The Best Books Set at Sea, According to Emma Straub
The writer shares why novels on boats create the highest stakes—and the books that inspired her latest, 'American Fantasy.'
When you're looking to get lost in a book, sometimes you need your reading material to match your mood. With Marie Claire's series "Buy the Book," we do the heavy lifting for you. We're offering curated, highly specific recommendations for whatever you're looking for—whether you're in your feels or hooked on a subgenre trending on #BookTok.
In this author-curated rendition, Emma Straub—the bestselling author of novels like The Vacationers and the upcoming American Fantasy—shares her favorite books set aboard boats.
Author Emma Straub has become almost synonymous with New York. Many of her bestsellers, from Modern Lovers to All Adults Here to This Time Tomorrow, treat the Big Apple or Hudson Valley less as settings and more as living, breathing main characters. Off the page, she’s just as entrenched in the city, owning one of Brooklyn’s most beloved independent bookstores, Books Are Magic.
But her new novel, American Fantasy, trades city streets for the high seas. For her latest, the acclaimed author tells a midlife coming-of-age story about a 50-year-old woman who embarks on a cruise hosted by a ‘90s boy band.
Straub tells Marie Claire that she initially had an idea to write about the phenomenon of fan cruises. But after taking one herself (for New Kids On The Block fans), the book changed course.
“A fan cruise is a truly ridiculous place, in lots of ways, over the top and cheesy and hilarious, but it is also a truly meaningful mode of connection for both the band and the fans,” Straub says. “What was most exciting and challenging was trying to capture this dream-like bubble, and to describe it in a way that made clear that I wasn't mocking the women on the ship. Plus, it's always fun to get out of one's comfort zone. Good for the writer, good for the characters."
There’s a reason, Straub believes, some of the most iconic mystery-thriller novels are set on ships: “Boats are fabulous little pressure cookers.”
To coincide with the release of her highly anticipated new book on April 7, we asked the author to share her favorite novels set at sea, ranging from literary classics to romance novels.
"Smith is a great novelist—warm and funny. Following her mother's death, an indie rocker and her father go on the Alaskan cruise her parents were supposed to take on their 40th anniversary. Smith always leaves her characters in a better place than she found them."
"This one is scary! What would happen if some children got off their cruise ship and had to find their way back home? Terrifying! I read this book before my children were old enough to get up to some hijinks, and now it sounds even scarier. Maile Meloy is one of my very favorite novelists, and this book proves she can write suspense with the best of them."
"This is probably Agatha Christie's most famous novel—the ever-dapper Hercule Poirot is simply trying to take a vacation, but when a beautiful young woman is murdered, he has no choice but to solve the crime. Literally, what else could he do? Agatha Christie is the absolute queen of mysteries, and if you haven't read one in a few decades, now is a great time to dive back in."
"Laura Lippman is one of my favorite contemporary thriller writers—her books are always sharp and funny and delightful. A former assistant to a PI goes on a Parisian cruise, meets a man, and then the man winds up dead! I hate it when that happens!"
"This is not the boat trip of anyone's dreams. A married couple set sail for a trip around the world, only to have their boat destroyed by a whale. The rest of their voyage is on a tiny raft, where they just try to survive. (They both survive.) What is more interesting is not the eating of fish and the desperation, but what happens to a marriage at sea? I think that's why this book was such a big hit; everyone loses their mind thinking about being stranded in the ocean with only their spouse."
"The granddaddy of all sea-faring books! Maybe you read it in high school, maybe it's been on your TBR list forever. Maybe this is the year you read Moby Dick! There's a reason Melville's classic has stayed relevant all these years. The open sea is a thrilling place, full of danger! A rollicking good time."
"Like A Marriage at Sea, Gaige's 2020 novel tells the story of a couple who decide to set sail together, in this book, with their two small children in tow. If it all went right, that wouldn't be a very interesting novel, now would it? Gaige is a beautiful writer and goes back and forth between the married couple's voices to tell their story. Warning: maybe the least likely to make you want to go sailing."
