All at Sea: A Memoir - Tapa dura

This book is impossible to forget: I finished it in one sitting in a paralyzed, stunned, empathetic trance . . . its emotional exactitude makes it remarkable . . . There is a freedom about this writing. Nothing is off limits. But what makes the book powerful is that it reminds one that grief is about transformation, the loss of old moorings, a new permission to put the heart first a sea change.
Kate Kellaway, "The Guardian"
Aitkenhead has an incredible gift for writing. Events are set down almost immediately, and her handling of the tragedy despite her raw torment is so clear and so carefully paced, it s astonishing . . . Her ache for honesty is searing at times but the overwhelming truth is that Aitkenhead has produced a work of art.
Charlotte Edwardes, "London Evening Standard"
An extraordinary memoir, a beautifully written account of life, love and what is left of both after tragedy . . . "All at Sea" is utterly heartbreaking but it is also a brave and honest account of grief and its aftermath that will stay with you long after you finish the last page.
Charlotte Heathcote, "Daily Express""

"Aheart-wrenching tale of race, unlikely love, and how grief changes everything. It s unforgettable."
People
"A tour-de-force ...Aitkenhead is rigorously unsentimental and unsparingly honest ...We see the skill with which [she] captures fleeting emotional states, conjures up the 'surreal slapstick pantomime' quality of the experience, and creates a striking sense of immediacy ... No one who reads her brave and eloquent book will ever forget endearing Tony or their incandescent love story."
Boston Globe
An inspired portrait of [an] unconventional love story he a drug-dealing ex-con, she an intellectual free spirit stretching across lines of class, race, family history, and temperament. This is a star-crossed yet triumphant tale."
Elle
Aitkenhead s memoir is a rare book to surface this summer: unsentimental, but still entirely heartbreaking ...Beautifully written and, remarkably, full of hope.
Travel + Leisure
"Aitkenhead s tightly written memoir looks beyond commonly held truths, taking readers deep into the morass of human emotion and leaving them gasping for air.
Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Raw, unremitting emotion grounds the book and makes it compelling on a nearly visceral level ...Intense and surprising from start to finish.
Booklist
"That [Aitkenhead] and her partner were able to learn from each other and work through their race and class differences to form a cohesive family unit make the book memorable. But in the end, it is the author's resilience after her lover's death which she describes with poised eloquence that renders the narrative especially satisfying. An unsentimental yet affecting memoir.
Kirkus Reviews
This book is impossible to forget: I finished it in one sitting in a paralyzed, stunned, empathetic trance . . . its emotional exactitude makes it remarkable . . . There is a freedom about this writing. Nothing is off limits. But what makes the book powerful is that it reminds one that grief is about transformation, the loss of old moorings, a new permission to put the heart first a sea change.
Kate Kellaway, The Guardian
Aitkenhead has an incredible gift for writing. Events are set down almost immediately, and her handling of the tragedy despite her raw torment is so clear and so carefully paced, it s astonishing . . . Her ache for honesty is searing at times but the overwhelming truth is that Aitkenhead has produced a work of art.
Charlotte Edwardes, London Evening Standard
An extraordinary memoir, a beautifully written account of life, love and what is left of both after tragedy . . . All at Sea is utterly heartbreaking but it is also a brave and honest account of grief and its aftermath that will stay with you long after you finish the last page.
Charlotte Heathcote, Daily Express"

[A] sensational, devastating story ...All at Sea is more than the recounting of a freak accident and its consequences. It is a thoughtful and provocative rumination on love, family and grief. Where When Breath Becomes Air offered a dying man s perspective on mortality, All at Sea offers a widow s perspective on survivor s guilt ... A bracing and valuable reminder of the vagaries of fate that can leave you feeling unaccountably grateful not only for your own relative serendipity, but for the wisdom borne of Aitkenhead s grit.
Washington Post
"Aheart-wrenching tale of race, unlikely love, and how grief changes everything. It s unforgettable."
People
"A tour-de-force ...Aitkenhead is rigorously unsentimental and unsparingly honest ... No one who reads her brave and eloquent book will ever forget endearing Tony or their incandescent love story."
Boston Globe
An inspired portrait of [an] unconventional love story he a drug-dealing ex-con, she an intellectual free spirit stretching across lines of class, race, family history, and temperament. This is a star-crossed yet triumphant tale."
Elle
Aitkenhead s memoir is a rare book to surface this summer: unsentimental, but still entirely heartbreaking ...Beautifully written and, remarkably, full of hope.
Travel + Leisure
A love letter . . . written in as heart-stopping prose as you are likely to read.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune"

"[A] sensational, devastating story ... All at Sea is more than the recounting of a freak accident and its consequences. It is a thoughtful and provocative rumination on love, family and grief. Where When Breath Becomes Air offered a dying man's perspective on mortality, All at Sea offers a widow's perspective on survivor's guilt ... A bracing and valuable reminder of the vagaries of fate that can leave you feeling unaccountably grateful--not only for your own relative serendipity, but for the wisdom borne of Aitkenhead's grit."
--Washington Post

"A heart-wrenching tale of race, unlikely love, and how grief changes everything. It's unforgettable."
--People

"A tour-de-force ... Aitkenhead is rigorously unsentimental and unsparingly honest ... No one who reads her brave and eloquent book will ever forget endearing Tony or their incandescent love story."
--Boston Globe

"An inspired portrait of [an] unconventional love story--he a drug-dealing ex-con, she an intellectual free spirit--stretching across lines of class, race, family history, and temperament. This is a star-crossed yet triumphant tale."
--Elle

"Aitkenhead's memoir is a rare book to surface this summer: unsentimental, but still entirely heartbreaking ... Beautifully written and, remarkably, full of hope."
--Travel + Leisure

"A love letter . . . written in as heart-stopping prose as you are likely to read."
--Minneapolis Star-Tribune

All at Sea is a remarkable story of love and loss, of how one couple changed each other’s life, and of what a sudden death can do to the people 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 Guardian journalist profiling leading politicians of the day; he was a dreadlocked criminal with a history of drug dealing and violence. No one thought the romance would last, but it did—until the tide swept Tony away, plunging Decca into the dark chasm of random tragedy.
      Exploring race and redemption, privilege and prejudice, All at Sea is a breathtakingly honest, profound, and utterly unforgettable memoir.