continue in the financial abundance that the first book generated.

Now with this fourth book she is trying to recover from a bad divorce and a loss of all her money. Why not just write a sordid tell-all and be frank about the need for more money rather than trying to couch it in more simplicity and abundance jargon?

It is like having a spiritual leader win the lottery, then lose it all by mis-management, then having said spiritual leader try and get all the money back by teaching others how to manage money. No thank you.

Sorry Sarah, but I am very disappointed. The only good thing I can say about this book is that she mentions the author Phyllis McGinley, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, who wrote Sixpence in Her Shoe as a reaction to Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. I bought a copy of Sixpence in Her Shoe and love it.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved, loved, loved Simple Abundance. It is one of my 'stuck on a desert island' book choices - I can and have reread it many times.
I can not reconcile that wise, centered, intuitive author with the woman in this book. Having a huge bestseller sent Sarah Ban Breathnach into a horrible tailspin apparently. How could someone so seemly enlightened buy Marilyn Monroe's furs among other things, sending herself from millionaire to pauper in a few short years? The book itself, while fascinating in a car crash kind of way, seems to struggle and meander. There wasn't enough 'there' there. I did find the subject timely and I will be using the bibliography to read more on this topic. I read parts of Simple Abundance at the same time and Sarah notes at the conclusion of that book that her daughter was 8 when she started it and 13 when she finished. In this book she says she always knew Simple Abundance would be on the New York Times bestseller list. I am sad to see that she worked so long and hard to accomplish a dream, never realizing that it would bring her so much grief, shame, and pain.

[Amy R · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author knows how to tug on the emotional strings quite well. This book reads as though you're sitting with a kindly, older female relative, just talking to you about loss, choices and picking yourself up off the ground. There were times I wanted to cry in the beginning. Not much farther into the book though, the author brought a sense of peace to the reader, that everything is fixable and temporary. "Peace and Plenty" is aptly named. I recommend it for women going through a financially hard time. This book shows that there IS light at the end of the tunnel.

[Helynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised at the diversity of reviews of Peace and Plenty: Finding Your Path to Financial Serenity. Some readers enjoyed this latest tome from Sarah Ban Breathnach, but many others found it a lot less enjoyable and inspirational than her earlier books. Although I admit I am partial to Simple Abundance and Romancing the Ordinary, which were written during happier and more prosperous time for the author, I still admired her candor in this book in which she owns up to some major blunders with her burgeoning financial empire, which landed her virtually in the poor house, dependent up on the kindness of her sister, and frustrated that her remaining assets were tied up pending the unraveling of a divorce settlement. Soon after making an impressive fortune from her earlier books, Breathnach married her third husband, to whom she refers only as “the Englishman,” and moved to a lovely cottage called Newton’s Chapel, a home built within a 17th-century English church where Sir Isaac himself once worshipped. The husband turned out to be a scoundrel and a charlatan (Breathnach’s own words), who , frankly, married her for her money, then spent her fortune lavishly on himself and his children, sold her valuable possessions, made bad investments, and lost virtually all of her holdings while subjecting her to “verbal abuse and emotional battering” (298). Sarah, herself, however, was not blameless in the fiasco. She freely admits to bad business dealings of her own, overspending on a swanky apartment in New York, binging on prodigious amounts of luxuries like designer clothes and shoes, and failing to protect her fortune with adequate savings –in her name only—and an airtight prenuptial agreement. Amid the references to her own current misfortune and poverty, Breathnach puts on a cheery face, reaches into her bag of knowledge of history, poetry, philosophy, and self-help literature, and assures us readers that she will pull herself out of financial funk—and that all of us can do the same. “I’ll prove to you –one cozy home comfort, earthly delight or vintage bliss at a time—that making the most of what you have and learning to appreciate the precious but fleeting well-spent moments of every day’s sacred ordinary is the path to true financial serenity” (39), she states in typical Simple Abundance fashion. “Not having money to spend doesn't mean we can’t have well-spent moments every day” (42) . She reiterates her old adages about the importance of gratitude, keeping a daily gratitude journal, and trusting in the wisdom of a benevolent universe that will see to our genuine needs. She shares the sad experiences of other women who also were taken by greedy, unscrupulous husbands—playwright Dorothy Parker, novelist Rumor Godden, and actress Doris Day—and how they slowly, but bravely, triumphed over the shock, shame, and debt. Breathnach also provides women readers with some practical advice about protecting their assets by keeping at least one or two bank accounts solely in their own name, hiding a secret stash of “pin money” –envelopes of cash to which one contributes regularly—not making spontaneous or secret purchases, and keeping meticulous track of one’s expenditures. Breathnach concludes with an optimistic view of her own new beginning in California in a scaled-down apartment with minimal furniture. “There is room in my new home and my life for the angels to spread their wings while they nudge me in my new direction, and there will be for you as well” (412). For the most part, I find her advice logical and sane, and I especially support her idea of “pin money,” which grows quickly for fun purchases or emergencies when tucked away regularly in envelopes because I have seen this practice work in my life. I can’t help but disagree, however, with Sarah’s decision not to sell on Ebay her huge collection of horrendously overpriced Manola Blahnik shoes, which are still stored in a closet in England, just because “it all seemed way too complicated for me” and she “blesses (the shoes) for becoming a real life lesson” (372). Come on, Sarah. Follow your own advice, and sell those vainglorious symbols of self-indulgence—before your rotten ex-husband gets his hands on them and pockets your money yet again!

