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A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck
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96/99
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18/99
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97/99
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About This Book
**A Guardian, Observer & Waterstones Nonfiction Book of 2024** What begins as an eccentric English love story turns into one of the most dramatic adventures ever recorded... Maurice and Maralyn couldn't be more different. He is as cautious and awkward as she is charismatic and forceful. It seems an unlikely romance, but it works. Bored of 1970s suburban life, Maralyn has an sell the house, build a boat, leave England -- and its oil crisis, industrial strikes and inflation -- forever. It is hard work, turning dreams into reality, but finally they set sail for New Zealand. Then, halfway there, their beloved boat is struck by a whale and the pair are cast adrift in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. On their tiny raft, their love is put to the test. When Maurice begins to withdraw into himself, it falls upon Maralyn to keep them both alive. Filled with danger, spirit, and tenderness, this is a book about human connection and the human condition; about how we survive -- not just at sea, but in life.
Reviews
"In Elmhirst's delicate, humane depiction of the couple, her choice of narrative framing, her pacing and her compassion, she renders A Marriage at Sea an act of beauty in its own right."
"May be based on real events, but it has the feel of fiction – all the better to convey the thoughts, fears and coping strategies of the pair as they fight for survival."
"A nimbly told story that should serve as a caution—but oddly, too, as inspiration—to would-be escapists."
"Her prose evokes the rhythms that shaped their routine ..."
"Has an admirably light touch; her short sentences contain something of the Baileys' emotionlessness, their desolation, silence, and the slow putrefaction of their faculties."
"To say Elmhirst's book is nail-bitingly tense at times is an understatement ..."
"When Elmhirst comes close to breaking the fourth wall, that contribute to the pleasure of this exciting book."
"Few nonfiction books get a reader's adrenaline pumping quite like Sophie Elmhirst's A Marriage at Sea ..."
"This beautifully conceived book by Sophie Elmhirst, her first, retells the Baileys' story not just as that extraordinary tale of endurance, but as a singular and universal kind of love story ..."
"She manages to make the Baileys a little more known without inventing new thoughts for them."
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