Maurice and Maralyn recount the incredible true tale of a couple's harrowing shipwreck and their subsequent months adrift on a raft in the vast Pacific Ocean. It's a staggering narrative of resilience and love amidst unimaginable adversity. Their unwavering teamwork, mutual support, and Maralyn's indomitable positivity emerge as vital lifelines, ensuring their survival against all odds. Discovering their story is truly eye-opening, a testament to the human spirit's capacity for endurance and love.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

I very much enjoyed this memoir style non fiction account of a couple who set sail for New Zealand from the UK in 1973. Their boat was struck by a whale and sank. Miles from land, in the middle of the ocean, they somehow survived for a very long time until their eventual rescue. This is their story.
I loved the account of how they managed to stay alive despite all the many challenges. I was less keen on the last part of the book about their later lives.
A really good read though.

Loved this, read it one sitting. Love the way that the story was recreated from the diaries kept at the time. Part adventure, all love story between two unlikely soulmates. the way that Maralyn refuses to give up and the efforts to keep Maurice's spirits up as well as her own will stay with me.

This book made me want to go grab my husband and go on a big adventure... just not on a boat! Inspiring, funny, awful and ultimately heart-breaking; this book took you on a journey alongside Maurice and Maralyn.

An extraordinary story of a couple's survival when their boat capsizes in the middle of the ocean. A beautiful book!

Maurice and Maralyn were very different characters, who might be considered English eccentrics, who worked beautifully together as a couple.

Bored of 1970s suburban life, Maralyn wants an adventure and convinces Maurice that they should sell their house, build a boat and travel the world. And they do it. They set sail for New Zealand.

But, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, their boat is struck by a whale causing irreparable damage. The only thing they can do is save what they can, install themselves in their tiny dinghy and wait for rescue.

For weeks they learn how to survive, collecting rainwater, eating raw turtles, and drawing on phenomenal emotional and mental resources.

The book is described as being 'filled with danger, spirit, and tenderness, ... about human connection and the human condition; about how we survive - not just at sea, but in life.'

The author of this book is a journalist who drew on the diaries written by the couple as well as the coverage of their plight at the time to compile this astonishing tale which reads like a novel. It's amazing. I felt as though I was reading with my mouth open, aghast at all Maurice and Maralyn were experiencing, and overcoming, and I was sorry to reach the final page. This is a book I will keep and read again. Wonderful!

What a roller coast of a read this was - I felt like I was being buffeted by strong waves as I read it.
This was a compelling read about the adventures of Maurice and Maralyn's adventures on their yacht and then the incredible story of survival that came about after a shipwreck.

The adventure story was gripping enough but the profound tale of the couple after their rescue and how you cope after such an adventure was really interesting and I just felt that they were an incredible couple who's story deserves to be told.

I had never heard of Maurice and Maralyn, so I was absolutely fascinated by their remarkable story of survival at sea. The writing style wasn’t my favourite though, and it was definitely the case that the subject matter was much more interesting than the way the story was told.

I have to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It is beautifully written and the story definitely eats its way into your heart.
It is very compelling andI had to keep reading to find out what happened to them.
I live on the coast in the South, so parts of this book are very familiar to me, including the obsession with boats and the sea. I think the sea gets into people's blood and psyche and it is impossible to remove it.
The adventure that these two brave people undertook was amazing...yes they were foolhardy and eccentric, but so very brave to stick to their plans and try their utmost to complete the endeavour.
A remarkable story and one I will often think about.
Wonderful.