[Carrie Lahain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read all of SBB's books and am working through SIMPLE ABUNDANCE for the third or fourth time. However, though I like her books, that's not to say that I don't feel conflicted about them. Sarah, as she comes across in her books, has a very theatrical way about her. This can be entertaining or irritating depending upon the reader's mood. Her books do tend to focus on cheering yourself up by buying stuff--though it may be stuff from a thrift store or garage sale. Like a lot of readers, I've found that the moods of her books strongly reflect what's going on in her life. Hence, SOMETHING MORE had an undercurrent of bitterness and anger. ROMANCING THE ORDINARY was a little calmer and more resigned--Sarah coming to grips with her new single-woman reality. MOVING ON came off as smug..."take THIS, cheating ex-husband, I've found my TRUE love." A dreamy Englishman, no less! The perfect fairytale ending for the woman who ran off to London at a young age hoping to become an actress. Not New York. Not Los Angeles. London. That says a lot about the sort of sensibility we're dealing with. Romantic. Histrionic, even.

Then we come to PEACE AND PLENTY. The dream has revealed itself as just that...an illusion. Reality is Sarah camping out in her sister's condo while waiting for the British courts to tell her whether her shattered marriage will leave her with anything to show for nearly two decades of work. Now we learn about the huge designer shoe collection and Marilyn Monroe's (!!!) furs. About Sarah forking over a tidy fortune to sing on stage with Sting. I mean, this is about as far away from the simply abundant treat of sitting in front of a fire with a mug of cocoa topped with REAL whipped cream as you can get. This is Sarah the actress starring in her own Silver Screen extravaganza!

Of course it couldn't last. And Sarah details how it all fell apart with admirable candor and humility. She offers some ideas for living on less, but that's really secondary, isn't it? Her fans will read this book to continue tagging along with her through the fascinating, exasperating adventure that is being SBB.

Funnily enough, the day I'm writing this (April 9th) is also the date of the essay in SIMPLE ABUNDANCE that sums up my feelings about SBB and her work. In an entry entitled "Affordable Luxury," she declares that her readers are confusing the Simple Abundance path with the Voluntary Simplicity movement which gained popularity in the 90s. This, she said, was far from the truth. Voluntary Simplicity was based on fear and focused on deprivation. She even made what I consider a rather mean-spirited allusion to frugality writer Amy Dacyzyn, making fun of that author's description of how humble dryer lint can be transformed into a child's Halloween costume. The sub-text was clear: this sort of homey project is somehow beneath any woman with a healthy self-esteem. My first reaction upon re-reading this was pretty self-righteous. After meeting her goal of moving to an historic rural home and being a stay-at-home mom to a large family, Amy Dacyzyn is sitting pretty (and presumably still frequenting yard sales) in her Maine farmhouse at a time when many in our country, including SBB, aren't sure where the next mortgage payment is coming from. On further reflection, I can see that this was less about making fun of thrifty people than about Sarah's own fears of admitting that, yes, bad stuff DOES happen, even to women with impeccable fashion sense.

