An absolute triumph for Jenni Ogden. A beautifully written book that I didn’t put down until the end. A family drama that takes you to a remote New Zealand Island ,(her descriptions were so vivid I felt as if I could literally see it) also to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. The story follows Georgia Grayson, a neurosurgeon, who’s past comes back to haunt her when her daughter demands to know who she is, A tightly woven family drama.:A must read, Superb.....

This book threatened to rip my heart out so many times, but I couldn't put it down. The story centers on Georgia, a neurosurgeon, wife and mom. When something in her present triggers unwanted memories of the past she suffers a panic attack while performing a surgery. She ends up having to take a break from her work to mend herself. Georgia has to grapple with her anxiety and watch how it affects her family, especially her relationship with her daughter. The book is split in three parts each taking place in a different location, London, New Orleans (during Hurricane Katrina) and New Zealand. I also liked that each part of the book focused on something different. London was her downfall, New Orleans and Katrina her healing, and New Zealand her forgiveness and acceptance.

As a panic attack sufferer as well, this was something about the book that hit home, and as is mentioned multiple times in the book "you can't die from a panic attack," but it sure feels like it. I can relate to Georgia in her interactions with her family. Panic attacks aren't something that can just be stopped, there's a process and also medication, and you never know when one will hit. It's something I've had to explain to my family multiple times and I was glad to see how Georgia was able to find a way to cope with the anxiety and bring her family to a point of understanding.

I also really enjoyed the part of the book on Hurricane Katrina. As an avid reader of books on Hurricane Katrina, I thought Jenni Ogden did a great job capturing what was going on, especially at Memorial Hospital. I'd just read "Five Days at Memorial" by Sheri Fink earlier in the year and thought Jenni did a good job capturing several key facts of what went on for patients and doctors at Memorial during Hurricane Katrina.

Overall, a really great book and I highly recommend!

A beautiful story about family, tragedy, mystery and hope.
Georgia Grayson is a successful neurosurgeon with a husband and two children when her world is turned upside down. Her daughter, Lara, wants to know more about the death of her real father, Danny, and his side of the family. This triggers painful memories for Georgia and brings back the panic, anxiety and misery that she felt when she first lost Danny. In order to feel like herself again, and to be able to provide Lara with the answers she deserves, Georgia will return to New Orleans where she first met Danny, and to New Zealand where he died. Will she finally remember what happened the night he died?
This story had so many interesting facets to it - the mystery of what happened to Danny was just the part that tied everything else together. I loved the focus on relationships here; both the husband/wife relationship between Georgia and Adam, and how her panic attacks affect them, and the mother/daughter relationship which suffers as a result of the secrets and uncertainty around Danny’s death. Ogden has a background in psychology and this was evident in the way she so accurately writes about mental health and relationships - spot on.
I also absolutely loved the changes of location throughout the story, which kept things feeling fresh and exciting - didn’t hurt that New Orleans and New Zealand are two places I’d love to explore more! The descriptions were so vivid that I could almost feel the atmosphere and vibrancy of New Orleans, and the peace and spirituality of New Zealand.
Thoroughly enjoyed this and will definitely pick up more of Ogden’s books!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sea Dragon Press for the advanced reader's copy.

In The Moon is Missing, Georgia, a UK based neurosurgeon, and her 15-year-old daughter, Lara are the main characters. The story begins when Georgia is confronted about her painful past that she has kept suppressed, a history which is key to Lara understanding who she is. While Lara loves Adam, her stepfather, she knows that he is not her biological father. She feels the emptiness and void from not knowing anything about her deceased biological father, Danny, and his family. Lara's need to know more is heightened when she is given an assignment for school that focuses on her family tree. Lara begins to press her mother for details about her father, which triggers increasing anxiety in Georgia.

