A gripping account of a British couple’s harrowing four-month ordeal adrift in the Pacific Ocean has been named Book of the Year at the prestigious Nero Book Awards.
Maurice and Maralyn: An Extraordinary True Story of Shipwreck, Survival and Love, written by journalist Sophie Elmhirst, won the £30,000 Gold Prize at the awards ceremony on Wednesday. The book recounts the extraordinary survival story of Maurice and Maralyn Bailey, who spent 118 days at sea after their boat was struck and sunk by a whale in 1972.
The couple had sold their bungalow in Derbyshire to build a boat and embark on a journey to New Zealand. However, disaster struck while they were en route to the Galapagos Islands when a whale breached their vessel’s hull. Forced to abandon ship, they escaped on a 4ft (1.2m) life raft with only minimal supplies. Maralyn crafted a fishing line from a safety pin and string, enabling them to catch fish, turtles, and even small sharks to survive. She also devised games using scraps of paper to help maintain their morale during the grueling ordeal.
Elmhirst, who discovered the Baileys’ story on a website dedicated to castaway survival tales, conducted extensive research using Maralyn’s diary and books written by Maurice following their rescue. The book initially won the Non-Fiction category of the Nero Book Awards in January before securing the overall Gold Prize for 2024.
Award-winning author Bill Bryson, who chaired the judging panel, praised the book as “an enthralling, engrossing story of survival and the resilience of the human spirit.” He highlighted its “impressively novelistic narrative approach” and described it as a compelling exploration of both adventure and the dynamics of a marriage under extreme duress.
“Elmhirst’s writing is understated yet powerful, immersing the reader in the unfolding drama and the terrifying reality of survival with limited resources,” Bryson added.
The judging panel also included novelist Bernardine Evaristo and journalist Emily Maitlis. In a unanimous decision, they commended the book for achieving “the highest literary eminence” within non-fiction writing.
The Nero Book Awards, established in 2023 as the successor to the Costa Book Awards, aim to celebrate literary excellence across fiction, non-fiction, children’s books, and debut works.
