Maurice and Maralyn
A Whale, a Shipwreck, a Love Story
by Sophie Elmhirst
ISBN 9781784744922
After they got married in the 1960s, Maurice and Maralyn were feeling stifled by their suburban British life So in the early 1970s, they sold their bungalow, had a boat built, finished the inside themselves, and set off to sail to New Zealand. Because they wanted to be truly away from 'civilization' they did not have a radio on their boat and they planned a route away from shipping lanes. They were happy and content with life at sea until one morning, a wounded whale rammed their boat, leaving a large hole. In less than an hour, they were on a life raft and dinghy with what few things they'd been able to salvage, watching their boat sink. Thus began their 118-day ordeal, drifting in the sea, trying to survive.
This book is the story of that event, but also of Maurice and Maralyn's relationship, which is almost a character in its own right. The relationship they had with one another was the foundation of everything--the choice to go on the voyage in the first place, the way it changed once the disaster had occurred, how things unfolded after it was over, and more. We see a bit about Maurice and a bit about Maralyn, but much more about Maurice-and-Maralyn. Today there is more acceptance of those who don't fit well within the confines of conventional society, but back then--at least in the world of US suburbia where I come from--there was little tolerance for those who didn't want to live that kind of life. I was fascinated by their strategies for dealing with that and by their survival strategies when things went horribly wrong.
It's a great book--part adventure story, part love story, part self-discovery story. I devoured it and I highly recommend it.
3 comments:
This sounds fascinating.
I enjoyed your review.
All the best Jan
So this is a true story? I think going without a radio would be scary, but it sounds like a good book.
It really was fascinating, Jan. Apparently they were quite famous for a while. I'd never heard of the story until I saw the book.
Yup, a true story, Erika. I felt the same about the radio--they really wanted to be away from society, although they did socialize with other sailors at different ports and even became friends with some of them. But no radio and avoiding the shipping lanes ended up almost killing them in the end because they were adrift for so long.
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