Readers Dessert

How many survival stories have you read that are about men? Think The Wager, The Wide, Wide Sea, and so many others. So what a pleasure to read a book about a true survival at sea where the woman is an equal partner (if not more) to her male partner.

This book is more than a story of survival; it’s an intimate look at a marriage and how it grows and changes as the many obstacles of life in a survival raft (a whale has capsized their boat) affects the marriage of the Baileys. They are a British couple in the 1970s who cast away from their former life and put all their assets into a vision to live on a boat and sail the world. (It’s a true story and is well-researched by the author).

They are a match of opposites- Maurice is meticulous, antisocial, and a pessimist. But his wife Marilyn sees the glass as half full, and she never doubts that they will survive.

Will they survive? And even if they do, will the marriage survive? I was glued to this book over about 3 days and could not wait for each step of their journey.