So, sure, I enjoyed this book. I liked it so much that, after reading the copy in my library, I bought my own. I like Sarah for laughing at her own foibles. And I want to go along with her as she grows into her own humanity. She still clutches to optimism the way the victim of a shipwreck clings to a piece of floating debris but, come on, it's better than drowning.

[raccoon reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh..I was so let down by this book. I couldn't make it past the second cd. That's HUGE for me. I always give audio books through the third or fourth cd because a lot can change by then. Unless, you're suffering a horrible slow audiobook death by having to listen to this crap.

I have so many bad things to say about this book that I'll spare you. Who wants to read a slam? I'll just stick to a few top contenders of suckiness.
1. Breathnach assumes you *must* know her story right? Because she's so famous and stuff? And like... rich? Yeah. No. I didn't know you were on Oprah until you told me, or that you had (have?) a castle in England or wherever, or any of that other stuff you dropped in mentioning about how famous you became. I may not have known that, but what I certainly *Still* don't know is what the hell your story is lady? Really? You couldn't have taken five minutes to explain what in the world you keep referencing (obscurely, almost secretively) about how you lost all your "fortune" and what a douche bag your husband (ex?) was? That sounds awfully interesting to me! Especially since (and hold onto your hats here people) YOU ARE WRITING A FINANCIAL ADVISING BOOK! So tell me how you fucked up all your money by blowing it why don't you, before you tell me how to get back out of that hole. Otherwise I'm inclined to not believe a word you freaking say. You keep implying when you're writing this book that you're still dirt poor and just miserable about the money situation, but you're... advising... me?? It's all a little to desperate. Like you're basically saying "hey, all you schmucks bought my books before and made me rich so now that I'm poor I'm going to do it again and hope you buy this book so I can get out of this hole." Yeah. No. Maybe if she'd made it a little more memoir like instead of advice like..

2. If this lady used one more quote I'm pretty sure I would have ripped my cd player out in a screaming berserker frenzy. I have this theory about quotes. If you have too many of them, then you are using them as filler because you are a truly sucky writer. This was the case here because...

3. She was a really bad writer. It just was not enjoyable. It was laid out poorly (for an audiobook) and at least for the entire first cd I kept wondering if she was reading the bloody introduction. Her language about how "In this book I'll teach you how.." was what made me think "introduction" instead of "meat of the book." She needed an editor or at least a clear outline of where we were going. And the examples she gave were so incredibly lame and over done. Oh, and not useful. I will admit that after the 2nd cd she may have gotten better. Maybe she told her story more clearly and linearly so you could be sympathetic, relate, and want to hear what she has to say. Maybe she started giving better financial "serenity" examples. Maybe it felt less like a really bad first rough draft and more like a well edited book that was going somewhere. Maybe her quotes dwindled off to a reasonable amount. I'll never know because short of torture no one will get me to pick up one of her books again. I'll also allow that in book form it might have been "cute" with all those quotes, and more of a coffee table flip through light pick me up book, then how it came across as an audiobook. Some books should not be made into audiobooks. They do not lend themselves neatly or well to that medium. This might be the case here.

Final words? Skip the audio.

[Carolyn Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had read and enjoyed some of Sarah Ban Breathnach's earlier books, so thought I would give this recent one a try (and I liked the cover; silly, I know). This book made me wonder why I had liked the others. Admittedly, I didn't finish this, but jumped around reading here and there, and skimming other parts. There is little about her own financial serenity in this book, but mostly what she draws from earlier writers who had experienced hard times. It is more about the high financial anxiety of a woman who goes from struggling to pay her bills, to making over a million dollars, thanks to Oprah, then losing it all. Not ever having had the experience of receiving a ginormous financial windfall, perhaps I find it hard to sympathize. What comes across to me is a foolish silly woman who spends her money on things like Marilyn Monroe's furs, designer wardrobes, especially Manolo Blahnik shoes, a large staff, flights on the Concorde, and three expensive homes (one N.Y. apartment where her monthly rent exceeded her annual income of the previous twenty years and where she spent very little time). She seems to have no idea how much money she is spending. Worse, she seems to think that all women are like her, who constantly have to shop for pretty things and have no idea how to manage their financial affairs. Or who have found themselves victims in the Great Recession because of their debt and overspending (assuming the victims to have landed there because of their own profligacy and not just economic factors like job losses or personal hardship such as illness). Not only that, she has little self awareness and less perception of others to the extent that she marries a con man who quickly goes through the last of her money. She cites other successful, brilliant creative women like Rumer Godden who were also financially ruined by their husbands. So, she advises women to keep a secret account that their husbands don't know about in case they need to escape. Sheesh! She prays, "Restore in us serenity and common sense as we pay our bills and balance our household accounts." Well, duh. I do find redeeming passages, when she speaks of time in the garden, for instance. She does write well; her words are evocative and lyrical. And, if I'd had the wherewithal, I, too, would have been tempted by Isaac Newton's chapel cottage in its lovely English garden. Sigh. If only she had seen through her nasty English con man of a husband sooner, she might have been able to keep her home. She unflinchingly trades on her mistakes and certainly it takes courage to do so. Her story is a cautionary tale, her wisdom hard won, but if you were reading it as a novel, you'd be shaking your head at the protagonist's stupidity. Sorry for saying it, Sarah.

[Xyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to thank Anna and Hachette Book Group for selecting me as a winner in this giveaway; and apologize for it taking me so long to finish. When I entered the giveaway I had one perception of what I thought was between the covers; upon winning I realized it was something else and outside my normal reading comfort zone.
Sometimes I was upset with the author, but then she turned around and agreed that what I was feeling she had expected her readers to feel. Wow! That endeared me to her in many ways - her acknowledging her past and embracing her integrity to move forward.
While the financial situation described in the book is not quite my own, Sarah Ban Breathnach provided ideas, discplies, and encouragement for finding Peace and Plenty in our lives. You should see my copy...sticky note tabs mark pages to which I am to return where I'll find underlined passages and messages to myself in the margins. :) She has inspired me to be creative in finding a way to earn extra pin money for my envelopes and I plan to give a copy to each of my girfriends who are getting married this year.
Thank you again!

[Judy Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased the audio Peace and Plenty after seeing Sarah on OWN Super Soul Sunday. I was impressed with her and immediately purchased the audiobook, Simple Abundance and loved it (also started my gratitude daily journal).

Peace and Plenty is a continuation of Sarah’s journey and her own personal-- financial crisis. I love her style for the finer things of life and how she appreciates beautiful things and knows how to enjoy them and make a happy and healthy lifestyle (can so relate). Her voice is soothing and relaxing and her details for the everyday normal things women desire, and how to appreciate ----she is an inspiration to all women. I look forward to reading more of her work and will continue to refer to these audios for reference for daily living. I would highly recommend the audio!

[Leilani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got to the budget chapter and, well, my attention wandered. I plan to get back to this - it does have lots of good food for thought in there. I enjoy the short chapters based around some random helpful reading she found somewhere more than I do her financial advice - she's admitted already she's no better at that than the reader, so I'm glad she focused mostly on inspiration. If you want numbers & details, there are other books for you. This stays focused on her strengths, which are finding inspiration to make it through difficult times in unexpected places.

This was a First Reads giveaway.

[Mary BookHounds · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book should appeal to everyone since it deals with the important subject of money and your relationship with it. There are more arguments and divorce over this subject than any other. Sarah Ban Breathnach will make you think about your relationship with it in new ways. Most people's relationship to money is built in childhood and you will be force to relive some unpleasant facts about it, but the end result is worth it. The author does a fine job of making stories relate to your own experiences. This is a book that might be easy to digest in one chapter at a time. I received this book at no charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review at no compensation.

[Joie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a fan of Sarah's work, I did not expect to find that her dreams came crashing down on her after marrying a man who tore her world apart. Even in this situation, Brannach manages to write from her tenuous position of financial ruin and putting the house that she bought into a financial litigation that bars her from living there.

It always saddens me that someone can rise to such success and have it all vanish in the assumption that it cannot possibly go wrong. The story, as Breathnach is so skilled in composing, includes many similar tales of other women who have also suffered financial losses of a great magnitude and a high personal cost as well.

[Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every minute of reading this book. If you have ever read Simple Abundance,then you will know the author, Sarah Ban Breathnach. This latest book tells her story of losing it all financially and how she had to start a new life for herself. She quotes wonderful women at the beginning of each chapter... just reading the quotes is enough to inspire you! Although the book is about how she finds financial serenity and how you can find it, it is also a book about becoming a better you. It is a good read for all women of all ages and stages in life but I especially enjoyed it because she was able to reinvent herself in the second half of her life.

