Maurice and Maralyn: A Whale, a Shipwreck, a Love Story

(Hardback)

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An extraordinary true tale of love, shipwreck and survival, beautifully told -- Maurice and Maralyn's escape from 1970s England and its oil crisis, strikes and inflation is also a story for our times 'One of those very special books that makes you put everything on hold so you can get back to it' RACHEL JOYCE 'Beautiful, moving and genuinely unputdownable' JOANNA CANNON 'Easily one of the most captivating works of narrative nonfiction I've ever read' OLIVER BURKEMAN 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 idea- 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. It sinks within an hour, and the pair are cast adrift in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. On their tiny raft, over the course of days, then months, their love is put to the test. When Maurice begins to withdraw into himself, it falls upon Maralyn to keep them both alive. Their pet turtle helps, as does devising menus for fantasy dinners and dreaming of their next voyage. 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

The most extraordinary book about facing challenges, holding onto hope in dark times and how easy it is to become lost even when youre surrounded by others. Its beautiful, moving and genuinely unputdownable . . . utterly captivating and so special -- JOANNA CANNON, author of A Tidy Ending
I loved everything about this inspirational, funny, painful, jaw-dropping and moving celebration of an ordinary couple caught in the most dramatic circumstances imaginable. A poignant reminder that in facing catastrophe, we often discover who we really are -- RACHEL JOYCE, author of Maureen Fry & the Angel of the North
This is a survival story of relentless power, an epic of human resourcefulness, and of the emotional toll taken at last by sufferings extremity -- COLIN THUBRON, author of The Amur River
Easily one of the most captivating works of narrative nonfiction Ive ever read, Maurice and Maralyn is at once a gripping story of survival at sea and a haunting account of the yearning to escape the ordinary, the mysteries of marriage, and the fleeting nature of fame. It hasnt left my mind since I finished it -- OLIVER BURKEMAN, author of Four Thousand Weeks
Maurice and Maralyn is a beautiful, searing book -- a miniature epic of seafaring and survival with an unbreakable, unusual love story at its heart. Elmhirst casts you hundreds of miles adrift in the Pacific, on a four-foot life raft, with nothing for company but turtles, whales and eternal questions: Who do we love Why do we love them Can we survive -- SAM KNIGHT, author of The Premonitions Bureau

Author Bio

Sophie Elmhirst is a prizewinning writer for the Guardian Long Read and The Economist's 1843 magazine, and a contributing editor at the Gentlewoman and Harper's Bazaar. In 2020 she won the British Press Award for Feature Writer of the Year; she has also won a Foreign Press Award and been longlisted for the Orwell Prize. She first came across the story of Maurice and Maralyn Bailey researching a piece on our desire to escape. This is her first book. She lives in London.