Maurice and Maralyn is a captivating and inspiring book of two souls lost at sea. Maurice and Maralyn are opposites, he is awkward and introverted and she is optimistic and charismatic, but somehow together as a couple they work. They both find 1970’s suburban life in England with its inflation, oil crisis and industrial strikes static and uninspiring so decide to go on an adventure. They build a boat, a floating home their only possession and set sail for New Zealand. It is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that their boat is struck by a whale and they are left floating adrift in a dinghy. Surrounded by danger, the need for food, water, and the fight to keep up their spirits that Maurice and Marilyn’s love and lives are truly tested. The survival story is one that mirrors their relationship and love and asks what you would do to make it through together. The book starts off slow and steady but as soon as the incredible encounter with the whale occurs I was riveted throughout the rest of the book. It is a true story of a couple who survived, 118 1/2 days at sea, alone and adrift, and the author beautifully interweaves images and stories throughout their journey that makes it feel weighted by experience, love and spirituality. It is a story of endurance told in clear, melodic prose for fans of immersive nonfiction 4 Stars ✨

In 1973 Maurice and Maralyn set out on an around the world trip. to New Zealand Maurice wants it to be a authentic sailing experience so they don't have a radio.

Based on the Baileys' own book and media records of the time, this is an account of their voyage, during which a freak accident involving a whale leaves then adrift for 118 days in the Pacific Ocean. Ships pass them by (their flares don't work and of course they have no radio) and they have to capture rainwater, fish, sharks and turtles to stay alive. Previously Maurice had been very much the skipper, but adrift on the raft their roles reverse and Maralyn takes charge. Their thoughts on survival are wildly different .

They are finally picked up by a South Korean fishing boat and return to "civilisation" , with differing reactions (although they both tire of the publicity circus) Their lives together afterwards are also described.

Writing about how they met and married you are struck by the yin/yang nature of their relationship. It's sometimes hard to relate to Maurice, although we learn his childhood wasn't easy. His desire for order amongst other things makes me wonder if he was autistic?

There are authorial asides which are "quirky" in tone, but generally Elmhirst is good at drawing more universal truths from their experiences

" For what else is a marriage, really, if not being stuck on a small raft with someone and trying to survive?"

I felt like the author made the book just the right length. By that I mean that another author might have "fleshed" it out more, which would have been detrimental.

Lots of great period detail evokes the feeling of the 1970s, although the author once again selects her details carefully.

This is perfect for lovers of Winn's The Salt Path.

I didn’t realise this was a true story till it became obvious and loved it all the more for that.
If COVID did us no other good at all it at least encouraged this wonderful author to write this tale. Fantastic research and loved Marilyn and Maurice by the end.
Really great book.

I really enjoyed this book- having never heard of Maurice and Maralyn before I came to this story with zero expectations. What I got was beyond what I would have even imagined! And to think it is based on a true story too. What they went through is just crazy, and to survive is astonishing. Ultimately their love for each other shines through these pages, and I think the author has done a fantastic job at bringing this to life.

Absolutely loved this book. Not the usual type of book that I read but having heard so much about it I had to give it a go. Found the way that the story was told through the eyes of both of the main characters really helped to keep the story moving along. Highly recommend it.

I have mixed feelings about Maurice and Maralyn. I started the book knowing little about what it was about. I really enjoyed the part where they were lost at sea. I love these sort of survival stories and this was very well told and well paced. It definitely has shades of The Salt Path about it as well with the man and wife making a long journey of self-discovery, except this one ends in disaster. Then their recovery and period of fame were interesting before the book's final part is reached.

As I was reading and the fact became apparent that Maurice and Maralyn had written their own book in the 1970s and this book was written by a third party, presumably based largely on their book (which I have never heard of or read) slightly devalued the book in my hand.

The final part of the book is about what happened to Maurice and Maralyn during the rest of their lives, and it's sad and quite poignant, but it does feel bolted onto the main story. I give 5 stars for the main part of the book and maybe 3 for the remainder. The general public were only interested in their survival and rescue, and that's probably still the case. Plus, really the whole book has been culled from the writings of others and is a book about a fairly ordinary couple who did something extraordinary, but otherwise loved one another and were not particularly noteworthy. The end of many couple's lives together is pretty sad.

I did enjoy the book though and I'd like to think Sophie Elmhirst has done a better job of writing a whole life story, with the added perspective of an outsider, than the Baileys did between them.

