A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck
4.3 | 6,275 ratings
Price: 14.18
Last update: 02-02-2026
Top reviews from the United States
- JAGSo Well WrittenThis is a story of life, death, love, adventure, and grief. It reads so beautifully. I was deeply moved and so touched.
- PolestarA Good ReadThis was a story that kept ones attention. The fact it was a real account made it more gripping. Hard to put down.
- J. HartHuman resilience one day at a timeGreat, fast read. Never gets bogged down in technical details. A story of fortitude and understanding of one’s partner. Highly recommend.
- Robert B. LammBeware of ExpectationsThis is a story of an odd couple who found each other and shared a trip of a lifetime - taking a relatively small sailboat across the Atlantic and a chunk of the Pacific, only to have their boat hit by a whale, leading to its sinking and to them spending 117 days afloat on a raft before being rescued.
The first part of the book, when Maurice and Maralyn find each other, realize their interest in taking a boat to New Zealand through the disaster and eventual rescue, is fascinating, and the author’s writing style, using spare sentences, suits it very well. As others have noted, however, the story of their life after the rescue and the related hoopla was a let down and rather unnecessary, at least until the very end, when the book concludes with their deaths.
The book is odd but interesting, though I found it sad, too. Maurice was certainly an odd man, but after Maralyn died he seemed so lonely and unable to cope.
I will also note that the reviews of the book caused a case of expecting more than the book delivered. Some reviews say the relationship of Maralyn and Maurice was beautiful, that Ms. Elmirst created a work of beauty out of just another shipwreck story, etc., but I didn’t think it was really a work of beauty, and I felt that the relationship was rather weird. - Rochelle RosenAn interesting memoirAn amazing story of love and obsession. Parts exciting, parts crazy, part sad and lonely. I enjoyed reading it but it sort of ends as a downer so don’t read the last Part , I forget either Part 5 or 6. if you need cheering up. In fact if you want to avoid the sad and lonely just end the book before the last part, you will still enjoy the adventure and miss the gloom.
- Jules BGreat true story of a couple who physically and emotionally survived being lost for weeks at sea.Great story of a couple who barely survived weeks lost at sea but came out stronger for their experience. Excellent portrayal of the individuals, their characters and their relationship under acute stress.
- Mary Anne EricksonCompelling and heart-wrenchingThis book is so beautifully written and lovingly told by the author. Enjoyed every moment of reading it. Thank you Sophie Elmhirst.
- MopsGripping true life adventure.An amazing story of two oddballs who marry, sell everything, build a boat . That’s only the beginning. The couple
begin their sail around the world, when they encounter a Sperm whale who sinks their boat. The story of how they
survived for 118 days at sea. Gripping, and well written account of their lives before, during and after this horrendous event. I was glued from start to finish. I wish the author included photos, but you can see them online.
Loved it.