# Sophie Elmhirst
**Sophie Elmhirst** is a British journalist and author who writes long-form features regularly for the Guardian Long Read and [The Economist](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-economist), with work also appearing in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and [Harper's Bazaar](https://www.edgepedia.org/harpers-bazaar).[1](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2316848/sophie-elmhirst/) She won the British Press Award for Feature Writer of the Year and a Foreign Press Award in 2020, and her first book, *Maurice and Maralyn* (2024), won the 2024 Nero Gold Prize.[2](https://www.sophieelmhirst.com/) She lives in London.[1](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2316848/sophie-elmhirst/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Freelance journalist and author, based in London[1](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2316848/sophie-elmhirst/) • [3](https://muckrack.com/sophieelmhirst) |
| Regular outlets | The Guardian Long Read and The Economist; also The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Harper's Bazaar[1](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2316848/sophie-elmhirst/) |
| Journalism awards | British Press Award for Feature Writer of the Year and a Foreign Press Award, both 2020[2](https://www.sophieelmhirst.com/) |
| First book | *Maurice and Maralyn*, Chatto & Windus, 2024; winner of the 2024 Nero Gold Prize[2](https://www.sophieelmhirst.com/) |
| US edition | *A Marriage at Sea*, Riverhead, July 8, 2025; New York Times bestseller and Kirkus Prize finalist[4](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sophie-elmhirst/a-marriage-at-sea/) |
| Other recognition | Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Journalism in 2024[2](https://www.sophieelmhirst.com/) |
## Journalism
Elmhirst's long-form features cover a wide range of subjects. For the Guardian Long Read she has written about the Swiss luxury rehabilitation clinic Paracelsus Recovery, where the super-rich go for rehab (2023); the dying art of the court reporter at the [Old Bailey](https://www.edgepedia.org/old-bailey) (2024); a romance between residents of a care home (2023); the trial of Constance Marten and [Mark Gordon](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-gordon) (2025); and the Australian writer [Helen Garner](https://www.edgepedia.org/helen-garner) (2025).[2](https://www.sophieelmhirst.com/) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/profile/sophie-elmhirst) Her Guardian profile lists dozens of pieces across more than a decade, including a 2021 account of the Satoshi, a cruise ship bought by cryptocurrency enthusiasts hoping to found a floating libertarian utopia.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/profile/sophie-elmhirst)
She has also written for [The New Yorker](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-new-yorker), where her pieces include "The Art of Turning a Tree Into a Dog" on topiary (2024) and "The Rise and Fall of the Trad Wife," a profile of Alena Kate Pettitt and the online domesticity movement (2024).[6](https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/sophie-elmhirst) For The Economist's 1843 magazine she has written about the advisers who manage super-rich families' fortunes.[2](https://www.sophieelmhirst.com/)
Her reporting has been recognized by the industry's own awards. In 2020 she won the British Press Award for Feature Writer of the Year and a Foreign Press Award, and in 2024 she was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Journalism.[2](https://www.sophieelmhirst.com/) The Press Awards' citation for her Feature Writer of the Year shortlisting noted her versatility and her ability to find humanity in every story.[7](https://www.thepressawards.com/finalists/sophie-elmhirst-3ftbzi4jmsyp7n1)
## Maurice and Maralyn / A Marriage at Sea
Elmhirst's first book tells the story of Maurice and Maralyn Bailey, a British couple who in the early 1970s left Britain to sail around the world to New Zealand. While sailing toward the [Galápagos Islands](https://www.edgepedia.org/galapagos-islands), their yacht was rammed by a sperm whale, and they survived the next 118 days adrift at sea on a small inflatable raft and a 9-foot dinghy before rescue.[4](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sophie-elmhirst/a-marriage-at-sea/) • [8](https://theweek.com/culture-life/books/marriage-at-sea-true-story-sophie-elmhirst)
The book was published as *Maurice and Maralyn* by Chatto & Windus in the UK in 2024 and won the 2024 Nero Gold Prize.[2](https://www.sophieelmhirst.com/) In July 2025 it appeared in the United States from Riverhead under the title *A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck*; it became a New York Times bestseller, was named to [Kirkus Reviews](https://www.edgepedia.org/kirkus-reviews)' Best Books of 2025, and was a Kirkus Prize finalist.[2](https://www.sophieelmhirst.com/) • [4](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sophie-elmhirst/a-marriage-at-sea/) The New York Times also named it one of the ten best books of 2025, according to Elmhirst.[9](https://elpais.com/cultura/2026-06-29/la-relacion-con-la-pareja-va-bien-trate-de-aguantarla-118-dias-cara-a-cara-en-un-bote-a-la-deriva-en-el-pacifico.html)
In interviews about the book, Elmhirst has described her approach as covering the couple's whole lives rather than stopping at the rescue. After Maralyn's death she found a collection of Maurice's letters filled with loneliness and loss, which she treated as a "second shipwreck" that belonged in the story.[9](https://elpais.com/cultura/2026-06-29/la-relacion-con-la-pareja-va-bien-trate-de-aguantarla-118-dias-cara-a-cara-en-un-bote-a-la-deriva-en-el-pacifico.html) Reviewers responded to both the story and the telling: [The Boston Globe](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-boston-globe)'s Laurie Hertzel called the book "so much more than a shipwreck tale," and the Minnesota Star Tribune's Chris Hewitt wrote that "the real star of this book is its dazzling writer."[8](https://theweek.com/culture-life/books/marriage-at-sea-true-story-sophie-elmhirst) Kirkus compared the narrative to a maritime counterpart of [Jon Krakauer](https://www.edgepedia.org/jon-krakauer)'s *Into the Wild*, calling it "a nimbly told story that should serve as a caution—but oddly, too, as inspiration—to would-be escapists."[4](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sophie-elmhirst/a-marriage-at-sea/) A study guide notes that the book's structure is designed to maximize suspense and shape the Baileys' ordeal into something that reads more like a novel than a straightforward nonfiction account.[10](https://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-a-marriage-at-sea/styles.html)
## References
1. [Sophie Elmhirst, Penguin Random House author page](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2316848/sophie-elmhirst/)
2. [Sophie Elmhirst, official website](https://www.sophieelmhirst.com/)
3. [Sophie Elmhirst, Muck Rack profile](https://muckrack.com/sophieelmhirst)
4. [A Marriage at Sea, Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sophie-elmhirst/a-marriage-at-sea/)
5. [Sophie Elmhirst, The Guardian contributor page](https://www.theguardian.com/profile/sophie-elmhirst)
6. [Sophie Elmhirst, The New Yorker contributors](https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/sophie-elmhirst)
7. [Sophie Elmhirst, The Press Awards finalists](https://www.thepressawards.com/finalists/sophie-elmhirst-3ftbzi4jmsyp7n1)
8. [Book review: 'A Marriage at Sea', The Week](https://theweek.com/culture-life/books/marriage-at-sea-true-story-sophie-elmhirst)
9. [Entrevista con Sophie Elmhirst, El País](https://elpais.com/cultura/2026-06-29/la-relacion-con-la-pareja-va-bien-trate-de-aguantarla-118-dias-cara-a-cara-en-un-bote-a-la-deriva-en-el-pacifico.html)
10. [Sophie Elmhirst Writing Styles in A Marriage at Sea, BookRags](https://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-a-marriage-at-sea/styles.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Writers and literary biographies › Biographers, critics, and specialist non-fiction writers › Memoirists and autobiographers › Travel and adventure memoirists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license