Neurosurgeon Georgia had a relationship in New Zealand when she was young.
The father of her daughter Lara was a singer called Danny who died in mysterious circumstances when Georgia was pregnant.
Lara is doing a school project on families and the subject of Danny comes up.
Georgia has a breakdown at work and decides to take a break in New Orleans where Danny's grandmother had lived.
Lara goes with her and they arrive just before hurricane Katrina hits the state.They both survive and eventually meet up with relatives of Danny.
The story continues with Georgia going back to New Zealand and confronting her demons and coming to terms with Danny's death.
I found the hurricane part of the story quite different but could have been a bit more detailed and realistic.
Some of the family secrets were a bit confusing. An ok read but nothing I would recommend or remember for long.

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinion is my own.
This is a wonderfully crafted family drama with a strong woman doctor at the heart of the story .. I enjoyed the charcters, the drama and how the story was framed throughout their lives. Its a pleasing read that is enjoyable and sweeps the reader into their lives. Very well done to the author.

This was such a good book! I highly recommend it. I think this is my favorite book this year. The story is about a woman neurosurgeon Georgia Grayson who is the mother of two teenage children and happily married to her husband who is a college professor. But years ago before her first child was born she was engaged to be married to a great musician Danny when one night he broke off their engagement. That same night he was found dead. But Georgia can't remember what happened causing his death or whether she was there with him when he died. Now years later, her daughter has a project to do for school tracing her heritage when she learns her father is not her biological father. Danny was her father. So Georgia goes with her daughter to learn more about Danny in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hits. This is a touching story of romance, mystery, drama, and I loved the ending. Check it out for a great read!

Georgia Grayson is an accomplished neurosurgeon in a field mostly dominated by males. She seems to have everything under control and then when a young patient reminds her from someone in her past she falls victim to a crippling panic attack. The book is about her emotional journey to revisit and make peace with her past. It is hard reading about how her time in therapy impacts the other members of her family. They feel neglected when she cannot let them in as she tries to work through her pain. She finds herself in danger of losing everything and everyone she loves. The book is an ambitious novel that takes the reader to several locations including London, Cap Cod, Boston, New Zealand, and New Orleans. There is honestly so much information that this feels like several books in one. My one compliant is that the book may be trying to accomplish too much. One of my favorite parts is her journey to New Orleans. I have not read other novels about the impact of Katrina so this was fascinating and heart wrenching. I would love to read more about the impact of this time on her daughter and follow her time/work in New Orleans later in life. The relationship between Georgia and Lara is well written. Readers will appreciate the complicated mother and daughter relationship and the daughter's search for identity. What makes us who we are? The book also asks us what we are willing to forgive. Again, very ambitious with several unique characters and twists and turns. Thank you to #netgalley and @Sea Dragon Press for the advanced copy.

This was a really interesting and ambitious story. I was drawn in and engaged with the characters and most definitely identified w/the anxiety struggles and family dynamics. I finished this story rather quickly as a result of being invested w/the characters and I really enjoyed it. It got a bit confusing when the main character returned to her childhood home and I had to figure out who she stayed with because it got confusing there, without more of a lead into the backstory bringing it forward, but while it distracted me and I had to comb thru to find some lateral context I still felt like this was a fantastic read and I would definitely read more from this Author. Thank you for the opportunity to read in advance of publication.

I’ve tried to read through this book several times, but I can’t get past how often the protagonist’s teenaged daughter drops the f-bomb in front of her mother. I should be able to relate to her, but I just find the daughter far too unlike-able to continue. I’m sure it’s personal taste more than anything, so I won’t be posting this review anywhere.

I enjoyed this tale of secrets and confrontation between mother and daughter, set against a dramatic backdrop of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and New Zealand. Georgia is split into two halves: the competent neurosurgeon, set to be director of her department at a hospital in London, and at home a mum and wife, who with her family’s support can cope with anxiety and occasional panic attacks. Things change when her 15 year old daughter Lara starts to ask questions about her biological father. Georgia has always explained that her father died before she was born. This explanation isn’t enough for Lara anymore and she starts to ask difficult questions. How did he die? Who was he? It seems these are questions that Georgia either won’t or can’t answer.

