Beth's life in Alaska as wife, mother, and marine biologist is derailed when her fit, adventure-seeking husband is slammed by a brainstem stroke. Medevacked to Seattle, Jim fights to walk again—motivated by discoveries in neuroplasticity—while Beth and their young son champion his rehabilitation. Back home in Juneau after five hospital-bound weeks, Beth resumes teaching and research at the university as she becomes Jim's primary caregiver. Before Beth thinks he's ready, Jim initiates wilderness explorations on their boat. Sailing Alaska's Inside Passage with their young son deepens the couple's bonds, but chafes at Beth's Midwestern instincts to keep her husband safe at home and rebuild security by working more.
After she rescues Jim during two boating incidents, Beth's fear of losing Jim at sea is amplified. When she learns his survivor's goal is an ambitious multi-year sailing expedition with the family, she questions her ability to live up to his expectations. Should she risk her job as a professor to pursue a less secure, but more empowering and connected future?
Laced with information on recovery from stroke and tender moments between Beth, her husband, and son, Deep Water is a gripping, intimate story of relationship resilience, set against the backdrop of Alaska's dramatic marine wilderness.
Industry Reviews
2023 BAIPA Book Cover Contest Winner in Memoir
2023 IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist in West-Pacific - Best Regional Non-Fiction
2023 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Winner in Memoirs (Personal Struggle/Health Issues)
". . . an incisive, smartly informative memoir that celebrates the power of the cohesive family unit-its outcome will offer positivity and hope to those facing similar challenges."
—Kirkus Reviews
“Deep Waters captures with grace and honesty the upheaval and necessary recalibrations that life can present to us at any time, with a keen appreciation for learning to ride the waves into what might be an unexpected but rewarding future.”
—Anchorage Daily News
“With love as rugged and wild as the Alaskan landscape she made home, biologist Beth Ann Mathews tells the story of another wilderness: marriage after a life-altering stroke. Deep Waters is a thoughtful and provoking read, a reminder that life and love are inexplicably fragile and resilient, full of unexpected discovery.”
—ABBY MASLIN, author of Love You Hard
“. . . a love story that comes at the reader with the gloves off and goes a full twelve rounds.”
—LYNN SCHOOLER, critically acclaimed author of The Blue Bear and Walking Home
“Urgent, informative, emotionally satisfying, and thought-provoking, Deep Waters opens with a harrowing medical mystery and rewards the reader with a loving account of an adventurous partnership made stronger by crisis.”
—ANDROMEDA ROMANO-LAX, author of Annie and the Wolves
“Mathews writes with poignant honesty about the challenges of marriage, family, and community in a moving story that highlights the strengths of human relationships. Deep Waters starts with a bang and just keeps going—lively, vivid, and personal.”
—ROMAN DIAL, author of The Adventurer's Son: A Memoir
“If books were birds, this one would be an arctic tern—powerful and graceful, beset by storms and learning to survive, and more, to thrive. The writing is feather-light yet strong.”
—KIM HEACOX, author of Jimmy Bluefeather
“. . . a survival story of the highest order, navigating the complex terrain of marriage, medical crisis, and a future reimagined.”
—CAROLINE VAN HEMERT, award-winning author of The Sun is a Compass
“Poignant, profound, and powerful.”
—MARV JENSEN, Superintendent of Glacier Bay National Park 1988-199
“We felt like we were there with Beth, sharing her emotions, anguish and struggles through the stroke, hospital stay, and recovery. We felt like part of the family as we read, gasped, cried and hoped for recovery and for peace in her heart.”
—TBD BOOK CLUB, Seattle, WA
“. . . frank, intimate, and filled with an honesty and verve that are gripping.”
—SUZANNE M. LANG, KRCB-NPR, A Novel Idea podcast
“Gripping and suspenseful. A must read not only for medical laymen, but for any practicing physician who cares for stroke patients.”
—DR. MAX B. DUNCAN, neurologist
“I did not want this book to end! I felt I truly got to know the author through this honest memoir. I love Alaska, and I love being on the water, and I love learning about neurological physiology and overcoming relationship problems—this memoir hit all of those! I could not put the fascinating, well-written book down. I especially admired her honest telling of her relationship challenges and the healing process.”
—DR. SHERRY TAMONE, PhD, marine biologist
“Beth’s work is so vulnerable and raw, and the people in her life are so clearly laid out on the page. She made it easy to
