‘What if she really had hit her head but was still alive, thrashing about out in there? What must she be feeling? Terror. She must be so confused. She would be expecting them to come and scoop her up and wondering why on earth she was out there all alone. Could she see Honey May and see Jan and Dave yelling over the sides? What if she was watching them, trying to call out but unable to bark. Was she keeping her head above water?”
As a liveaboard sailing family with two Cocker Spaniels, dog overboard would have to be one of our biggest fears. When we are underway our two Cocker Spaniels have always been within our sights; no ifs, buts or maybes.
Sophie’s Story explores this very issue when Jan and Dave Griffith’s furry family member Sophie fell overboard their 32-foot motor cruiser, Honey May, off the coast of Mackay, Queensland, Australia.
Author, Emma Pearse walks us down a couple of different paths. We develop an understanding of the raw emotion experienced by Jan and Dave as they come to terms with the loss of Sophie. As a doggy mum, sharing the fear of our dogs falling overboard, I felt so helpless for this family who were walking with the sadness of loss and the pain of guilt.
Emma also explores the story after Sophie went missing, of the mysterious sightings of a blue cattle dog on remote Queensland islands. It is common knowledge on the cover of the book that Sophie miraculously survives, and the author reports this in extensive detail by interviewing residents of the islands Sophie was living on for the four months she was missing.
It’s the journey we go on with the family that kept me reading. You can’t help but have immense empathy for the Griffith’s as it is evident that Sophie is more than ‘just a dog’ to them, she has her very own place at the heart of soul of this family.
