A Pearl in the Storm

“Hers is the story of the sheer, bold muscle of a contemporary woman who chose to row for her life alone across the whole Atlantic Ocean.” —Molly Peacock, author of The Paper Garden

“In the end, I know I rowed across the Atlantic to find my heart, but in the beginning, I wasn’t aware that it was missing.”

In June 1998, Tori McClure began rowing across the Atlantic Ocean solo in a twenty-three-foot plywood boat with no motor or sail. Within days she lost all communication with shore but decided to forge ahead—not knowing that 1998 would turn out to be the worst hurricane season on record in the North Atlantic. When she was nearly killed by a series of violent storms, Tori was forced to signal for help and head home in what felt like disgrace. But then her life changed in unexpected ways. She was hired by Muhammad Ali, who told her she did not want to be known as the woman who “almost” rowed across the Atlantic. And at thirty-five, Tori fell in love.

A Pearl in the Storm is Tori’s enthralling story of high adventure—and of her personal quest to discover that embracing her own humanity was more important than superhuman feats.

“Unlike Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, Tori Murden McClure’s true story of a woman and the sea and a boat named American Pearl is one of victory . . . If you want to be inspired, read this book. You won’t stop till you’ve finished.” —Sena Jeter Naslund, national bestselling author of Ahab’s Wife

“A rip-roaring adventure tale.” —The Washington Post