Maurice Bailey was ill in childhood, and he spent a great deal of time alone. He grew up with a low opinion of himself; he avoided parties and dates. When he did find himself on a date, he forgot his wallet; he was mortified to ask for money.
Although one part of Maurice was committed to a conventional understanding of success, another part had eccentricities. On some level, Maurice understood that his life was boring. He had an interest in flight and in travel by sea. His wife, Maralyn, shared his interest; because the two were childless by choice, they had some options. They talked each other into a crazy plan: they left their dull British stage set and began sailing toward New Zealand in a small boat.
Here we get to the present tense action. All is well, until it isn't. A bloodied whale collides with the boat. A shipwreck seems inevitable. Maurice and Maralyn jump onto a raft--and Maurice starts to prepare himself for death. (Maralyn--more optimistic--thinks that a rescue is a likely outcome.)
My old writing teacher likes to say, "Marriage is not a tennis game. If one half loses a point, then both halves lose a point." As Maralyn sits on the raft, she silently struggles with resentment. Did Maurice need to "jump ship" quite so quickly? And he forgot the fishhooks. It's the captain's job to carry the fishhooks onto the raft. (It's the historian Sophie Elmhirst's gift to be subtle. She doesn't point out the obvious: Maralyn achieves nothing by cataloging Maurice's deficiencies.)
As Maurice flounders, Maralyn makes her own silly error. She demands that her spouse help her in "rowing to safety." This idea is insane; it doesn't work, and it makes the adults tired and near-suicidal. Maurice has to swallow his anger.
The great twist of this non-fiction book is that it's essentially an Anne Tyler story--it's about quotidian struggles within a family. There is just the additional fact that sea turtles, sharks, and dolphins have odd cameos.
I can see why Elmhirst won so much attention.
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