All at Sea A Memoir

“A sensational, devastating story" (The Washington Post) that explores race and redemption, privilege and prejudice, love and loss, of how two people changed each other, and of what a sudden death can do to those who survive.

On a hot, still morning on a beautiful beach in Jamaica, Decca Aitkenhead’s life changed forever. Her four-year-old son was paddling peacefully at the water’s edge when a wave pulled him out to sea. Her partner, Tony, swam out and saved their son’s life—then drowned before her eyes. When Decca and Tony first met, a decade earlier, she was a renowned journalist profiling leading politicians; he was a dreadlocked criminal with a history of drug dealing and violence. No one thought their romance would last, but it did—until the tide swept Tony away, plunging Decca into the dark chasm of random tragedy.

DECCA AITKENHEAD is an award-winning journalist who conducts interviews with leading figures in public life for The Guardian. She lives in rural Kent with her two young sons.