As it turns out, she can’t tell her, because she doesn’t remember. Even therapy can’t bring back the memories she has repressed. She knows his name, Danny, and she knows he fell to his death but nothing more. As Lara keeps pushing for answers, Georgia’s anxiety heightens and she can’t function at work. Feeling desperate, the only thing she feels she can do is go back to New Orleans and find some of the answers Lara needs. She sets out to a medical conference with Lara in tow, only when they arrive Hurricane Katrina descends. There were three parts to the story each in its own geographical setting. Part 1 is in London and revolves around Georgia’s current life. The story really did pick up in Part 2 because the author’s description of the hurricane hit city is very vivid. and admirably the pair find a way to be useful and help others. Three last part in New Zealand also gave me a great sense of place and some resolution. I found Georgia hard to relate to or like at first, because she is living so much in her own head. I thought she didn’t even realise how much her daughter needed to know who she was and who her father was - almost as if because it was a black hole in her mind, Lara should be ok with this hole at the centre of who she is. She does a lot of personal growth in the novel, and learns to communicate better with her family. Her mental health crisis comes about because she isn’t being truthful to herself and her family about how anxious she feels, what it’s like to have a gap in your memory and lose someone you love. She deludes herself with this very together, organised and professional persona that everything’s ok in her life, but how can it be until she’s confronted these things and been honest with herself and her daughter. This is a great book for those who enjoy that growth in a character, family dramas and interesting locations that really add to the story.

This was a really interesting read. It was set within the real time of hurricane Katrina which was a new subject I haven't approached before. It takes a bit of focus to read this book though, if I got up and left it for a few days I'd need to go back a few pages but I really did enjoy the story as a whole and would buy it.

This novel is a lot of things: it takes the reader through the intense pain of the main character Georgia. Through her anxiety and breakdown, then suddenly you are coming up the other side and enjoying her wellness and the brightness of the other side.

Oh, and another thing this novel does is take you across continents. From cold London, steamy New Orlean’s to New Zealand. The geographical travel itself is wonderful to read during the second Covid Lockdown.
This is a lovely novel – the journey Georgia takes through the unexplained anxiety from the death of her boyfriend Danny on Pa years before. Their daughters desire to know Danny and her family, coupled together with the wilds of New Zealand and the Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Its beautifully written though at times you feel like characters are a bit dislikeable. Georgia’s pain makes her very helpless almost and Lara is a brat. The way they develop and come out the other side is incredible, and I really enjoyed it.

I would have liked a bit more of New Orleans and the rebuilding of the Lara’s family connections but its still a four star read, and am looking forward to reading more from this author.

Such an intriguing story! The Moon is Missing, by Jenni Ogden is set in the not-so-distant past and is, ultimately, about family secrets that can create ripples for generations. The book starts out in London but also takes place in New Orleans and on a remote island of the coast of New Zealand. There are many layers to this storyline that Ogden unfolds in a very interesting way that I never lost interest. Looking forward to more by this author!

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review by NetGalley. This book revolves around Georgia and her daughter Lara’s father, Danny. Who are supposed to get married but intervenes and Danny loses his life. Georgia is too panic stricken and loses her memory regarding his death. How she comes to terms with what has happened and how she addresses her issues is the core team. Brilliantly written, would definitely recommend.

‘The Moon is Missing’ is a beautifully written novel by Jenni Ogden that centers around the family of Georgia Grayson and her battle to recall her missing memories. Georgia has two conflicting roles in life: to being a high performing, faultless neurosurgeon and a wife and mother. Unfortunately after years of striving to combing both lives, she is realising that the conflict is becoming overpowering and her occasional anxiety attacks more frequent. The situation is not helped when her daughter Lara begins to ask questions about her biological father Danny, who died before she was born. Georgia has suppressed all memories of Danny’s death and their relationship. Now, in order to save their relationship with her daughter and her marriage, Georgia is forced to face her past. The story sweeps from London to New Orleans, during the horrific hurricane of Katrina in 2005 to New Zealand, where the truth if finally confronted.
Odgen does not spare her characters any blushes and chooses to show both their failures and strengths. The characters are less one dimensional and more fleshed out as a result; thus allowing the reader to feel a greater understanding and sense of sympathy for the character.
The beauty of the novel is in the portrayal of the relationship between mother and daughter. How they learn to talk to each other and address their individual mental health issues, while negotiating the terrible situations around them. Rather true to life for many I’m sure, as they struggled to come to terms with the reality of life post-Katrina.

This book is splitted in two parts: in the first one, we get to know Georgia, her family, and the anxiety she's been suffering since her fiance Danny died years before. In the second part, Georgia and her daughter have traveled to New Orleans to discover more about Danny's life and family, just at the time when hurricane Katrina creates havoc across the city.

I liked how the topic of mental health was approached, not only from the perspective of the person that suffers from a lack of it, but also how it impacts their families.