While Georgia is a successful neurosurgeon, she has a history of anxiety disorder. Lara pressing for the truth about her father seems to push Lara's emotions over the edge, culminating in an anxiety attack in the middle of surgery. She is subsequently placed on leave from the OR and is only allowed to see patients in office until she has sought treatment with a psychologist. Georgia begins working with Sara, her psychologist, and much of that work centers on Danny, Lara's biological father. As Georgia continues her therapy sessions, things at home begin to unravel between her and Adam, while Lara becomes increasingly angry and rebellious. Their family appears to be imploding while the young son Finn struggles to feel normal in all of it. The family is truly struggling to hold it all together.
During this time, Georgia has an opportunity to travel to New Orleans for a medical conference. New Orleans is where Georgia met Danny (Lara's birth dad). Lara pleads to tag along on the trip, convinced its an opportunity to connect with her deceased father's family. Georgia is agreeable because she is desperate to restore the strained relationship with her daughter. But as fate would have it, they arrive in New Orleans just days before Hurricane Katrina. The story shifts at this point to Georgia and Lara surviving the hurricane and the days following. Georgia ends up assisting with the hospital, where there is a growing number of medical emergencies. The storm seems to serve as an important event that helps heal the mother-daughter relationship. Georgia regains her confidence as a physician and, more importantly, gains perspective on life in general. Georgia is now ready to face her past and the death of Danny, and she is prepared to heal several important relationships.

I really enjoyed this book and was drawn in right away; it was a page-turner. Jenni Ogden's writing style is very fluid; the story has a beautiful flow rich in descriptions and taps into all the emotions. I enjoyed this book so much I plan to read her first book. I highly recommend this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed Jenni Odgen’s debut novel A Drop in the Ocean which clearly demonstrated the author’s ability to write beautifully and create an unusual story with excellent character development.

Jenni Ogden’s new novel The Moon is Missing is also an incredible story that, while very complex, still holds the reader’s attention. The story moves to many locations - from London (around the London bombings in July 2005 -where I was at the time!) to New Orleans during the Katrina Hurricane in August 2005 to New Zealand (mainly Great Barrier island where the author lives). The dramatic events surrounding these locations are also reflected in the many personal and family dramas the characters go through.

Not only was this beautifully written, there are so many issues to continue to reflect upon and discuss with friends and family. I loved the letter to the reader at the end where Jenni shares with us her views of the importance of reading novels and raises some of the issues this novel raises - Work/Family Balance, Anxiety Issues, Mother-teenager relationships especially with daughters, and Family Secrets. Through the main character Georgia and her relationships with her family, friends and colleagues these issues are brought to life and explored.

Highly recommended read.

A special thank you for the email from Caitlin Hamilton Summie from Caitlin Hamilton Marketing, for providing pre-approval for me to obtain a copy, via Netgalley, of Jenni Ogden’s forthcoming book, The Moon is Missing, to read and review. Also thanks as usual to Netgalley and to the publisher Sea Dragon Press.

Gripping sequences in Katrina-buffeted New Orleans made this a page-turner😲

The Moon is Missing grabbed me, but not for the reason I was expecting. With its changing setting, moving between London, New Orleans, Cape Cod and several scenic spots in New Zealand, I thought I would most enjoy the globetrotting aspect and the tragic love story between singer Danny and neurosurgeon-in-training Georgia. That part of the story was good, emotional and poignant and Georgia's strengthening relationship with their daughter Lara also made it a moving story.

But what really got me stuck to the pages of this book was the sequence that played out in New Orleans in August 2005 when Georgia and Lara visit New Orleans and inadvertently get caught up in the full drama and tragedy when Hurricane Katrina came calling. Putting her characters in a true life event of this magnitude really brought their story to a higher level. By highlighting the plight of secondary characters trapped in the city with them, including doctors, nurses, a very ill new mother and an elderly patient unknowingly connected to Lara through her dead father, author Jenni Ogden made the human dimension of Katrina's destruction come to life.

Georgia's anxiety and prolonged inability to reconcile herself with Danny's death may be the main theme of the plot, but it will probably be the Katrina segment that will stay with me the longest.

Thanks to publishers Sea Dragon Press and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.

This story is wonderfully written. The Moon is Missing is a story of family, lessons learned, love and forgiveness.....especially forgiveness of ones self. There are also some secrets thrown in for good measure. I loved this story and I really loved the different locations of the book.

For me this was an enthralling escape into a beautifully written story. It made me realize that the journey for each of us is unique. I absolutely loved this book including the stunning cover. It gave me feelings from heartbreak to cheering for Georgia as she struggles with her decisions. Jenni Ogden has such an amazing talent for tapping into the readers' emotions, creating excitement to read the next page. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting a book that will keep you captivated and will echo in your mind well after you have turned the last page.

