Wanderlust Challenges discussion

May/June Group Read
A Drop in the Ocean by Jenni Ogden

Everyone is invited to join us in our Group Read for May and June.

**Please use spoilers when posting your comments.



On her 49th birthday, Anna Fergusson, Boston neuroscientist and dedicated introvert, arrives at an unwanted crossroads when the funding for her research lab is cut. With her confidence shattered and her future uncertain, on impulse she rents a cabin for a year on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. However Turtle Island, alive with sea birds and nesting Green turtles, is not the retreat she expected. Here she finds love for the eccentric islanders who become her family; for Tom, the laid-back turtle whisperer; and for the turtles whose ancient mothering instincts move her to tears.

But Anna finds that even on her idyllic drop in the ocean there is pain, and as the months fly past her dream for a new life is threatened by a darkness that challenges everything she has come to believe about the power of love. Evocative and thought-provoking, A Drop in the Ocean is a story about second chances and hard lessons learned in the gentlest of ways."

I'm really looking forward to this one!!

And if you read ebooks you can pick it up for 99 cents on Amazon.

This one looks really good.

This sounds like a great one!

I got an ARC from NetGalley that I never have read, so since I am now 49 until late this year, I think I'll join in on this!

Yay - I love having reading buddies :)

I bought the book from Amazon - couldn't find it locally. I started it but only got a few pages in and then my guilty conscience sent me back to War and Peace! Not making great progress there! :)

Wouldn't you know I've had a bunch of library books come in that I have to get through first. I may not get to this until mid-May or so.

No worries Kathryn! I might wait a week or so into the month before starting it.

looks like a good read....i 'll join in

This just came in at my library! Perfect timing!! :-D

Yay! The more the merrier!

I picked this one from Amazon, I will be reading it but I think I have a library book to read first........

I bought the 99 cent Kindle edition but have one more book to finish up before I start.

Looks like a lot of us will be reading this. I also have a couple books to finish up but will probably start on the weekend.

I started it but I'm only about 40 pages in. Interesting so far.

I'll be starting it this weekend Karen so you will have company soon!

Started this last night!

Through Chapter 2: (view spoiler)[ Looks like Anna has had a major life change happen. I would have been a whole lot more emotional if years of work had been abruptly stopped. I think she is probably difficult to get to know and protects herself with that hard exterior shell she has. Her comment that Fran's husband "found her difficult" was telling. She has admitted to dealing with loneliness but have "polished strategies to deal with it".

I'm a little surprised she answered the ad at all. I wonder if Fran's comment about fading away into her cubbyhole was the deciding factor.

In chapter 2 we are introduced to the island with her as she arrives and explores it. It's very remote and smaller than she expected. And the cabin and camp ground are very primitive. But I don't think she is intimidated by it and she seemed excited about learning the island was a nesting place for all those birds. I think the scientist in her sees an opportunity to study them.

I had to laugh at her comment about Australian's names: Bill, Ben, Jack & Tom. She's got a quirky personality. I can't wait to see how island life affects her. (hide spoiler)]

I started this tonight.

Chapter 1 (view spoiler)[ I just love this character Anna already! She is socially awkward and has learned to live with loneliness - I relate totally to the first of these and am working on the second. It was a little surprising the funding ended abruptly. Normally, you get funding for say, a year, and by 6 -8 months have to re-apply to find out if you get it for the next year. If refused, you still have a few months at least of the original funding. Oh I know what Anna means when she talks about her friend, Fran. Sometimes you find a soul-mate kind of friend like her and its glorious. By the end of the chapter you get the definite feeling Anna is about to Drop....in...the...ocean. (hide spoiler)]

I have a library book that I need to read before this one, hopefully I will be able to start this one soon. Your comments are calling to me! LOL!!!

Through Chapter 5: (view spoiler)[

Anna is getting settled in - she has gotten used to sleeping with the noise of the birds, being without email and the internet and now has a routine to her days. She has met the other islanders and is starting to feel like "she belongs".

For being socially awkward, it seems like she has met and socialized with more people in these couple weeks on the island than she has in the rest of her past adult life. Though maybe the forced alone time has been the catalyst for her to reach out to others. Back in Boston she chose to be alone but on the island the aloneness is more pronounced without all the distractions of life, work, media, etc.

