London: A compelling true story of a British couple who survived 118 days adrift in the Pacific Ocean after their boat was struck by a whale has won the £30,000 Gold Prize at the Nero Book Awards 2024.
Maurice and Maralyn: An Extraordinary True Story of Shipwreck, Survival and Love, written by journalist Sophie Elmhirst, was announced as the overall winner.
The book chronicles the harrowing journey of Maurice and Maralyn Bailey, who sold their home in Derbyshire to build a boat and sail to New Zealand in 1972. However, disaster struck in 1973 when a whale collided with their vessel, forcing them to abandon ship near the Galapagos Islands.
With only a 4ft (1.2m) life raft and a few rations, they survived by catching fish, turtles, and small sharks. Maralyn, using a safety pin and string, fashioned a fishing line, while also inventing card games and dominoes from scraps of paper to keep their minds occupied.
Congratulations once more to Nero Gold Prize winner @SophieElmhirst, pictured here with Bill Bryson, our chair of judges 🎉 pic.twitter.com/UgN1mv21DH
— Nero Book Awards (@nerobookawards) March 5, 2025
Elmhirst discovered their story on a website dedicated to castaway accounts and researched the couple’s experience through Maralyn’s diary and Maurice’s books, written after their dramatic rescue.
The book won the Non-Fiction category in January before claiming the top prize. Acclaimed author Bill Bryson, who chaired the judging panel, praised it as a “gripping retelling” of a forgotten yet extraordinary story, highlighting its novelistic approach and emotional depth. Fellow judges included novelist Bernardine Evaristo and journalist Emily Maitlis.
Bryson described the book as a powerful exploration of survival, resilience, and marriage, adding that, “It immerses the reader in the unfolding drama and the horror of struggling to survive with minimal resources.”
The Nero Book Awards, launched in 2023 as the successor to the Costa Book Awards, also announced winners in other categories:
- Fiction: Lost in the Garden, by Adam S Leslie
- Debut Fiction: Wild Houses, by Colin Barrett
- Children’s Fiction: The Twelve, by Liz Hyder
Business and Industry Award: Read about the ‘Star of Sector’ award here.
