The Game of Life and How to Play It, Your Word Is Your Wand, The Power of the Spoken Word, The Secret Door to Success.

It is hard for me to be objective about the work of the remarkable Mrs Shinn. Without lapsing too far into hyperbole, reading her books moved me from ‘zero to hero' in seconds flat. Her opening gambit is, “Most people consider life a battle, but it is not a battle, it is a game.” She first published these words in 1925.

Incorporating four books: The game of life and how to play it, Your word is your wand, The power of the spoken word, and The secret door to success , her Writings open your eyes to the metaphysical side of life. She explains the covert power behind Christian teachings and their incorporation into everyday life. If you are not that way inclined, don't be put off – I'm grateful I wasn't.

Her books cover what she calls the ‘square of life' made up of four elements: health, wealth, happiness and perfect self expression. She counsels you to watch what you think, say and do towards gaining everything you want – “by your words you are justified, by your words you are condemned.”  In a nutshell, she is an early proponent of the adage, ‘fantasise, prioritise, act.'

Since I first read her wise words in 1988, in just about every self-help book I've read since, I've thought, Florence said that…, while being much simpler and easier to apply, too. There's nothing new under the sun, but the late, great, Florence Scovel Shinn wrote it better than anyone, before or since.