And here's my problem with the book: the truth about what happened just sounds out of the realm of possibility by a long stretch. I guess this is perhaps why the main character has blocked it from her head, but still, I think I would have preferred not knowing the truth, and just live with the idea that we (the readers), just like perhaps Georgia, would never have known what happened that night. And that should have been OK.

I got this book from #NetGalley in exchange from an honest review. Thanks to the author and Sea Dragon Press for this ARC.

Thank you Net Galley for a copy of this ARC. This is a wonderful story about 3 generations, trials and tribulations, and redemption. Loved it very much!

In The Moon Is Missing, Georgia, a brilliant neurosurgeon, suffers anxiety and panic attacks that stop her from operating. The first part of the book focuses on Georgia and her family, their life in London, her career, and center in on her daughter Lara who is struggling to know who she truly is, while Georgia confronts her past. I really liked this first part. It was so interesting to read about a neurosurgeon and maybe fans of Grey’s Anatomy (like me) would like the medical drama aspect. I was also captivated by Georgia’s time with her therapist and her panic attacks, as well as all of the drama going on with Lara.

The next portion of the book takes place in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. I have never read any fiction with this setting and I again, really enjoyed this portion of the book. Survival and medical stories, as well as the horrors of Katrina filled this portion. Towards the end of this section there were some things that started to seem so unbelievable with connections to Georgia’s past that were hard to me to embrace.

The third part of the book involves Georgia traveling to multiple locations to uncover the truth about her past and make peace with it. I understand this brought Georgia closure but I was not fond of this section. I found myself skimming and just did not enjoy this portion of the book.

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the advanced e-copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

This is a tough one for me,
I wanted to love it, but had to force myself to get through it. I didn’t particularly like the main character; Georgia. I found her too whinny and just irritating in general. I felt like the characters all tended to chop and change personality wise. Lara the daughter was stroppy teen one minute and all wise and together the next, Adam the husband was devoted, loving and caring to start then distant and cheating the next. It just didn’t ring true for me at all, there were also far to many convenient moments, and all the locations had my head spinning, which okay, isn’t that hard to do these days, thanks to my Crohn’s, but still.
The first part of the novel was very slow and tedious, part two finally saw some action, thanks to hurricane Katrina, then part three we were back to the slow crawl.
I honestly couldn’t find much to like about this book at all. I felt as if the author just decided I want this to happen so it did, there was no real skill to it, or clever twists.
There were also random characters thrown in for seemingly pointless reasons, like the old friend who gives her the LP and an old photo of her and Danny, I forget his name. What was the point in him, surely the great grandmother, or Danny’s father could have been roped in for that.
It failed to evoke any real emotion in me either and didn’t feel believable.
That said we are all different and if we all liked the same things the world would be a boring place, but this isn’t a book I would be recommending to anyone and this isn’t an author I’ll be looking out for in the future.
I got this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Which makes me feel extra bad that I didn’t like it, but an honest review is what they ask for and so an honest review is what they got.

Love and hugs all and as always I ask that you forgive any errors in spelling or grammar, or muddling of words and names, in this and any other posts of mine, my Crohn’s gives me horrendous brain fog sometimes and causes me to make the most infuriating mistakes, but it is what it is I guess.

This book seems to be all over the place as far as plot. Went from a woman trying to come to terms with a tragedy, juggling a medical career, children and a marriage that is rocky to flying all over the world, going through Hurricane Katrina and finding answers to her past. All the while pretty much ignoring her husband and son. Not my favorite book. But I know most people will enjoy it.

I absolutely loved Ogden's first novel, A Drop in the Ocean, but this one just missed the mark for me. I was drawn in from the beginning but lost interest in the middle. I did appreciate the novel's acknowledgment of burnout and mental health issues, but the book just didn't hold my interest, which was disappointing for me after loving her first novel so much.

The moon is missing is a family drama that exposes long buried secrets and lies. It also deals with the mental health problems the main character, Georgia’s, suffers with because of unresolved issues from her past. This has a major impact on her family and her job as a neurosurgeon at a London hospital. At the beginning Georgia’s teenage daughter, Lara, wants to know more about her birth father Danny who died before she was born. Together they go on a journey to find the truth including being in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. The novel is beautifully written and takes you around the world from London to New Orleans and New Zealand. For me the story became more engaging the further through the book I read, it was an interesting story and I enjoyed it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in return for my review.

Great premise and characters, the acknowledgement of burnout and mental health, but the description of conditions during Katrina and the reason for the secrecy seemed contrived. I wanted to like the protagonist and the story, but I lost interest.