This gripping adventure story of one woman s odyssey from a near-drowning accident to a journey around the world to understand the threats to the vitality of our oceans vividly illustrates the crucial role that each of us has to play in one of the most urgent social movements in history. After almost dying in a kayaking accident in which she was paralyzed, Liz Cunningham begins an odyssey both to regain her health and to learn more about the beloved ocean that nearly killed her. She discovers a monumental crisis- the rapidly-degrading state of the seas threatens all life as we know it. Cunningham combines her perspective as a woman at the most vulnerable juncture of her life with skills honed during her career as a journalist to create an absorbing narrative that leads readers through unexpected encounters with conservationists, fishermen, sea nomads, and scientists in the Caribbean, California, West Papua, the Mediterranean, and beyond. Ocean Country charts the author s intimate, action-packed struggle to transform despair into strength and to discover what true hope is.