“The sharks were circling, so we grabbed one by the tail, hoisted it into the life raft ….. and ate it”
Maurice and Maralyn were complete opposites and to escape 1970s suburbia, they decided to build a boat, leave England and sail to New Zealand on a sea adventure.
But as the couple set sail and settle to life on the sea, they are suddenly struck by a whale and shipwrecked.
They are forced to spend months on a raft with no way of communicating to the outside world.
They have to think of ingenious ways to find food and to keep their morale up.
Based on a true story, it’s an incredible read that the author really brings to life.
It shows their resilience and belief that they would eventually be found.
A compelling story of hope and love - you’ll never forget Maurice and Maralyn.
Perfect for fans of Raynor Winn’s The Salt Path
Thanks @sophieelmhirst @chattobooks & @netgalley for the incredible read

On the 28th of June 1972, after 6 years of building & meticulous planning, husband & wife Maurice & Maralyn Bailey set sail on the Auralyn with a dream of reaching New Zealand & escaping the restrictive nature of life on land. They travelled, met new people, & found joy in defying social expectations by adopting a C18th adventurer mindset. But it was sadly short-lived as an unfortunate encounter with a whale in March 1973 sank their boat & left them stranded in the Pacific Ocean.

Journalist & editor Sophie Elmhirst retells the Bailey's almost unbelievable yet true tale of surviving 118 & ⅓ days alone on a rubber raft in her book, "Maurice and Maralyn". Starting with how the couple met, married, & made their plans, & ending on the impact of their sudden fame & intense grief one felt after the loss of the other. It's a fascinating read & comfortably balances information & personal insights throughout.

Told in 5 parts, of course, the main focus is on the period they spent at sea doing anything & everything to stay alive until a South Korean crew returning home eventually rescued them. Elmhirst's interest in the idea of people living on water during lockdown led to a lot of research into the Baileys & it pays off in the presentation of this narrative. The couple's own books, interviews, & diaries, as well as media coverage from around the world & comments from those who knew them, allow her to go into great detail. For example, the means of finding enough food & water, hardships they faced, & specifics related to sailing. This section is quite intense & the aftermath just as overwhelming (e.g. navigating press attention, funding their next boat/voyage, physical recoveries).

What I personally found most interesting though was Maurice & Maralyn as individuals. They were complete opposites - Maralyn optimistic & determined v. Maurice a real-life Ove (see Fredrik Backman's novel) - but complemented each other in life & through every experience. And it's obvious from Maurice's letters & interactions later in life that they were truly devoted. We also learn a bit more about him than her as he was more forthcoming in his diaries. In particular, his opinions on religion & colonialism, & his struggles forming social connections due to his personality & childhood.

Thank you to Chatto & Windus/@vintagebooks/@penguinrandomhouse for giving me access to this extraordinary story via @netgalley before its release on the 29th February 2024. I look forward to seeing the final copy with the proper formatting & images.

Maurice & Maralyn

Hoist your mainsail and batten down your hatches - Maurice and Maralyn will take you on a journey you will never forget.

Everybody loves a voyage into the unknown, where our heroes leap into unknown adventures to return changed by their experience. Maurice and Maralyn has all of the ingredients of a classic ‘Voyage and Return’ tale. Yet what makes it all the more remarkable is that this is not fiction - it all really happened.

118 days adrift in the Pacific ocean on a dinghy after their yacht sinks following an encounter with a 40ft sperm whale, Maurice and Maralyn Bailey hook us in and won’t let us go till the very last page.

Sophie Elmhirst is to be commended for the soulful clarity of her narration. As the very best immaculate nonfiction writing, her voice never gets in the way of this unbelievable story. Here the subject and characters reign supreme.

Whilst Maurice is the undisputed skipper, Maralyn keeps everything afloat both literally and spiritually. Oh, don’t we all need the Maralyns of this world - pragmatic and optimistic. Maurice realised this and slowly continues to sink without her….