Her meeting with Tom was interesting - and of course she is now having a hard time getting that "picture" of him out of her mind. I haven't decided what I think of this yet. I need to see where it goes.

She has started writing about her past and it sounds like she has spent a large part of it without friends. Throughout school she says her only friend was her Dad. It was sad that she lost him so young and so tragically. I figured her aversion to going in the ocean was attached to some trauma.

To be honest, I'm not really enjoying the excerpts of her writing. They are giving us some background into what makes her tick but they seem stilted and don't flow as well as the other writing. I don't know if that's "on purpose" but it's distracting to me.

What I am loving is the descriptions of her island life and learning about the GBR. The author is doing a terrific job immersing us into the setting. The scene of the turtle coming onshore and laying her eggs was completely magical!!

It sounds like she is becoming friends with Pam and she shares her story of losing her father. I think writing about it and opening up with someone is going to help her heal. She seems to have kept it all bottled up for so long. My hope is that she will eventually be able to face the ocean again and get back into it. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 2-5 (view spoiler)[ The author sure dropped her in the ocean. fast! I think she missed a great opportunity to write an interesting transition from Boston to island life. A single woman making such a huge transition is fertile ground for some great writing imho.

I found a few things odd, for example, she didn't meet with the cabin and camp owner on the island and didn't even know how the campers were supposed to pay; I didn't get a good sense of what the cabin is like yet. The writing is not flowing.

I also had a sinking feeling when Tom is introduced - is this going to be chick-lit, sudden romancy kind of thing? ugh

I love the parts about the island and ocean, the birds and the turtles.

Where has Anna been with herself the last 30 years? It's as if she has had no personal life at all or any introspection and I find that a stretch. She has been working on research with people who have a terrible disease and I would think that invites a lot of introspection. But, maybe I'm wrong. It will be interesting to find out about her life along with her, even if it is at such a late time in her life for this. (hide spoiler)]

Read a couple more chapters but first want to comment on Denise's thoughts in message 24.

In response about Chapter 2-5: (view spoiler)[ I agree that the author should have addressed the transition better. It seems like it was "too easy" for Anna to suddenly be comfortable with island life.

And I also wanted more back story so I understood more how she felt about her personal life before coming to the island and her years as a researcher. It would help me understand her growth better.

In regards to the "romance" thing - sorry this is an ugh for you. I knew this was part of the book but felt the location and what we can learn about it was worth us reading as a group. I am also trying to vary the genres since we have a diverse group of readers in the group...we even have some romance readers...LOL. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 6-7: (view spoiler)[ So Pam didn't lose any time in getting Anna into the ocean. All the descriptions of the fish and coral were pretty cool. She also jumps in and becomes one of Tom's turtle taggers and spends each night on turtle patrol and finds discovers it brings her joy. It makes me wonder if she had ever found joy in her research. I'm getting the impression that it was just a job to do.

The New Years Eve party was interesting - we really saw Anna's social awkwardness come out. I hate parties and understand how uncomfortable they can be. She certainly wasn't in her element and her distraction of Tom made it even harder. She leaves the party and she becomes a bit introspective - this is the writing I've been missing. She admits to missing Boston and Fran and her Dad. She reflects on the beauty of the island and how mush joy it is bringing her along with her new friends. And she begins to think and worry a little about the future. And she starts to face her feelings for Tom - something I think she has been avoiding before this. And of course, the chapter ends with Tom showing up in this vulnerable moment. (hide spoiler)]

comment to Jan's comment:
(view spoiler)[ I completely agree about having different genres - I like the rest of the story bits tho:) (hide spoiler)]

I've read a few more chapters but haven't had the time to think,much less to write but I'll try in the next couple days

