Title: A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck by Sophie Elmhirst
Book Beginnings quote:
March 4, 1973.Maralyn looked out at emptiness. There was little to see but the water, shifting from black to blue as the sun rose. A clear sky, the ocean, and themselves: a small boat sailing west.
Friday56 quote (from page 28, last page of preview):
But like all utopian visions, theirs had its contradictions
Summary: Maurice and Maralyn are an odd couple. He is an awkward loner. She is outgoing and friendly. They both have a dream of running away from all responsibility -- to drop out and sail away. The only thing is neither has ever sailed before. Most people's dreams would stop at this point, but not these two. They actually set about making their dream come true, selling everything they own, building a boat, and in June 1972, they set sail, leaving England forever (they think.) All goes well for nearly a year, before they find themselves in the Pacific stranded in a lifeboat and a dingy after their boat is sunk by a random whale strike. Now the story shifts to one of survival at sea. The couple has to find ways to stay alive while battling their inner demons. The marriage is put to the greatest of tests.
Review: A Marriage at Sea is my last book of 2025. I had wanted to read it as soon as I heard about it. What I didn't realize at the time was how long ago the story happened, over fifty years. It is unimaginable today that someone would set sail without GPS or even a radio. But of course, GPS wasn't invented yet and Maurice, in particular, didn't want to rely on a radio or anything other than his own knowledge and ingenuity when they set out on their worldwide trip.
All goes well for the couple as they cross the Atlantic, make their way through the Panama canal, and find themselves in the Pacific about 300 miles from the Galapagos Islands, off the coast of Ecuador, when a whale surfaces underneath their little boat. An hour later they are marooned in their lifeboat and their dingy with the few provisions they could gather before the boat sank. The next 117 days, the couple have to find a way to survive when all they have is each other and their fraying wits.
I've been thinking about the word "obsession" in the subtitle. What a weird word to place in a book title of a book about a shipwreck. Or is it? Maurice and Maralyn become obsessed with their dream to sail away, leaving their life behind them in England. Maurice becomes obsessed with learning everything there is to learn about nautical tables and tides. They both become obsessed with their roles aboard ship. Maurice, the captain, refers to himself as the god of the boat. While they are in survival mode, Maralyn becomes obsessed with keeping Maurice alive since he deeply depressed. Years after their rescue, we learn of Maurice's deep obsession with Maralyn herself. Yes, it was a story about obsession, making it a unique angle on the story.
My rating 3.75 stars, rounded up to 4.
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