Wavewalker

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERA TIMES BEST MEMOIR OF 2023Grippingly vivid and pacey THE TIMESA seven-year old girl on a seventy-foot yacht, for ten years, over fifty thousand miles of sailing SIMON WINCHESTER An astonishing almost day-by-day account of [a] hazardous journey and its legacyae(tm) TELEGRAPH ae~This is a story of an epic childhood journey, so exciting and so shocking it is hard to know whether youae(tm)re reading about a dream or a nightmareae¦ Wavewalker is thrilling, horrifying, beautifully written ae" I couldnae(tm)t put it downae(tm) ED BALLS Aged just seven, Suzanne Heywood set sail with her parents and brother on a three-year voyage around the world. What followed turned instead into a decade-long way of life, through storms, shipwrecks, reefs and isolation, with little formal schooling. No one else knew where they were most of the time and no state showed any interest in what was happening to the children. Suzanne fought her parents, longing to return to England and to education and stability. This memoir covers her astonishing upbringing, a survival story of a child deprived of safety, friendships, schooling and occasionally drinking waterae¦ At seventeen Suzanne earned an interview at Oxford University and returned to the UK. From the bestselling author of What Does Jeremy Think?, Wavewalker is the incredible true story of how the adventure of a lifetime became one childae(tm)s worst nightmare ae" and how her determination to educate herself enabled her to escape ae~A classic memoir of childhood. This is a book that every parent should read to consider the consequences of their midlife crises, and every child should read to learn how to deal with impossible mums and dads, as well as boils and barnaclesae(tm) Mail on Sunday 5* ae~An electrifying story about an extraordinary childhood, and Heywood tells it with remarkable clarity and assurance . . . an engrossing book that pitches the reader into the highs and lows of a young life spent in the aeoeWavewalker School of the Seaae ae(tm)TLS