Enchantment

Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age

By: Katherine May

Narrated by: Rebecca Lee

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER

“When I tell you that I dogeared almost every page in this book, I'm telling God's honest truth. I didn't know how much I needed someone else to validate what I was going through. The sense that I had lost my curiosity, my imagination, my ability to make meaning.” – NPR Morning Edition host Rachel Martin

"Such a teacher for every single person who is trying to live closer to who they were born to be and not who the world tamed them to be.” – New York Times bestselling author Glennon Doyle on We Can Do Hard Things

“I love Katherine May’s new book, Enchantment.…It’s a beautiful offering of light, truth and charm in these strange, dark times.” – New York Times bestselling author Anne Lamott

“Katherine May gave so many of us language and vision for the long communal ‘wintering’ of the last years. Welcome this beautiful meditation for the time we've now entered. I cannot imagine a more gracious companion. This book is a gift.” – New York Times bestselling author Krista Tippett

“Gentle inspiration for those who feel exhausted or helpless… May shows how paying deliberate attention to what’s around us can surprise us with insights and reveal new connections that deepen our appreciation for the world.” – Washington Post

From the New York Times–bestselling author of Wintering, an invitation to rediscover the feelings of awe and wonder available to us all

Many of us feel trapped in a grind of constant change: rolling news cycles, the chatter of social media, our families split along partisan lines. We feel fearful and tired, on edge in our bodies, not quite knowing what has us perpetually depleted. For Katherine May, this low hum of fatigue and anxiety made her wonder what she was missing. Could there be a different way to relate to the world, one that would allow her to feel more rested and at ease, even as seismic changes unfold on the planet? Might there be a way for all of us to move through life with curiosity and tenderness, sensitized to the subtle magic all around?

In Enchantment, May invites the reader to come with her on a journey to reawaken our innate sense of wonder and awe. With humor, candor, and warmth, she shares stories of her own struggles with work, family, and the aftereffects of pandemic, particularly feelings of overwhelm as the world rushes to reopen. Craving a different way to live, May begins to explore the restorative properties of the natural world, moving through the elements of earth, water, fire, and air and identifying the quiet traces of magic that can be found only when we look for them. Through deliberate attention and ritual, she unearths the potency and nourishment that come from quiet reconnection with our immediate environment. Blending lyricism and storytelling, sensitivity and empathy, Enchantment invites each of us to open the door to human experience in all its sensual complexity, and to find the beauty waiting for us there.

Critic reviews

PRAISE FOR ENCHANTMENT

“Profound” – NPR Morning Edition

“Shimmering… An invocation of a better story to tell ourselves.” – Maria Popova, The Marginalian

“I love Katherine May’s new book, Enchantment. She is so smart, tender hearted, thoughtful. It’s actually enchanting, so wise and lyrical, down to earth and mystical, personal and universal. It’s a beautiful offering of light, truth and charm in these strange, dark times.” – New York Times bestselling author Anne Lamott

“Katherine May gave so many of us language and vision for the long communal ‘wintering’ of the last years. Welcome this beautiful meditation for the time we've now entered. I cannot imagine a more gracious companion. This book is a gift.” – New York Times bestselling author Krista Tippett

“Luminous. Enchantment is truly enchanting. Katherine May’s authorial voice casts a spell that helps us see the magic in everything, including ourselves.” – New York Times bestselling author Martha Beck


PRAISE FOR KATHERINE MAY’S PREVIOUS WORK

“There is power and clarity and wisdom to be gained from accepting these difficult times. Wintering offered me empathy, acceptance and perspective that will stay with me long after the pandemic.” – New York Times

“Honest and deeply sympathetic...proves that there is grace in letting go, stepping back and giving yourself time to repair in the dark...May is a clear-eyed observer and her language is steady, honest and accurate—capturing the sense, the beauty and the latent power of our resting landscapes.” – Wall Street Journal

“May writes beautifully….A contemplative, hopeful, consoling book.” – NPR

“A gorgeous book, a generous book, a layered book of uncommon sensitivity and substance…A splendid and soul-salving read.” – Maria Popova, Brain Pickings

“Wintering is every bit as beautiful and healing as the season itself. Katherine May thoughtfully examines the emotional, spiritual, and geographical reality of the cold times, the dark days, and those periods of our lives when things are neither soft nor easy. In so doing, she offers a great and humane service to her readers: she shows us that wintering cannot be avoided, but need not be feared. This is truly a beautiful book.” – New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert

Enjoying the now

This was another solid reflective work by Katherine May. I enjoyed the deeper messages about being present, creating joy in the mundane, cultivating community, navigating the shadow (or shadow self), and seeking and seeing hierophany in nature and more. I do wish there were a bit more substance to what we do, collectively, in the face of struggles in the world and the sheer grief and loneliness that come with aging and the growing hatred we see in the world. The book’s focus is on the individual, and I appreciate it for what it is, but it left me wondering n more about us all collectively. How do we all achieve greater connection and enchantment? May doesn’t answer this nor is it necessarily her project, but the book will leave you wondering a bit more. Maybe that’s the point?

Enchanting

Katherine May’s 1st person prose and perspective touches me as a person who appreciates the magic of life. She, all at once, couples the observations and experiences of the smallest things with the broadest implications of those things. Magic with nature, science, time, life. Her use of language is beautiful and purposeful. I like the narrator who speaks her words very much as well. She does an excellent job of playing avatar to the author.

Glorious!

I devoured this book. It is beautifully written and gave me a whole new perspective on my life. Thank you Katherine May!

Enchantment

This is a charming book. I will likely return to it again. I will recommend it to you.

Listened to each section twice!

I loved everything about this book. I soaked it in, and after each section I went back and listened to it a second time before moving on to the next section. I have recommended it to my friends and bought copies for gifts. I loved Wintering, and then Enchantment surpassed it.

Great book

I love this book, well written feel good book. Wintering was a great book too if you liked this one and have not read it.

The dreamiest listen!

I loved every moment listening to the amazing Katherine May reading this gem. I often fell asleep to it, only to wake in the morning eager to rewind and listen to what I missed. Fantastic, rich content that awakens something magical and mysterious.

Listened to this twice!

This was the first work I listened to by Katherine May. Some other reviews noted it fell short from her other work, but I loved it.
Found myself meditating on her stories and pondering where enchantment has been hiding in my life.
Definitely recommend!

Lovely book, great reading

I didn’t get quite as much from this one as the prior two by the author but it was nonetheless a great book with sentiments I appreciated. I very much enjoyed it.

Worth the time and a great following to “Wintering”

I gave the story 4 only because my mind wanders when the details of her intellect overwhelm me, but it is always worth backing up to understand the truth within. It is a brilliant message that all should try to comprehend for the good of all.