Chapter 6-12 (view spoiler)[ I like how Pat just brings the scuba stuff to Anna's house the next day to help her overcome her fears and how this snorkeling becomes part of Anna's daily rituals. Its interesting to see how Anna is gaining some empathy for her previous research assistants by her volunteer work with the turtle project. It seems she never related to her research assistants. It is hard to imagine how she worked with them and we aren't really told except for what was lacking. If that made any sense.
The New Years Eve party made her anxious particularly about Tom but they end of kissing and getting high together.
I enjoyed reading about the turtles nesting and the baby turtles coming out of the nests heading to the ocean. Tom asks her to go to an uninhabited cay near the island where he is working on some nesting turtles for a couple days and she ends up with food poisoning just before they are to leave - an unnecessary distraction imho. They end up going later and what you expect to happen, happens. She does deal a bit more with her feeling about her father. She writes to her friend Fran and I found it interesting she didn't include much about Tom - this would seem to be a major event to share with a best friend.
Tom and several other people leave the island for a while to take care of business or visit family on the mainland. A cyclone is near by and that was tense. The few people who remain help each other out and though battening down the hatches is done, one of the campers who is pregnant, Kirsty goes into early labor. Anna delivers the baby and then experiences another major event she has missed in her life - baby. Kirsty ends up staying with her for several weeks.
The islanders return as does Tom but along with him is his boss, a beautiful (of course!) woman and that sets off a lot of bad feelings for Anna. As does a fight she has with Tom when he becomes angry that Anna didn't tell him exactly what her research had been about in Boston, i.e. Huntington's disease, and walks off in a huff. Now to me this makes no sense. When he asked her earlier about her research she gave a vague answer he could have asked more questions to find out what is was about then. This was odd. In the meantime she has a 50th birthday and the islanders give her a party. She feels too old for Tom who is 12 years younger. Coincidentally (!!!) j her 50th birthday coincides with her having menopausal symptoms - I thought that was a bit much -nobody starts exactly on their 50th birthday.
She loves the island, the islanders and feels she belongs there. (hide spoiler)]

Okay - time to chime in here... I'm way beyond all of this but I don't have the book with me so I'm not sure what chapter I'm on. I can't say much that Denise and Jan haven't already said but I definitely come down more on Denise's view of the book. I'll stick to where you guys are in my spoiler. (view spoiler)[Mostly it is just too episodic for me. Too many vignettes with too little transitioning. The writing is flat - like she's writing a research paper. Too many coincidences - starting with her being picked to be there. I guess we don't know exactly how or where the job was advertised but I would bet for a position like that there would be half a million resumes? And while I agree, the best chapter was the cyclone, of course Kirsty would go into labor and have the baby at the worst possible moment. I also have a problem with Anna's jealousy. She's known the guy for ten minutes - come on. And why does he put up with her sharp tongue and sarcasm? I didn't get the "you never told me you were researching Huntington's Disease" tantrum either. And then the next time they met, in a calmer state of mind, don't you think he would have told her why he was so shocked or she would have asked? I'm sure there will be more about it in a big reveal on down the road, but it was a strange scene. Is that what Tom's father has? Why would that make a difference? (wait - I may have just answered my own question. Huntington's is an "inherited" disease according to the Mayo Clinic website. Maybe Tom thinks she is there researching him as someone who may inherit the disease from his father.)

The journaling doesn't bother me all that much - she is there to write, after all. And I like seeing her occasional letters home to see how she is interpreting/processing all of this.

I like Pat. I like Fran. I like Tom though I don't understand what he sees in Anna - unless he's just a player. I enjoyed the Kirsty, baby, Anna arrangement and was glad the baby brought Anna so much joy. She does seem to be growing and opening up in spite of herself. And like both of you said, the description of the islands, the water, the turtles is all great. I keep wondering if I could be organized enough to be in a situation where I'm only receiving supplies every two weeks. You really need to plan about a month in advance in a situation like that - I would be dead in a week. I visit the grocery store nearly every day!

In future chapters Anna and Pat spend time in Brisbane and those chapters gelled a bit better for me. But again, in the middle of the most interesting bit Anna was suddenly on a plane back to the island. Wait, what? I wanted to know more about what happened at the farm! Too jumpy and disjointed! It's not a bad book but it's not a great book either. I think I just don't like her writing. (hide spoiler)]

Thanks for chiming it Karen! But I haven't read your spoiler yet. Should I have read through Chapter 12 before viewing it?? I'm still only through Chapter 6.