[Debra Vitale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this book did not get the best ratings, I absolutely loved it! I was checking out the new Dollar Tree in Eureka and got it for a buck. I would recommend every young adult female to read this before marriage. She tells her story of going from multi millionare to nothing and how she is rebuilding her life. What I like the most about this book is all the references she gives: other women who lost everything, a lot about "The Depression," book references, movies (she mentioned the movie from 1940 called Rebecca, a library checkout which I enjoyed.) Read it!

[Wendy Hines · Rating 3 out of 5]

In today's tough economic times, we are all feeling the burn. Coupon clipping, frugal living, and recycling has become a day to day routine for us all. But, trying to scrape a few pennies together to make ends meet is just the tip of the iceberg. You have to worry about yourself too - is all that worrying giving you an ulcer? Full of rage, or shame? Sarah shows us how to pull out of our deep funk with grace and able to live with our choices. A great book, not just for women, although it is geared toward them. Lots of tips and advice.

[Courtney Mroch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since a friend gifted me with a copy of Simple Abundance in 1999, I've been a huge fan of Sarah Ban Breathnach's books. I am not one to re-read books. I've re-read both Simple Abundance and Romancing the Ordinary multiple times. (Probably 10 times for SA and at least 5 for RtO.)

I was super excited when I heard she was releasing this book. My husband bought it as a Christmas present for me when it was released. I was so excited to start it in the New Year. I assumed it would be like her other books. Something I could read an essay at a time.

To some extent it was. However, it was also completely unlike her previous books.

It was very depressing. I maybe got 50 pages in (I think that's being generous) but I felt such dread every time I thought of picking it up I eventually stopped trying.

It was hard for me to relate to the extent of her financial crisis since I currently wasn't going through anything like that myself. But once upon a time, in a time far far away, I did live paycheck to paycheck. When I remembered that, I was able to try and go back to see what she had to say. Maybe I could glean something useful so I'd never find myself in such destitution again either.

So this year I was determined to try again. I still found it depressing, and I didn't think I'd get anything out of it, but I forced myself to endure (by doimg something I'd never done for any of her other books: skimming certain essays). I ended up of course underlining favorite passages and dogeared pages all the way through.

Because just like all of her other books, she had so many clever turns of phrase or included such marvelous quotes/anecdotes from others, that I not only wanted to savor them in that moment, but save them to come back to at some point in the future.

Some of my faves that sum up the message and spirit of this book are:

Perhaps the reason I am so passionate about your taking care of yourself and getting yourself on the top of the list of your own life and understanding that your happiness is not a frivolous yearning is that I have not been able to do that for myself yet. But I'm trying. p. 225

"The well of Providence is deep," Mary Webb wrote in Ladies' Home Journal in 1946. "It is the buckets we bring to it that are small." And that largesse extends to both the giving and receiving of Life's bounty. p. 319

The eternal Law of Attraction responds to our inner vision and conscious creation. Whatever we consistently "see" with our eyes, heart, or imagination must be replaced or replicated in our real world. p. 346

"Drained of emotion, money is nothing. It has no power except the power we give it. And what we give it determines what it gives back to us." Grainne O'Malley p. 361

The path to peace and plenty is one of patience, prudence, perseverance, and pride. p. 363

The very end of the book really hearkened back to her previous books. In fact, some of it revisited concepts she had presented before. (And veered less away from money and more into her true realm of expertise: the home and how women can enjoy theirs more.)

This book made me very thankful I have never known the extent of the money problems she's suffering. Then again, I've also never know the extent her heart's suffered for wanting the finer things in life, something she even alluded to in her previous works. She always seemed to be bemoaning she didn't have certain things and was figuring out how to make due with what was available to her socioeconomic status before she became a million dollar best-seller. Then when she did become one, she still seemed to feel unworthy of her riches.

She admitted that in this book. But now she's bemoaning all she's lost. That's why it was depressing. Simple Abundance taught me the power of gratitude. It revolutionized my life. It also taught me all I have is all I need. To learn she hadn't exactly followed her own teachings shocked me.

I saw my hero fall. But she had the guts to admit that, and she's trying to pick herself back up again. I don't know how this book did but I can't imagine it had near the impact any of her others did.

