Our first retreat filled a lodge in the Scottish Highlands last September. In spring we bring it across the Atlantic to the New England coast.
Boston Wives is a novel about female friendship, with money, marriage and motherhood running all the way through it. These retreats grew out of the conversations it started. Each morning starts with yoga and a silent breakfast. Coaching takes up the late morning, and the afternoons are spent outside on the marsh boardwalks and the bay.
There are ten guests per retreat across nine bedrooms. Eight are rooms of your own, and one is for two friends who come together. Melissa cooks every meal in the house kitchen.
How the days unfold
Both retreats follow the same shape. Pick your dates to see the days.
Afternoons that move you
The mornings go deep, so the afternoons get you out of your head and into your body. In Aberfeldy that meant a ten-mile hike into the hills and a leap into the loch. On the Cape we cycle the Cape Cod Rail Trail from the house to Brewster and back, about 30 miles in an afternoon. Bikes and helmets are provided, and you can choose an e-bike or a standard bike. Come ready to move.
Heat and cold water
A wood-fired sauna is set up beside the house, and the bay is a short walk across the lawn. In late April the water is around 10°C. That's the point.
Poems along the way
The days open and close with a poem, read aloud. In Aberfeldy we read Mary Oliver's "Wild Geese" and "The Journey", John O'Donohue's "For a New Beginning" and "Beannacht", David Whyte's "Start Close In", and Derek Walcott's "Love After Love", with words from Libby Wagner, Donna Ashworth and Jeanette LeBlanc along the way.
Painting with Ellen Little
Ellen is a prize-winning oil painter who taught art for thirty-six years. She leads an afternoon workshop for complete beginners as well as women who already paint, and you take home what you make.
Which retreat would you like?
Tell us your dates and the rooms you'd like. We'll reply personally within 24 hours, hold your room for 48 hours and send you the deposit link. Nothing is payable until then.
Draft: the HubSpot form isn't linked yet. Once it is, these buttons open it with the retreat already filled in.
Choose your room
Prices are per person for the three nights and include every meal and activity, except the friends' room, which is priced for two. Pay in dollars or pounds, whichever suits you.
Found the room you'd like? Register your interest and tell us your first and second choice.
How the first one went
“It feels like I've known these women for decades, and I've only just met them.”
“It didn't seem like work. It was the most wonderful experience with a bunch of women I'd never met. And yet I've grown, and I feel lighter, and I'm not really sure how I got there.”
“We have laughed till our stomachs hurt. We've definitely shed some tears, and connected at a deep level you wouldn't really expect.”
Your hosts
Ali and Helen co-wrote Boston Wives, a novel about female friendship, with money, marriage and motherhood as its themes.
Ali Levin
Co-author · coachingAli takes you through coaching exercises that help you find what is blocking you from owning your own life. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Helen Muller
Co-author · movementHelen takes you out of your mind and into your body. Hiking, hot and cold therapy and yoga are some of the ways in. She lives in Oxfordshire.
Melissa
ChefMelissa cooks for our retreats from her home base in Thornton, New Hampshire. Meals lean vegetarian and every dietary need is catered for.
Ellen Little
ArtistEllen paints in oils from Walpole, Massachusetts. Her love of art began on summer beaches in Marshfield, and after thirty-six years teaching art in Framingham she has painted full time since 2006. Her work has taken Best in Show at Norwood Art in the Park and at Patriot Place, Foxboro. At the retreat she helps you lean into your creative side.
What your price covers
- Three nights in the house on Lewis Bay
- All meals, cooked in the house by Melissa
- Daily yoga and a silent breakfast
- Coaching sessions with Ali
- An evening Q&A on Boston Wives
- Afternoons outdoors, plus the sauna and a cold-water dip
- Painting workshop with Ellen Little
- Sound bath on the final evening
- A welcome gift in your room
- Flights and travel insurance
- Shuttle to and from Boston Logan, available on request
How booking works
- Deposit
- $1,000 or £750 secures your room
- Balance
- Due 12 weeks before arrival: 5 Feb 2027 for Retreat 1, 8 Feb 2027 for Retreat 2
- Paying
- Bank transfer through Wise costs you nothing. Card payments carry a small surcharge.
- Cancelling 12+ weeks out
- Your deposit can move once to another boston wives retreat within 12 months
- 6–12 weeks out
- We refund 50% of the total
- Under 6 weeks
- No refund, so we recommend travel insurance
- Any time
- You can pass your place to a friend at no charge
- If we cancel
- You get everything back in full
Pick your dates and your room
Register your interest and tell us the rooms you'd like. We'll reply within 24 hours, hold your room for 48 hours and send the deposit link.