If you didn't read Denise's spoiler I guess you shouldn't read mine. Sorry!

No worries! I'll get there eventually.

I'm glad you are enjoying it Dee! It is quite the dream - running off to a tropical island. It does sound peaceful though I'm sure the reality of it has its drawbacks. But in my dream it heavenly!

comment to Karen 's comment (view spoiler)[ I thought the same - that Tom became so angry because of the disease and a possible link in his family. I didn't think, tho, about her being there because he might have a link to it - interesting. I don't know if anything more comes up about it. I find plots that are just kind of dropped and its annoying. Maybe she writes about things later I'm not finished yet. I don't like her writing but I find some of the characters and particularly the nature line interesting and have enough interest to continue. (hide spoiler)]

I'm caught up through Chapter 12 so I can read all the spoilers...they are very motivating!!

Through Chapter 12: (view spoiler)[ I don't need to rehash everything that happened but I have a few comments:

*For a gal who has never had friends it seems like everyone she meets on the island she ends up liking. It seems odd to me that the island alone would change that and makes her past life a bit unbelievable to me.
*The cyclone and having a baby chapters were good . But yes, the baby "had" to come during the crisis and of course Anna saves the day. Other than this being a tad "too cliche" I enjoyed the chapters.
*I agree that Anna's jealousy is a little over the top. She's such a contradiction - she often acts like she is 17 and then turns around a delivers a baby.
*Denise's comment about the night sweats made me laugh. Really!!!!
*Tom's reaction to the Huntington Disease was truly odd. But the thought that his father might have it is probably right. That would explain the vasectomy. But I this point I don't get the anger toward Anna about it.

All in all, I agree that the book is uneven. And I think Anna's growth has been too fast, too soon considering the past that we have been led to believe she had. BUT I have still been able to enjoy it and feel like I am getting the Great Barrier Reef experience I was after. The island and wildlife descriptions have been great. I especially liked the picture of the "clockwork" baby turtles - that was cool! (hide spoiler)]

comment to Jan's comment (view spoiler)[ Yes, as you and Karen and I agree the writing is uneven and is not the best. However, like you, I am enjoying reading something different from my usual and the GBReef is fascinating for its variety of wildlife. Its a nice contrast with the humans and all their problems and the wildlife with all their problems. The book does illustrate sometimes the wildlife need human help, and whether or not humans believe it, we need wildlife's help - there is something to be said for nature helping the human spirit. (hide spoiler)]

finally picked up from library

Yay Rosina! Be sure to stop by and leave a comment or two.

