AN OCEAN TO REDEMPTION

In Jones’ debut memoir, a Canadian couple’s around-the-world trip takes an unexpected detour when one of the two proves unfaithful.

After nearly a decade of marriage, Rob and Lisaembarked on a global trek. They left their jobs for two years and set off on their journey in a compact sailboat. It was much later, when they were traversing South Africa, that things between the couple started to change. They reunited with an acquaintance, Adam, who, unlike when they’d first met him a year earlier, was now single. Lisa and Adam grew close, to the point that Rob became suspicious. He was anxious to leave—they were all set to join another couple delivering a yacht to its new owner in Belize, the final stop before flying back home to Canada. Though Lisa was on that yacht, Rob was certain there was still something between her and Adam. All he had to do was get a peek at her emails or her journal to see if her “innermost thoughts” might verify whether his marriage was truly over. The author splits this real-life tale into alternating timelines, one following their sailing from Cape Town to Belize and one beginning weeks prior as an increasingly wary Rob, waiting for their ship’s departure, eyed Lisa and Adam. This approach aptly builds tension: A prologue essentially reveals what will happen in Cape Town, and the couple’s scenes together aboard the yacht depict a fraying relationship. Readers, however, aren’t immediately privy to every detail—particularly whether or not Lisa’s “emotional infidelity” has led to something more. At the same time, the author doesn’t paint himself as a mere victim; he owns up to his share of mistakes and seemingly had few qualms about repeatedly invading Lisa’s privacy. (“The concerns I harbored about violating her privacy by intercepting these messages were fleeting, and any guilt I had in doing so was quickly rationalized.”) This taut memoir isn’t only about a failing marriage; it also details Rob’s serious flub while “on watch” at sea and a case of life-threatening meningitis that temporarily derailed the couple’s trip.

An absorbing, often gloomy true story of a life-changing journey.