But I hope she's doing better, has recouped some of her lost finances, and is finding peace and plenty in her life as it is now.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on the title of the book and the fact that Sarah Breathnach has written some extremely helpful and important books in the past, I was expecting a lot from "Peace and Plenty" and believe me, when it comes to financial issues, I can use all the suggestions out there. I don't feel that this book lived up to my expectations, but I do have to admit that my expectations were very high.

I was hoping for a lot more practical advice, and I was finding that at the end of many of the chapters there would some sort of a promise that if we keep reading we will find out how to deal with our current financial problems, but I just kept on reading and never really found any of the suggestions to be strong enough.

The book is broken down into 6 different sections, with many chapters in each section, but I felt that there was a lot of repetition throughout the book and I didn't really feel there was much of a difference between one chapter or section and the next. I also feel that the book was much longer than it needed to be (probably because a lot of the same or similar stories and/or examples were repeated quite a lot.) Also, I never really felt that I was getting any closer to an answer as to how I can get through my current financial issues and land on my feet.

However, there were many things that I did like about "Peace and Plenty." Sarah Breathnach has certainly done her research on "money issues" during the great depression and other time periods as well (and how people dealt with it) and she also includes stories on and quotes of numerous people throughout various time periods, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nathaniel Branden, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Margery Wilson, Maud Montgomery, and many others. Also, Ms. Breathnach shares her own personal financial issues in this book, and the book definitely helped me to feel less "alone" in my situation. In fact, some of the stories that Ms. Breathnach shares about her own situation and other people's situations made me realize how easy it can be to lose large amounts of money in fairly short periods of time, and many of these people have found their way back -- maybe not to the same amount of money they had in the past, but at least to a point of "financial serenity" (the term Ms. Breathnach uses in this book.) I would have liked specific examples as to exactly how some people have found their way out of their financial mess -- this would have made "Peace and Plenty" an excellent book.

Thank you to Anna, Hachette Book Group and Goodreads for choosing me as a First Reads winner of "Peace and Plenty."

[Jen Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Ban Breathnach's Simple Abundance when it was hitting the New York Times' best sellers list and was interested to see that she's written something on financial peace. I assumed she was still the wealthy woman she was when hanging around the Oprah set, but it turns out that her most recent husband was a bit of a cad and left her in vastly diminished circumstances. She went from owning homes around the globe, including Newton's Chapel in the UK, to couch-surfing with family. She knows of which she writes.

For any woman who is getting back on her feet after a setback - divorce, death of a spouse, job loss, illness - this is essential reading. Ban Breathnach has read dozens of books on financial management and stacks of magazines from the great depression, geared towards helping the homemaker make ends meet on a very austere budget. This book not only offers practical advice but also helps to heal the hurt that both stems from and contributes to women's financial setbacks. She deals with the emotional and spiritual side of money and asks us to think less about spending and saving and more to consider financial stewardship.

I love how Ban Breathnach focuses on how you can live a life of abundance on very little. I also love how she quotes smart women who've walked the same path like Rumer Godden and Dorothy Parker. If you feel alone in your reversal-of-fortune struggle, she assures you that you are in fabulous company.

I always dog-ear pages that speak to me and half the book has folded corners. Here are some snippets of the wisdom she offers:

There is really only one way to deal with Misery. Accept her presence. Like most experiences in life, we must acknowledge the passage gracefully and let her move through our lives because she brings with her a hidden gift. But we must be patient enough for her to reveal it.

and

When the slight, strange ligaments of fate strip us bare of everything we thought we held dear, when we are cornered to defend what we cherish, when we are forced to say to the world, "Thus far and no farther," this is how we finally create a life based on contentment, sanity, and serenity, even if it comes without a committed relationship, Barbie's dream kitchen or prodigious funding.

and

If you can accept the priceless spiritual gift hidden in this season of relinquishment, you will know peace and plenty that the world and all its stock markets cannot take away.

Brilliant advice.

[Jackie Law · Rating 3 out of 5]

"If your imagination is blocked... you can't be sighing with pleasure over repurposing your never-used dining room into a cozy library, happily imagining....." xvi

"When cataclysmic change arrives, why does there always seem to be rapid and ruthless reckoning required, especially before we even process what has happened? ... But Reader, trust me: This experience is essential. It will make our new life all the more sweet when we find our way back. And we will find our way back." (19).

