Emma Pearse

This is a light, fun read for all the dog lovers out there (or those who enjoy improbable true stories). I liked how the author alternated between chapters about Sophie's 'adventure' and chapters about the family and how they were coping in her absence. Sure, the writing's not exactly Shakespeare, but it conveys the story competently and entertainingly. Perfect holiday reading.

Being an animal lover, I find it hard to resist a book like this as I pass by it on the library shelves - despite knowing that more often than not, the best part of the story could be told in a magazine article. This book proved no different. Though Sophie's story is moving and almost miraculous, there just wasn't enough here for a book. I'm glad the author set the story straight about Sophie and her owners - who were maligned in social media because of hyperbole and outright lies, but this show more would have been a stronger story without so much of the maudlin stuff that served no purpose other than to fill enough pages to warrant a book. It begins with a teenage girl convincing her parents to buy a puppy that she's been eyeing through the window of a pet store - something that surely happens every day (while other well-deserving and wonderful dogs die or languish in shelters, by the way). I'm sure Sophie's family is nice and they clearly love dogs, but the very ordinary stuff like this before Sophie was lost at sea, just didn't interest me. Sophie, however, did. Her scrappiness, wits, and determination -- especially for such a young dog -- were unbelievable. I can't imagine many dogs having been brought up in a loving home without ever having to give a thought to food or shelter, not only surviving, but coming through it with virtually no ill effects. show less

The subtitle of this book is "The Incredible True Story of the Castaway Dog." It's about a Blue Heeler in Australia who fell overboard from her owner's boat and was presumed dead for 5 months until she was trapped on a remote island and, by a happy series of circumstances, was immediately reunited with her owners. The book begins with the story of how Sophie came into her owners' lives and background on their family and her puppyhood. After she goes missing while out on their boat, the book show more then spends a lot of time describing her owners' grief and feelings of guilt. It spends a little time describing the sightings of a strange dog on two different, minimally inhabited islands, and lots of speculation about how she might have gotten there and how she survived for 5 months before being trapped alive by park rangers. And it's just that -- speculation -- because nobody knows how she lived and survived. It was an interesting story, but it was probably longer than necessary. A few language considerations and some routine alcohol consumption, but mostly clean. show less

Well I am amazed. I actually liked this book by the end of it.

The first part of the book was awful: most of it was ordinary boring chit-chat about a family - who *thought* they were a dog family but weren't even close ( they kept all their dogs outside... yeah, right, that's a real "dog family" for ya... hmmmm) - raising a cattle dog. And then hearing how the dog was lost... oh my gosh... that was almost unbearable - here's this real "dog family" putting their dog on an ocean boat without a show more life jacket- come on! It was excruciating listening.

But then, finally, after a half a book of painfully obtuse family discourse, the meat of the story was incredible. It was a great read after that. I found myself desperately wanting to get to a (hopefully) good ending. What this dog went thru was truly impressive.

Summary - horrible first half, fabulous 2nd half.

Oh, and one very frustrating "hanger"... did they ever take Sophie back on the HoneyMae?!? What an obvious question and, unless it was one sentence and I missed it, I don't think they ever answered that . Very disappointing. show less