A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck

Journalist Elmhirst debuts with an enthralling story of survival. In spring 1973, a British couple felt their sailboat shudder as a flailing, dying whale punched a hole in its hull. Months earlier, Maurice and Maralyn Bailey had sold their possessions, abandoned “suburban domestic stress,” and embarked in their sloop Auralyn for a new life at sea. Maurice—an odd, prickly perfectionist—wanted to sail “by the stars,” so the boat had no radio transmitter. As the Auralyn sank, the couple scrambled onto a tiny inflatable raft with what food and water they could grab. Maurice despaired; Maralyn—a pretty, confident go-getter—was sure they’d be rescued. And they were, but only after 118 days adrift, during which they bludgeoned sea turtles to death, slurped water from fish eyes, caught sharks with their bare hands, and watched multiple ships sail past without noticing them. Maralyn’s iron will kept them alive, through her implementation of routines and innovations like safety pin fishhooks. The grisly details of survival are narrated by Elmhirst with vivid immediacy, and her handling of the lead-up and the aftermath are equally fascinating—including the couple’s post-rescue celebrity (when they were frequently asked to climb into their raft for photo shoots) and the surly Maurice’s alienation of everyone but his wife ahead of their even more self-isolating trip. It’s an un-put-downable saga of a relationship pushed to the limits. (July)