Book Review: A Marriage at Sea

A Marriage at Sea, a survival biography by Sophie Elmhirst, offers a fascinating look at circumstances that challenged a young British couple. The author divides the book into four sections. Section one focuses on this intrepid couple's courtship and voyage. Section two outlines their survival at sea after their yacht sinks. The third section covers the popular obsession with their rescue tale and the unique challenges of their rise to fame. In the final section, the couple moves on from the spotlight and must live out their days.

Maurice and Maralyn Bailey, two unique and interesting individuals, don't seem like a perfect match. He is awkward and unsociable. She is optimistic and independent. It is unusual that they end up together. Even more unusual, their differing personalities mesh and work when life throws significant challenges their way.

Maurice is hard to like, making Maralyn's devotion hard to understand. What a tale of contrasts! Maralyn is optimistic. She clings to the hope of reaching the Galapagos. Maurice, knowing about winds and currents, despairs. The author writes that Maurice "found himself wondering if they had enough gas in the canister to kill themselves." Maralyn encourages him to keep rowing, while he considers her delusional. She never questions their survival. Being alone at sea causes Maurice to contemplate his personality, his rough edges. He sincerely wants to be different. But is he capable of changing?

The book read like fiction. I enjoyed the first three sections. Although I couldn't understand their wanderlust (or their comfort with life at sea), it was fascinating. Sad to say, if in their shoes, I'd be more like Maurice, losing hope and giving in to despair. I loved watching how Maralyn's optimism bolstered Maurice's defeat. The rescue was riveting. The whirlwind media blitz was exhausting (almost more daunting than surviving life in the elements at sea).

I found section four depressing. Still, it was a provocative and gripping tale of personalities tested by trial. I appreciated the author's expansion, likening this survival tale to every marriage relationship. We are all tossed about in a dinghy, trying to survive the elements and waves of life together. We can make each other stronger, or we can pull each other down. Thus, I found much to contemplate from this intriguing survival story. Despite a scoffing tone toward faith, the book's outline of relational struggles encouraged me to contemplate my own faults. I want to be beneficial, not detrimental, in my relationships. 

I end this review with an illustration from the book. The author shares the story of a downed plane. The pilot left to seek help, only to return and find the two passengers dead. Elmhirst writes, "Able only to sit and wait, what could they do but die? It is not so much the feats of endurance that keep people alive as the absence of surrender. Maurice, lacking occupation, became desolate. There was no evidence to convince him that survival was likely, and he found it hard to believe in things he couldn't see. What was the point of trying?" May we strive to be like the pilot and Maralyn, focusing on hopes for the future, instead of fixing on frustrations and limitations of the present.