Deep Waters
A Memoir of Loss, Alaska Adventure, and Love Rekindled
A marine biologist’s life as a mother and professor unravels after her husband’s stroke—until risky Alaska voyages test love, trust, and survival.
“A love story that comes at the reader with the gloves off and goes a full twelve rounds.” —LYNN SCHOOLER, author of The Blue Bear and Walking Home
“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 Memoir of Marriage, Brain Injury, and Reinventing Love
“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
“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 On Heaven’s Hill and The Only Kayak: A Journey into the Heart of Alaska
Photo: Star Dewar
Beth Ann Mathews
is a marine biologist, mother of one son, and an author. She taught biology for two decades at the University of Alaska in Juneau and studied marine mammals with her students in Glacier Bay National Park.
Deep Waters is Beth’s first book.
Her second book, Between Two Lights: A Memoir of Divided Love and Adventures at Sea will be published by She Writes Press January 2027.