Hope as My Compass: A memoir

Written by Catherine Devrye

Narrated by Catherine Devrye

‘Hope as My Compass’ is a best-selling memoir set in Canada and Australia...a stranger than fiction, true life story nominated for the National Biography Prize- first published by Random House Australia as ‘Who Says I Can’t’ and then McArthur Press in Canada as ‘Serendipity Road’

 On the cover, the late Bryce Courtenay, best selling author of 'Power of One' says: ‘story of hope and perseverance-when’s the movie?’

 Starting life in an orphanage in Calgary, Catherine DeVrye was adopted by loving parents. When she was twenty-one, they both died of cancer, within a year of each other. An only child, Catherine packed her bags for a 3-month working holiday in Australia, arriving jobless and near penniless…

 This led to a life-long journey to find her place in the world, as she waited tables, taught school, worked on a mine site and as a senior public servant. She then joined IBM with postings to Tokyo, Hong Kong and New York. Named Australian Executive Woman of the Year, Catherine found herself dining with princes, prime ministers and Olympic athletes. She’d cycled over the Andes, dived with sharks and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro.

 Yet, still something was missing. So, eventually Catherine decided to search for her biological parents. And that’s when her adventures really began…as she saw her birth father inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame.

 If you’ve ever felt alone and hopeless, laugh and cry through Catherine’s story and become more empowered to turn your own stumbling blocks into stepping-stones.

 Catherine DeVrye is based in Sydney and travels the world sharing her life experiences as a conference speaker.

 Narrated by the author, a percentage of all royalties go to the Salvation Army who cared for her as a baby.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Everest Press
• Release date: Aug 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781667035680

Catherine Devrye

Catherine DeVrye is a best-selling author of 8 non-fiction books, translated into over a dozen languages, including a #1 best-selling business book in Australia and Taiwan. Her memoir also made the best seller list in Australia and Canada. Past winner of the Australian Executive Woman of the Year Award and Keynote Speaker of the Year, she is an outstanding communicator and her delightfully humorous approach to presenting authentic content has earned standing ovations and long queues at book signings and corporate conferences on 5 continents. Her books have been endorsed by Sir Edmund Hillary, Dr Edward DeBono, Bryce Courtenay, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. One who never excelled during English class at high school, Catherine calls herself an ‘accidental author’; simply writing from experience-and from the heart-in line with her mission to help others help themselves. Always in search of adventure-and fresh material-she has swam with sharks, cycled over the Andes, climbed to the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro and beyond Everest Base Camp, volunteered with street kids in Vietnam & carried the Olympic torch on the day of the opening ceremonies of the Sydney Olympics. Yet, she always sees writing the next book as her biggest challenge.