Wavewalker

Breaking Free

Suzanne Heywood

$34.99

Paperback

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English

William Collins
20 June 2023

Biography: general; Memoirs; True stories of heroism, endurance & survival; Sailing

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A TIMES BEST MEMOIR OF 2023

‘Grippingly vivid and pacey’ THE TIMES

‘A 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 legacy’ TELEGRAPH

‘This is a story of an epic childhood journey, so exciting and so shocking it is hard to know whether you’re reading about a dream or a nightmare… Wavewalker is thrilling, horrifying, beautifully written – I couldn’t put it down’ 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 water… 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 child’s worst nightmare – and how her determination to educate herself enabled her to escape

‘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 barnacles’ Mail on Sunday 5
*

‘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 “Wavewalker School of the Sea”’TLS

By: Suzanne Heywood
Imprint: William Collins
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm, Spine: 32mm
Weight: 540g
ISBN: 9780008498504
ISBN 10: 0008498504
Pages: 416
Publication Date: 20 June 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Suzanne Heywood was born in the UK but for most of her childhood sailed around the world with her family, with limited access to formal education. She came back to the UK aged 17 and won a place to study at Oxford University. After her PhD at Cambridge University, she joined McKinsey and Company where she became a senior partner. She is now a managing director of Exor and chair of CNH Industrial. She married Jeremy in 1997 and they have three children.

Reviews for Wavewalker: Breaking Free

EARLY PRAISE FOR WAVEWALKER 'Simply extraordinary. Suzanne Heywood's account of her childhood at sea begs so many questions, not the least educational and how and why we learn and develop. Her fight for an education will astonish all who read it' Anthony Seldon PRAISE FOR SUZANNE HEYWOOD'S POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY WHAT DOES JEREMY THINK? THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER (February 2021) 'I just couldn't put it down. A fabulous book' Iain Dale, LBC 'This book should be read in a similar spirit to Mantel's masterpieces - as a portrait of an exceptional man who was always at the centre of events ... It will be invaluable as a source for scholars and historians both as to how, when, why and by whom certain decisions were taken, and to what the decision-making process within government looks like up close' Guardian 'This is an astonishing book ... She captures a remarkable sweep of recent UK political history and the central part that her late husband - a brilliant product and architect of the UK civil service and arguably the most influential cabinet secretary of modern times - played in making it work better' Financial Times 'An intimate personal memoir that is in places very moving and a fascinating political history that is at times revelatory ... The book brilliantly captures the way in which the personal and political are inextricably entwined' The Times 'A superbly detailed account of how the internal organs of British power function ... It is as fair-minded as the man at its centre ... An invaluable contribution to the historical record...Amid the relentless politics, there is a very touching story here of the highs and lows of balancing careers, a relationship and domestic life. The basic humanity that shines through from both author and her husband, is perhaps the book's most important and enduring tribute' TLS