Chapters 13 -18 stream of consciousness comments (view spoiler)[ Anna gets a letter from her mum about her father's family in Australia. The author doesn't give Anna any thoughts about this at the time - maybe later? She and Tom deal with an emergency situation with a turtle and sort of make up after the fight. She writes a letter to Fran and she writes about Tom - about time!
Chapter 14 is about Tom and Anna going back to the uninhabited cay to check on the turtles but guess who comes along? His boss, Collette. There are some very nice descriptions of diving and snorkeling and the wildlife. Chapter 15 brings a letter from Anna about her husband, Greg, being sued for sexual harrassment - he actually has a background of affairs Fran has discovered. Anna returns to thinking all men must be scum for a while but then Pat tells her about trials in her marriage and how things aren't always black and white but problems can be worked out; then, Tom comes over and discusses it with her and she seems to change her mind???? not really sure??? Chapter 16 - Well, the next disaster Anna has to take charge of is Pat's breast cancer. It is some of the better writing describing how they dealt with it and their visit to the doctor in Brisbane and then to Melbourne to take Pat to her daughter's family. Pat has future chemo sessions set up in Melbourne. Oh, in between this they visit Kirsty who asks if Anna will take her baby for two weeks while she goes on a course. Annato the rescue again. I think this is strange, though, I don't know exactly why. I have to think about it. Chapter 17 Anna has decided to find out about her father's family farm. She finds it in a new arrangement and meets her father's sister and her cousin. She learns a lot about the family and some unpleasant truths about her father. This leads her to further negative thoughts about men in general. Suddenly in Chapter 18 she is flying back to the island - I guess the family thing might be finished it seems abrupt. Back at the island, she meets Morrie who just happens to be a friend (a little later we learn cousin) of Tom's and just happens to have Huntington's disease. Tom is certainly not truthful to Anna - he got upset chapters before about Anna's research subject but he didn't share his story with her and didn't like it when he discovered Morrie told Anna. His father is in the final stages of Huntington's. He had lied to Anna and told her it was Alzheimers. Hmmm. Anna takes to Morrie immediately, loves his sense of humor and they get on very well - we aren't really sure how Tom feels about this. Whats really odd, to me, is she never handled her feelings about people with Huntington's disease when she was doing research - how she reacts to their symptoms or difficulties - she let her research assistants deal with the actual subjects. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 19-20 more stream of consciousness comments (view spoiler)[Anna admits to Tom she never wants to leave the island. He tells her he isn't into permanent relationships(Nice time to tell her!!!!) Anna is extremely upset and turns away from him. They don't see each other for days - Morrie now tells Anna he and Tom are cousins that Tom loves her and needs her but he doesn't love himself and won't let himself be happy, Anna goes to see him but he is standoffish about the disease and won't discuss it with her, won't tell her if he has had the genetic test and tells her not to push him to change. There is a lot of tension between them. Morrie leaves the island and as he is getting on the boat, Kirsty shows up with her baby to hand over to Anna. She hadn't told her when she was going to arrive so Anna is more than surprised. But of course she takes the baby to watch while Kirsty goes to a course. Chapter 20 is about the tiredness of taking care of a baby 24/7 and Anna gets to participate in the "turtle rodeo" helping more with Tom's project. He is still determined she leave in Oct. as planned and they can write if she wants to. < (hide spoiler)]

So bummed that when I got to my library to pick up my hold they couldn't find the book! Grrrr.....

~Michelle~ wrote: "So bummed that when I got to my library to pick up my hold they couldn't find the book! Grrrr....."

sorry to hear that happened! I think the e-book is still only 99 cents but that may not be what you want - just FYI.

~Michelle~ wrote: "So bummed that when I got to my library to pick up my hold they couldn't find the book! Grrrr....."

That's irritating Michelle! Sorry :(

Denise wrote: "~Michelle~ wrote: "So bummed that when I got to my library to pick up my hold they couldn't find the book! Grrrr....."

sorry to hear that happened! I think the e-book is still only 99 cents but th..."

That's good to know, Denise! However, I find I have a tough time with e-books. I do read some but I prefer audio....then "real" books for some reason. I may give it a shot though!

Jan wrote: "~Michelle~ wrote: "So bummed that when I got to my library to pick up my hold they couldn't find the book! Grrrr....."

That's irritating Michelle! Sorry :("

It really is!

A few more thoughts (chapter 12ish - chapter 17)... (view spoiler)[So yes, a letter from Mum and a letter from Fran. Mum suggests digging into the past and looking up some long lost relatives while she's in that part of the world anyway. Fran's husband, whom Anna dislikes, is a philanderer. Pat is diagnosed with breast cancer and Anna accompanies her to the mainland to get her the treatment she needs. She does take this opportunity to look up her father's relatives - I am not convinced Anna's father is dead, by the way - and, naturally, she finds them right where her Mum told her they might be. For whatever reason it turns out that nothing about the story Anna's father had always told about why he left the farm was true. Anna's father was apparently the hell-raiser, not Anna's grandfather. Why would her father spend so much time and energy completely reinventing his childhood? It's not like he was a serial killer with a life to hide - he was a hell-raising teen who didn't get along with his family and chose to leave. Weird. I imagine her father will explain all of this when he makes his miraculous reappearance at some point later in the book.

We find out a bit more about Anna's past - an affair with a married man and an abortion which, I guess, explains her introverted, loner behavior and her lack of trust in men a bit more. As a result of her own wretched past with the only man she has ever really known, she wants to tell Fran to boot Greg but after conversations with Tom and Pat she seemingly opts to support Fran in whatever she decides to do.

