View audiobook of A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst

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A Marriage at Sea

A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck

by Sophie Elmhirst

Narrator Marisa Calin

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Length 5 hours 50 minutes

Language English

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Bookseller recommendation

“If you like your nonfiction to elicit increasingly incredulous (and increasingly audible) reactions of, "No way. There's no way! WHAT?! HOW DID THEY NOT DIE???!" then this is the book for you. I needed to constantly remind myself that Maurice and Maralyn Bailey's harrowing survival story is true; Maralyn, in particular, with her unmatched resourcefulness, bravery, and unflagging will to survive, reads like a heroine straight out of a high-seas adventure tale. She catches sharks with her bare hands! She lassoes a sea turtle to pull their raft! (Truly, all the caps lock and italics in the world cannot convey the extent of my astonishment that THIS HAPPENED! TO REAL PEOPLE! Who lived!) Turtle-lassoing aside, this is ultimately a deeply human story about two people overcoming improbable odds together, kept afloat (literally) by their determination to keep each other alive.”
— Lily • Quail Ridge Books

Bookseller recommendation

“Without a doubt, I would not survive adrift on a boat. I was amazed at their tenacity, cleverness, and encouragement of each other. An excellent book for the armchair traveler or boating enthusiast in your circle.”
— Sara • Roundabout Books

Bookseller recommendation

“I've always loved sea adventure stories. This is a great re-telling of Drama in Real Life. But it goes beyond that to actually capture the quirks, idiosyncrasies and essential nature of the characters. It also reveals the life-arc of their marriage. The question of "how does one survive survival?" is poignantly revealed.”
— Cheryl • Last Chance Bookstore

Bookseller recommendation

“Wow, this is one of the best narrative nonfiction books I've ever read -- and in addition to running a bookstore and obsessively reading adventure and survival stories, I also received an MFA in Creative Nonfiction. The writing is so tight. The voice so authoritative -- an omniscient narrator in nonfiction! The story so nuanced and good, I read it over two days. Sophie Elmhirst goes beyond the survival story to what happens when you've been found and authenticity turns to performance. I'm handing this to everyone right now. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in adventure, survival, or looking for a good story. The audio version is as tight as the writing. Narrator Marisa Calin a light-hearted tone, adding to the book's impact. ”
— Julie • Honest Dog Books

Bookseller recommendation

“An examination of love and an adventure at sea. Engaging and heartfelt. ”
— Stacey • Little Village Toy & Book Shop

Bookseller recommendation

“Wow, what an interesting book. Based on the true story of a husband and wife who are stranded at sea for almost four months, the book does a great job delving into the couple and the kind of people they were and their marriage dynamic. It takes a particular kind of personality to want to be at sea, and being in a relationship adds to the complexity. The author really brought everything to life to make an enjoyable read. ”
— Barbara • Parkside Bookshop

Bookseller recommendation

“In this extraordinarily crafted work of narrative nonfiction, author Sophie Elmhurst tells not only a harrowing survival tale, but also explores the intricacies of a marriage and delves into the interior worlds of an unconventional 1960s couple. Narrator Marisa Calvin sweeps us through their struggles and their joys.”
— Claire • Honest Dog Books

Bookseller recommendation

“Equal parts beautiful and distressing, this true story reads like a novel. I finished the novel feeling like I knew was it was to be adrift at sea and thinking about the most meaningful relationships in my life. The narrator brings the story to life well - a great listen, unless you're currently sailing the Pacific in a 30-foot boat!”
— Ashley • Niche Books

Bookseller recommendation

“What would you do to survive? A remarkable story of an ordinary marriage under extraordinary circumstances and the depths that humans will go to survive. A truly compelling listen. ”
— Anne • The Regulator Bookshop

Bookseller recommendation

“(Indies Introduce) A raw telling of the fight a young couple endures physically and mentally as their boat is capsized by creatures in the middle of the sea. Reads like a novel — it’s crazy this is a true story!”
— Alex Hammett • Serendipity Books

Bookseller recommendation

“A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst is an unbelievable story of survival at sea that made headlines in 1972 when Maurice and Marilyn were finally rescued after 118 days afloat, but it has since been buried in the log of history. This book is not only a mind-blowing account of the couple’s shipwreck survival — relying on safety pins to fish, eating turtles and sharks raw, watching their bodies rot from salt-water exposure — but it’s also the story of the miraculous survival of their marriage — a mercurial, stubborn man who admits he would have succumb to hopelessness if not for the determination and inventiveness of his wife. As the author writes, you can’t help but admire how this duo made a life together, as unconventional and complicated as it may have seemed to outsiders. ”
— Amanda • Dog-Eared Books

Bookseller recommendation

“Fascinating story! Perfect if you love survival stories with heart. It’s hard to believe this is a true story because it feels like you’re reading a novel, and the story feels almost impossible. Marisa Calvin is an excellent narrator as well!”
— Jessica • The Open Book Warrenton

Summary
About the author

#48 in Bestselling Audiobooks #2 in Bestselling History Audiobooks

THE RUNAWAY NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER & ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2025A NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 BOOK OF 2025ALSO NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2025 BY NPR, VOGUE, TIME MAGAZINE, THE NEW YORKER, AND MORE“This is nonfiction that reads like fiction – the best kind. Elmhirst’s retelling is a triumph, second only to the seemingly impossible feat of Maurice and Maralyn themselves. You won’t be able to put it down.” – USA Today“Remarkable… I found myself, alternately, holding my breath as I read at top speed, wandering rooms in search of someone to read aloud to, and placing the book facedown, arrested by quiet statements that left me reeling with their depth.” – The New York Times “Such an emotionally vivid portrait of a couple in isolation that I was shocked it wasn’t fiction. How could a writer get so deeply into the minds of two real people in such extraordinary circumstances? … So brilliantly depicted.” – Elle“A beautiful meditation on endurance, codependence, and the power of love. A dazzling book.” – Patrick Radden Keefe“An enthralling, engrossing story of survival and the resilience of the human spirit.” —Bill BrysonAn instant New York Times bestseller, this is the electrifying true story of a young couple shipwrecked at sea: a mind-blowing tale of obsession, survival, and partnership stretched to its limits.Maurice and Maralyn make an odd couple. He’s a loner, awkward and obsessive; she’s charismatic and ambitious. But they share a horror of wasting their lives. And they dream – as we all dream – of running away from it all. What if they quit their jobs, sold their house, bought a boat, and sailed away?Most of us begin and end with the daydream. But in June 1972, Maurice and Maralyn set sail. For nearly a year all went well, until deep in the Pacific, a breaching whale knocked a hole in their boat and it sank beneath the waves.What ensues is a jaw-dropping fight to survive in the wild ocean, with little hope of rescue. Alone together for months in a tiny rubber raft, starving and exhausted, Maurice and Maralyn have to find not only ways to stay alive but ways to get along, as their inner demons emerge and their marriage is put to the greatest of tests. Although they could run away from the world, they can’t run away from themselves.Taut, propulsive, and dazzling, A Marriage at Sea pairs an adrenaline-fueled high seas adventure with a gutting love story that asks why we love difficult people, and who we become under the most extreme conditions imaginable.

Biography & Memoir History Family & Relationships Nonfiction

Sophie Elmhirst is an award-winning journalist who writes regularly for The Guardian Long Read and The Economist; her work has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and Harper’s Bazaar, among other places. She’s the winner of the British Press Award for Feature Writer of the Year and a Foreign Press Award. She lives in London and A Marriage at Sea is her first book.