Maurice and Maralyn is a gripping, tender account of a somewhat intriguing, leeward couple, told by an outstanding author. More from Sophie Elmhirst please!

Thank you to netgalley and Penguin Random House for this wonderful arc in return for my honest opinion.

Many thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC copy.

The real life story at the heart of this account, the 118 day survival ordeal adrift in the Pacific Ocean in a rubber raft, is extraordinary and a testament to the resilience and resourcefulness of the couple. It is – it must have been – a tale full of horrors and degradations. The emotional trauma of that hopelessness and isolation; the impact on their relationship; the visceral injuries and sores and indignities are unimaginable.


I found Elmhirst narrative and her language, however really very distancing and controlled. Whilst very readable and journalistic with occasaional citationa from Maralyn’s or Maurice’s notes and diaries, the writing felt rather… bloodless to me.

The account follows Maurice predominantly and opens with his unlikely first meeting with the more vivacious Maralyn. Maurice came across a little awkward in company and socially clumsy but within a few pages they were married and seconded unhappily in 1970s suburbia. The decision to sell everything and to buy a boat – a decision that I may be forced to replicate as our lease is due to expire increasingly imminently and house hunting has been … slow! – is made and within a few more pages, the Auralyn is setting sail from Southampton towards New Zealand.

I did enjoy the boating community camaraderie as Maurice and Maralyn made friends and celebrated and collaborated with others. I would perhaps have liked more of this – it would have made the subsequent isolation more extreme perhaps.

Elmhirst does not shy away from the bodily details of injuries in her account: the injuries on the whale whose breaching caused the shipwreck in the first place, the dissection and butchering of sharks and turtles and the sores that plagued their bodies. There are probably a number of readers who would find that a challenge – but it was described again with the Elmhirst’s controlled and clinical distance, without emphasising the shock or ick-factors.

Overall, it is a story I am glad I am aware of now, but it wasn’t a narrative that gripped me as much as I felt it should.

'Maurice and Maralyn' is an outstanding work of narrative non-fiction that tells the incredible true story of a married English couple's survival against their odds after being shipwrecked in the middle of the Pacific ocean and spending 118 days on a constantly deflating raft in 1973.

Determined to escape the constraints of life in Britain, Maurice and Maralyn set sail for New Zealand on a yacht they have lovingly built themselves. But when their yacht is attacked by a whale, they must take refuge on their lifeboat, gathering whatever supplies they can before the boat sinks. What follows is an extraordinary feat of both physical and mental endurance. Sophie Elmhirst's writing enables us to feel something of the desperation of being cast adrift with limited food and clean water, and no plausible chance of rescue after multiple boats pass them without stopping them. Their survival is tribute to their ingenuity - as they fashion hooks out of safety pins to catch fish and turtles - but also to their love for each other. While Maurice increasingly despairs, Maralyn's quiet faith and determination keeps them both going.

In the 1970s, Maurice and Maralyn became global celebrities and their story was widely shared in newspapers, on TV and in the books they wrote about their adventures, but this meticulously researched account was my first introduction to them. Their time on the raft rightly occupies the central section of the book and is the most compelling part of the story, but Elmhirst also explores their lives before and after their most famous journey. There would be the potential to sentimentalise this tale of quintessential British eccentricity, but Elmhirst avoids this, and there is something particularly bittersweet about the final section which offers a rounded, 'warts and all' depiction of Maurice's later years and allows us to understand the many ways in which he became a difficult person to be around, whilst still enabling us to respect and sympathise with him.

This is not only an amazing story of survival at sea, but also a beautiful exploration of loneliness, love and marriage. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.

A fascinating castaway story and also a beautiful love story.
I do tend to love nautical adventures and keep being drawn to them. This was a unique tale as the protagonists were a middle-class and almost middle-aged couple seeking a different lifestyle. Lost in the Pacific for 117 days was not part of the plan however!
The author has brought together various sources to provide a very likeable book.