Great book. Really felt like I connected with all of the characters.in the book. Didn't want to put it down. I found myself reading it to the wee hours of the nights. Found myself constantly guessing through the whole back why Danny fell. Book did not disappoint.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my digital copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

I chose this book because I really liked the cover but I also ended up really liking the story. There are two parts to this book, really. We have the part from the past about Georgia and who she thinks is the love of her life, Danny. They plan on marrying when one day he comes to say that he isn't ready and can't go through with the wedding. They had a horrible fight, he stormed out, and he lost his life that day...but Georgia has no memories of WHY or HOW. Did she do it? Was she that angry? She happened to be pregnant at the time and that is where Lara comes in. Georgia has moved on and created a new family, which is where Adam and Finbar come in. One day Lara gets an assignment at school about family history and wants to know all about her Dad and who she really is...well, you can't get blood from a stone and there isn't a whole lot to tell. They argue about it and Georgia goes on to work, where she meets someone who looks just like Danny. Pretty soon, she is getting anxiety attacks and can no longer function as a neurosurgeon. But she does go on a trip to New Orleans(Lara talks her way into going with her) for business and that is when all Hell breaks loose. No, seriously...Katrina storms on in and takes over for awhile. That is where I will stop but so many things happen because of this trip that the reader's interest never wanes from that point on. There is a lot of personal growth in the story and that is a big thing with me right now. I would completely recommend it to lovers of family drama and personal growth. On the plus side, I was constantly looking up the locations the author describes which is also a good thing in my opinion.

Jenni Ogden’s “The Moon Is Missing” is a wonderfully written story. Evoking feelings about thought provoking situations that were handled with much consideration making it a story I did not want to stop reading until I could finish it.
This is a story of a woman, Georgia Grayson, who becames a neurosurgeon and loving wife and mother of two children as her life starts to fall apart a second time.
Stress at work with long hours, loss of a patient, a teen daughter asking questions about her biological father, and nightmares of repressed memories all cause her increased panic attacks that could cost her her family.
When Georgia is asked to go to New Orleans for a work related conference she takes her daughter with her in the hope of giving her answers about her father only they end up helping and living through hurricane Katrina and its after effects.
A family secret is revealed that could make or break so many of Georgia’s family relationships as old memories of pain are brought to light.

I have some mixed thoughts on this book overall. On the one hand I did enjoy it. There was a sense of mystery and the real life backdrop of hurricane Katrina was interesting too. There seemed to be some romanticised notions relating to American life and at times I lost track of the protagonist's history with her New Zealand background, time in New Orleans while living in London. That being said, I did enjoy the story overall, with only a few moments of disbelief relating to the characters or their relationships to one another.

This was a really great book. There are so many parts of the book that people will relate to in regards to family and family life. It was intriguing and made me want to continue to finish the book to find the end. I would recommend the book for people to read.

A great novel from Jenni that included the trauma of a hurricane. It also showed the dedicated work of the medical staff as they looked after those caught up in a hurricane. Georgia tries to unfold the circumstances surrounding the death of her daughter Lara’s biological father for both Lara and her own peace of mind.

The Moon is Missing is the story of Georgia, a neurosurgeon who experiences panic attacks after performing surgery on a young man who resembles a long lost lover. She is ordered to take a break from surgery and see a psychologist, then a therapist. Unpleasant memories that traumatized her years ago are cropping up despite her unsuccessful attempts to quash them, and she realizes she needs dig deep and reconnect with them for the sake of her husband, son, and especially her daughter, coming into her teen/act out years. It was a good story, the characters were clear and well thought out and a plot in three sequences. Despite the drama, the hurricane, the family dynamics, this book to me lacked real passion. I thought it could have used something to give it a little “oomph.” Felt just a tad flat to me, and I thought the ending was rushed. Thank you to Netgalley and Sea Dragon Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Publication Date: August 25, 2020

Thank you to NetGalley and Sea Dragon Press for this advanced reader's copy. In exchange, I am providing an honest review.

Ogden's first title, A Drop in the Ocean, was lovely and I knew I would want to read other works Jenni Ogden published. I was not disappointed with this story. Ogden is not a one-hit-wonder, she's got lasting power with her stories and characters.

