Maurice and Maralyn Bailey are not your average English couple. They didn’t want children or a placid life. In 1972 they sold their home and bought a boat. Their plan was to sail to New Zealand and start a new life there. Nine months at sea and their boat was hit by a whale and destroyed. They then spent four months on a rubber raft attached to a dinghy. A Marriage at Sea recounts Maurice and Maralyn’s lives before, during and after the disaster.

A Marriage at Sea has made many top 10 lists of 2025 and rightly so. It is a work of nonfiction that is well-written and easy to read. It is a tale of survival, partnership and lasting love.