Dark Wind: A Survivor's Tale of Love and Loss [Hardcover]

Gordon Chaplin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1999

A true story of a whirlwind, midlife romance and two lovers' pursuit of a life of adventure on the high seas, Dark Wind tells the tale of a catastrophic sailing journey author Gordon Chaplin and his partner, Susan Atkinson, undertook across the Pacific Ocean. Chaplin's brutally honest accounting of the idyllic sailing escapade that ended in tragedy when the couple decided to ride out a typhoon rather than abandon ship is powerful and moving.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Dark Wind is much more than one man's story of a disastrous sailing trip that cost the life of his lover, though its blow-by-blow narrative of the typhoon that wrecked their ship and swept them into the sea is reason enough to read his searing memoir. What distinguishes Gordon Chaplin's book from others of its kind is its stripped-down prose, its unsentimental depiction of a passionate but less-than-perfect romance, and its bleak acceptance of the fact that "actions have consequences"--in this case, fatal ones. Chaplin and Susan Atkinson met when she was married to his college roommate. Their shared love of adventure was soon apparent when, on a sail with their then respective spouses, the two argued for outrunning a storm that their partners wanted to avoid by returning to shore. When they got together 12 years later, her marriage had failed and the affair blew his apart. Risk taking was one of the foundations of their relationship, but it always came harder to Atkinson than to Chaplin, and in the end it undid them. Real failure is the crux of this memoir, and it's both terrifying and oddly liberating to read this scarifying account by a writer who honestly admits to being "someone whose best wasn't good enough." --Wendy Smith

From Publishers Weekly

Combining a love story with an account of a doomed 1992 sailing trip through the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, Chaplin has written a harrowing memoir of adventure, disaster, guilt and the subsequent anguished search for understanding. Chaplin met Susan Atkinson in the mid-1960s when both were married to other partners. The two couples socialized and their four daughters became friends. By the late 1970s, after the failure of both marriages, Chaplin and Atkinson discovered their love for one another, as well as a mutual passion for sailing. After purchasing a sailboat called the Lord Jim in 1990, they sailed down the Mosquito Coast to Panama. Chaplin intersperses his anecdotes of this voyage with a bittersweet description of a loving relationship and the problems that erupted. He highlights Atkinson's adventurous spirit as well as the apprehension that made her insist on every safety precaution for their trips. Her fears were realized when they were caught in a typhoon off the coast of the barrier reef of Wotho Island. Chaplin decided that they should ride out the storm rather than swim for shore, only 300 feet away. In stark sentences, he describes their last moments on the boat before it was torn apart. In the water, Chaplin and Atkinson came out of their life jackets; Chaplin was washed ashore, but Atkinson drowned. Chaplin questions his decisions and agonizes about his inability to save his lover. His book is an eloquent plea for forgiveness and a haunting reflection on the nature of chance. Agent, Tina Bennett at Janklow & Nesbit. $100,000 ad/promo; author tour; Renaissance audio; foreign rights sold in Italy, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Holland and Norway.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 225 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Pr; 1st edition (June 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871137437
• ISBN-13: 978-0871137432
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,207,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars FLAWED BUT ENGROSSING, February 15, 2000

By 

J. R. Reynolds (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark Wind: A Survivor's Tale of Love and Loss (Hardcover)

My initial thoughts upon completing this short book is that the author comes off as very unlikeable, as does his deceased partner. And I'm not sure if it's because the writing fails or because they truly are indeed selfish, unlikeable people. The main premise of having a loved-one slip right through your fingers to his/her death is strong enough to overcome most literary deficiencies and this is no exception. Despite the fact that it's not particularly well-written and the characters aren't likeable, I couldn't put it down. Go figure!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Close to the Bone, January 21, 2000

By 

Peter A. Greene (Franklin, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark Wind: A Survivor's Tale of Love and Loss (Hardcover)

This was a difficult book. When I was done, I didn't know whether I wanted to give Chaplin a big hug or slap him upside the head. This is a tale of what happens when irresponsible romanticism meets harsh reality. When it's all done, you don't know if Chaplin really learned or understands anything, yet at the same time, you know the depth of his culpability because he has told you himself. I don't know if it's possible to write with complete honesty about one's own part in such horrific events, but he certainly gives it a shot. This book is quite an unusual and moving read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars not too much love but a lot of loss, April 6, 2001

By 

David Roman Bermejo (Madrid, Madrid Spain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark Wind: A Survivor's Tale of Love and Loss (Paperback)

If you want modern sailing, adventures, dilemmas, botched revenges, lies, exotic settings, anxious families back home and eventual disaster in one of the most beautiful and unspoiled places in the world, this is your book. Dark wind tells an average tale about contemporary sailors: middle-aged couple, bouncing out of failed marriages, decides to have the big trip before it's too late: Belize, Panama, back to the US by plane, when the family needs attention, and beyond. Twilights, sunsets, the weird floating society of a port full of foreigners and their boats. Lonesome beaches, mechanical mishaps, the purchase of an EPIRB system: no classic sailing story, here, in the manner of Patrick O'Brien, but autopilots, engines and tourism. People who argue, face hard times and may look selfish. No multi-talented sailor-hero around the world on sight, either. This book is a memoir, a real story about people who suffered while chasing their dreams, and it rings true, even if it's not, which is rather out of the point as far as I'm concerned. It also provides a charming route to follow in the future, autopilot and all. And it taught me something else: if the hurricane comes close, don't ever do what they did.