A Drop in the Ocean. Jenni Ogden
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ADVANCE PRAISE FOR
A Drop in the Ocean
“A Drop in the Ocean is about connection—between humans and between humans and the natural world. Jenni Ogden’s descriptions of life on a small island on the Great Barrier Reef, with its nesting turtles and exotic birds, sparkle like a brilliant sun on azure water. This is a deeply affecting story of a woman’s journey to open up to love, life, and, most importantly, herself.”
—CÉLINE KEATING, author of Layla and Play for Me
“Jenni Ogden is a natural storyteller who writes characters to care about.”
—NICKY PELLEGRINO, author of One Summer in Venice
“A Drop in the Ocean engaged and delighted me … a love affair that transcends stereotypes … Ogden brought the island to life with her words, letting me walk the beaches with Anna, and letting me see the turtles as they laid their eggs … But the book's real treasure is how island life changes Anna… .”
—PAT BEAN, Story Circle Book Reviews
“ … brilliantly written … A powerful read that I highly recommend to readers everywhere.”
—DANIELLE URBAN, Readers’ Favorite
A DROP in the OCEAN
Copyright © 2016 by Jenni Ogden
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, digital scanning, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please address She Writes Press.
Published 2016
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN: 978-1-63152-026-6
e-ISBN 978-1-63152-027-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015948660
Book design by Stacey Aaronson
For information, address:
She Writes Press 1563 Solano Ave #546
Berkeley, CA 94707
She Writes Press is a division of SparkPoint Studio, LLC.
The characters in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Turtle Island is also fictitious, although similar in many ways to Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef. Cyclone Hamish was a real event.
For my family—in the widest sense
May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.
May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.
—Traditional Irish Blessing
CONTENTS
READING GROUP QUESTIONS and TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
ONE
On my forty-ninth birthday my shining career came to an inauspicious end. It took with it the jobs of four promising young scientists and catapulted my loyal research technician into premature retirement, an unjust