In this story, Georgia, a talented neurosurgeon, is being confronted with parts of her past she can't remember and frankly doesn't want to. Her 15-year-old daughter, Lara, is asking the questions Georgia has been dreading since the day she found out Lara had been conceived. "Who am I? Who bloody am I?" Lara has always known Adam wasn't her bio dad, but he's always been her Dad. A school assignment is dredging all this up and Georgia knows she and Adam are going to have some hard conversations with each other and Lara. She can't predict the outcome.

After a scare in the theater during a somewhat routine surgery, Georgia is put on leave from surgical procedures and made to see a psychologist. She fears what will be scraped up during the sessions and try as she might to keep everything present day, her therapist Sarah won't let that happen. As Georgia works with Sarah to remember the night and circumstances surrounding Danny's (Lara's bio dad) death things at home unravel. She and Adam aren't speaking and when they do it's fighting. Lara is bitter and angry and making everyone miserable when she's home and Finbar, Georgia and Adam's son, is perplexed and attempting to smooth things over for everyone. Several months into this unsettled state Georgia and Lara go to New Orleans for a conference. It just so happens Hurrican Katrina is visiting New Orleans the same weekend they are.

The storm that rages in and upends the city of New Orleans turns out to be the same storm that whips everything back together for Georgia and her family. As the days post-Katrina play out and Georgia and Lara try to get out of New Orleans and back to London perspective comes back to Georgia. And post-Katrina she takes the hard steps to set everything right.

There was a lot about this title I really liked. Ogden broke the story up into three parts and part 2 is where Georgia and Lara are in New Orleans. I have read just one other book about New Orleans and Hurrican Katrina, a true story titled Zeitoun that I highly recommend, and I could not tell the difference between Ogden's description of the hurricane and its aftermath in New Orleans and the true account from Zeitoun. I don't know how she was able to so vividly get the reader there and immersed, no pun intended, in the event but she did. She must have researched her socks off or had a personal connection to someone who lived through it. I felt like I could smell, hear, feel all of what was happening as she described it. It was gripping.

In part 1 I loved Georgia's therapist, I wanted to contact her for some sessions myself. Because Ogden was a clinical neuropsychologist in her first life she can expertly pen a character like Sarah. I really took to her...too bad she isn't a real person and closer to me than London. *grin* I liked Georgia and Adam's relationship until I didn't. My dislike of it was only contained to about 1/3 of the story but it really set me on edge. The speed at which Adam got fed up with Georgia and her struggles in the OR and at home regarding Lara's push to know about Danny really frustrated me. And this is not the only story I have read in which solid couples unravel quickly at the first sign of one of them in real emotional distress. Ugh. The impatience and whining about physical intimacy really rubs me wrong, I think because I know people are actually like that and I would like to think people aren't so selfish, even though I know better. Anyway, big picture Georgia and Adam are a great couple.

Part 3 is where Georgia is taking all the hard but necessary steps to make it all right again or actually right for the first time. The hurricane gave her the mental and emotional breakthroughs and perspective she needed and now she's setting it all straight. It's a great read on the steps of healing and bringing resolution to situations.

This was a really lovely title. I enjoyed it just as much as I did Ogden's first title a few years back. I would consider myself a fan of her characters and stories for sure.

Georgia is a neurosurgeon living in London with her family. When she loses a patient during surgery, a patient who looks like a past love, Danny who died tragically, she begins to have anxiety and panic attacks. Her daughter, Lara, pushing her to reveal more about her father only adds to the stress.

Georgia is ordered to seek psychiatric help and cannot perform surgeries until she is given the all clear. While she is trying to make sense of her past and her anxiety, her family is falling apart. Her husband, Adam, might be on the verge of having an affair and her daughter is mixed up with the wrong crowd.

The opportunity to return to New Orleans for a conference where her past with Danny, a jazz singer, all began she takes it! And she brings her daughter with her. Within a few days of their arrival hurricane Katrina hits like no other storm before it. Georgia helps out at the nearest hospital and rediscovers what she loves about being a doctor. When she can she sends her daughter home but Georgia goes home to New Zealand to confront her past once and for all.

I did enjoy reading this book. It started off strong but there were some moments when I felt like not enough backstory was made clear. In chapter 22 especially, I had to reread the part where Georgia learns about why Danny wanted to postpone the wedding because names were flying like crazy. Fiona, John, Seamus, Leroy- and I was like "wait, who?" It felt rushed.

Thank you Netgalley, Sea Dragon Press and Jenni Ogden for the opportunity to read this ARC.