75 Men, A Shipwreck and Me

Seventy-Five Men, A Shipwreck and Me is the true story of a daring race to recover a treasure trove of silver from a torpedoed wreck lying one-and-a-half miles beneath the Indian Ocean. The quest unites seventy-five seasoned seafarers, each skilled in navigating the ocean’s mysteries. However, they face an unexpected challenge: adapting to Catherine, an English woman aboard their converted drill ship.

“Catherine Bailey’s true story of a salvage expedition to the Indian Ocean is a vivid account of her own experience aboard a salvage vessel, the only woman in a large crew of hard men hungry to locate a vast fortune of sunken treasure. Told with energy, wit and unflappable composure, Bailey’s account of the voyage is by turns exhilarating, comic and fraught with tension. A marvellous account of an extraordinary adventure.”

– Patrick McGrath, author of Asylum and Martha Peake.

Catherine Bailey began her travels at the age of sixteen, exchanging school for Central America and the deserts of New Mexico and Arizona. She trained at RADA, launching her career in London’s West End theatres, Hampstead Theatre, the National Theatre and on worldwide tours. She went on to produce for television and radio, where she won several Sony Awards. She produced David Cronenberg’s movie, Spider and the hit series, The Dark is Rising, for BBC World Service. This is her first novel, based on her debut as a documentary filmmaker, shooting a film that nearly cost her life.