Wavewalker

September 15, 2023
A harrowing coming-of-age tale set on the high seas. In 1976, 7-year-old Heywood set sail from Plymouth, England, with her parents and brother, Jon. Their itinerary seemed simple: Take Wavewalker, the family boat, and follow the oceanic path sailed by famed Capt. James Cook 200 years prior. Once aboard, however, the voyage proved to be far less straightforward than they anticipated. The unrelenting ocean was sometimes generous to the family, sending adventure and elegant marine life for them to behold, but in many other moments, it caused turmoil, taking out its rage on the boat, the family, and a host of crewmembers who joined them at various ports. Their journey ultimately extended beyond the three years initially planned; though the family was evenly divided on whether to continue the adventure, her father decided they would go on. "This isn't a democracy. It's a benevolent dictatorship," he explained. "The captain always gets the deciding vote." They remained at sea for seven more years, during which time they covered 47,000 nautical miles, "equivalent to circumnavigating the globe twice." Using maps and counting the days spent at sea as signposts, Heywood transports readers into her world, viewed through a porthole. Like the waters they traversed, familial relationships became choppy when the author grew from girlhood to near adulthood. "My parents [were] caught up in their own needs," she recalls, relating how her longing for stability changed her from unwitting accomplice to conscientious objector, "frustrated by my impotence and isolation." She took solace in her correspondence-school studies and eventually earned an offer to stay ashore and study at Oxford. Retelling her story in engaging prose, Heywood asks for neither pity nor sympathy; rather, she seeks healing and catharsis by retracing a childhood lost at sea. Written evidence that no matter what the circumstances, a person's true anchor is often found within.

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