"Our goal is solvency: the return of choice, sanity and personal dignity in the use of money. Money than a positive bank balance, solvency is a balance in our lives as a whole." (93).

"The only real security...is the skill and humor and courage within, the ability to build your own fires and find your own peace." ~ Audrey Sutherland qtd. p 272

"Enchanted places have the power to change us, to germinate and nurture that tiny seed of happiness..that each of us have kept so carefully concealed" p. 283

"Darwin taught us that it wasn't the biggest or the strongest of the species who survived, but the ones most adaptable to change." p. 291

"Evolution is not short sighted, and neither should be our solvency." p. 291

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

In "Peace and Plenty" the author really sheds some light on a few truths about money, such as how women relate to money, and how it can effect relationships. She is writing from a place of having been there. She tells of one minute being a freelance writer without a comma in her checking account, and the next being a millionaire after her book Simple Abundance became a hit. Sadly for her she lost it, she fell back down the financial ladder and had no money. With this book, she teaches and inspires us to take control over our money, so that we can start our journey to financial peace and security.
I think that the topic of money is one of the most difficult topics to discuss, and for the author to share her financial downfalls, for the world to read, and judge must have taken great courage. I commend her, because in doing so, she is helping so many others, avoid some of the mistakes she made, with simple down to earth advice, that will help us all live a life of "Peace and Plenty!"



I was provided a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parts of this book are clearly directed at women who have money left over at the end of the month, so, some of the strategies are tough to implement for my particular situation. I did like how she showed the connection between feeling at-home in your own home and how that reduces the urge to splurge (on too much take-out/restaurant bills, clothing that can only be worn to one event, rent on a place that's really too big for your needs). I saw a lot of my old spending habits, especially the part about being Miss Charity and then having checks bounce for my own needs. Like other readers stated, I found myself skimming over irrelevant passages. I'm very interested to read some of the books in her bibliography for further enrichment, especially the ones about cottage remedies and poetry. The main focus of the book, however, rings very true: you need to face your money problems while at the same time developing ways to sustain yourself that don't require lots of spending. Also, counting your talents and developing them as part of your "home equity" not only helps you out of despair, but will, in the end, attract what you need to sustain an attitude of gratitude.

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was mixed on this one. Some good stories...not enough advice that I was craving. Slow and a bit repetitive in parts.

I gave it to mom to read, and will see what she thought of it before I revise this review.

Update: April 19. Mom started to read the book at the doctor's office. She had a 3 hour wait. She got most of the way through the book but told me she wondered if it was ever going to get better. The man next to her was reading over her shoulder, and told my mom that he thought it wasn't that great either. Mom agrees with me that this would have been better if it was a telling of the author's marriage and divorce. It seemed like that was the story she wanted to tell anyhow, but we never quite get all the details.

At any rate, I don't think the book was poorly written or that the author doesn't have some good ideas...it just didn't work for us.

[Malena · Rating 1 out of 5]

So, I really liked the concept of this book, but it didn't SAY anything! I forced myself over an entire week to read 100 pages, hoping that there would be some substance...but nothing. She keeps referring back to her first book that was a best seller. So, if she didn't have anything new to say, it appears that the author wrote this book simply because she was broke. There's lots of fluff and talking about the subject. I have never disliked a book so much...there have been only 2 other books in my life that I have not finished and this is by far the worst.

[Cynthia Bower · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is like having a confidential conversations with a dear friend. I recommended it to everyone I knew including dental patients and bought a copy for myself and all of my daughters. I listened to this on cd from the library and ordered my own cd set which I am loaning out. Laurel Blevins has it now. I would like to write my own essay commentaries on each and every chapter. I bought a purse hanger to use at tables, just like the Queen of England does. This is a very inspiring book.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you good reads for providing this book to me. I always enjoy receiving these new books in the mail and reviewing them. This is the first Sarah Ban Breathnach book that I have read and I probably won't read another. At this time in my life, I do not have the problems that she has or over had. However, I know many women who do, and I will pass the book along to them and maybe they will benifit from her life experiences.

[John Bails · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trying to read. Not as compelling as her previous books. I think it could stand some heavy editing. It just takes to long to make the point. If a woman or man were in desparate straits financially, I don't think they would wade though this book to find the meat. I'm wondering whether I'm going to try to finish it or return it mostly unread. I thought her other books were fine and think the Daybook is worth reading yearly.