Sea Wife

'Taut as a thriller' Claire Messud 'A gripping tale of survival at sea - but that's just the beginning' Jennifer Egan **'A smart, swift and thrilling novel' Lauren Groff From the highly acclaimed author of Schroder, a smart, sophisticated literary page turner about a young family who escape suburbia for a year-long sailing trip that upends all of their lives** Juliet is failing to juggle motherhood and her anemic dissertation when her husband, Michael, informs her that he wants to leave his job and buy a sailboat. The couple are novice sailors, but Michael persuades Juliet to say yes. With their two kids - Sybil, age seven, and George, age two, Juliet and Michael set off for Panama, where their forty-four-foot sailboat awaits them - a boat that Michael has christened the Juliet. The initial result is transformative: their marriage is given a gust of energy, and even the children are affected by the beauty and wonderful vertigo of travel. The sea challenges them all - and most of all, Juliet, who suffers from postpartum depression. Sea Wife is told in gripping dual perspectives: Juliet's first-person narration, after the journey, as she struggles to come to terms with the dire, life-changing events that unfolded at sea; and Michael's captain's log - that provides a riveting, slow-motion account of those same inexorable events. Exuberant, harrowing, witty and exquisitely written, Sea Wife is impossible to put down.