Customer Reviews

Let Me Survive: A True Story

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The book relates the story of the author (Louise Longo), her husband Bernard, from whom she had separated two years before, and their five year old daughter embarking on a three week sail in the Bay of Biscay off the coast of France. During the night of October 5 Ms. Longo asserts that their sailboat was struck by two giant waves. The glass windshield of the wheelhouse shattered causing some minor lacerations to both herself and Bernard,that is,if you believe the story. (Regarding the credibility of her version of the events, I thought that safety glass is widely used in construction that resists that kind of shattering.) Fearing being struck by a third wave Bernard decides to abandon the sailboat and all three escape to a rubber liferaft. I just find this part of the story too much to believe. The sailboat wasn't sinking. It stretches ones imagination to believe that a sane person would abandon an intact sailboat fully provisioned for the relative vulnerability of a rubber liferaft with practically nothing on board! In addition, although there were no time constraints in abandoning the sailboat they take almost no food with them and only a very small supply of water and close to no supplies! A few days after their water ran out it starts raining and shortly AFTER this Bernard dies. We are asked to believe that he died despite having the opportunity of having some rainwater to drink. To clinche the credibility of these events, we are asked to believe that her daughter, Gaella, died minutes after they were found by a trawler. By the way, she dumps Gaella overboard shortly before her ultimate rescue by a helicopter.

To me, the story just doesn't ring true and I didn't believe it. She admits in her story about having lied to the authorities shortly after her rescue but doesn't relate as to what those lies were. While the sailboat was found intact after her rescue I don't believe they ever found the body of her daughter nor Bernard.

The real mystery about this book is what really happened to Bernard, Gaella and the sailboat and this is only left with one's imagination.