There is also a brief overnight on Lost Cay during which Anna and Tom are, somewhat unexpectedly accompanied by Tom's boss Collette. Anna manages to turn every conversation she has with Tom into a fight which gets tiresome. I'm not sure what the point of the vignette on Lost Cay is other than some beautiful, if terrifying, encounters with nature. Ogden seems to want to get the point across, throughout the book, that nature heals. Agreed. (hide spoiler)]

A quick thought - Chapter 20. (view spoiler)[Why did the baby have to have a seizure? Why does every story have to involve a crisis? Was there a point I missed there? As a neuropsychologist, does Ogden just have to cover every brain malfunction she can think of? Is she hitting us over the head with her premise that for every ounce of love there is an equal and opposite ounce of pain? Are these the things that Anna has missed by not living a full life? There was a good relationship there between Anna and Kirsty and now Kirsty is never going to fully trust Anna again. That just really irritated me. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 21-23 (view spoiler)[
Chapter 21- Reality time. Anna faces that she has an opportunity for work come October back in Boston – she changes her mind but doesn’t come out and say she is staying on the island permanently. Tom opens up more about his dad and Anna realizes she hasn’t really faced up to what it would be like to be with him if he has Huntington’s disease. She realizes she is good at denial from denying her father had drowned but had somehow been living on a desert island, and that she completely failed to work with her Huntington’s patients and wonders how much denial she is in with Tom. Finally, a logical, adult approach. When her mum has a heart attack and needs a double bypass and her stepfather wants her to come (I think they are in the Shetland Islands.Scotland.) she becomes her old self and figures double bypasses are fairly routine and she won’t go.
Chapter 22 – After Pat tells her her Mum needs her she is off to Scotland. A very fine description of the Shetland islands follows. Anna works out a lot of her emotional problems with her mother, and things about her father.
Chapter 23 more descriptions of the lovely nature and wildlife of the islands and Anna getting to know her stepfather, and getting to know her mother again. I keep waiting for some neurological disaster to strike the stepfather but perhaps he'll be spared. (hide spoiler)]

a thought about Karen's thought Chapter 20 (view spoiler)[ I was so disgusted with that seizure to the baby I didn't even comment about it - but I thought REALLY Jenni Ogen REALLY? (hide spoiler)]

Comment on Denise's last line in Message #49

LOL!!!

Karen wrote: "Comment on Denise's last line in Message #49

LOL!!!"

glad you enjoyed it!:)

Chapter 24-Epilogue (view spoiler)[ Chapter 24 Anna has nostalgic moments while making a gift of photos of her and their family and friends for her mother. Her stepfather (a fisherman) takes her out on his boat. They went to a Nature Reserve – one rocky outcrop had a great name – Muckle Flugga! And we receive more vibrant nature descriptions from the author. Anna’s mother advises Anna to tell Tom the depth of her love for him and Anna initially rejects the idea but thinks about it.
Chapter 25 Anna returns to the island to find Tom has gone to the mainland because his father is dying. Anna thinks about going to see him but decides he wouldn’t want her there. Later in the day Tom writes to Basil that his father has died. Anna moves heaven and earth to get to the funeral with the right clothes. Tom welcomes her as a friend in front of the family.
Chapter 26 Anna is invited to a family dinner the next day which is very pleasant and they treat her kindly. She doesn’t push anything with Tom, wisely. She returns to the island the next day. Tom comes back a couple weeks later unannounced and tells her he needs time to himself but when he was ready he would come to have a long talk with her. So, just 10 days or so before she is supposed to leave the island to return to Boston, she waits for him. He starts out by describing his father’s death, then telling her he was tested for Huntington’s for their sake because he loves her and he needed to know to make a decision. He tested positive so has decided he can’t be with her and she must leave and live her life. Through all her protests he stands firm about it. She has three days left on the island which she experiences in a daze. She knows Pat will visit her in Boston and she is happy about that. Nothing is said about her returning to the island for visits which I find odd but it could be that the author thinks that is self-evident. There is one comment about not wanting Tom on the wharf when she leaves because standing on the wharf saying goodbye means that person will return. So rather vague.

Epilogue – I may be able to write about the epilogue at some other time or not, but it has many reminders of things about my husband’s death I’m not able to write about it. I think the ending is realistic and I’m glad it wasn’t too much chick litty. (hide spoiler)]