ALL AT SEA
£7.10£8.50 (-16%)
Shortlisted for the 2017 PEN Ackerley Prize
The thing to remember about this story is that every word is true. If I never told it to a soul, and this book did not exist, it would not cease to be true. I don t mind at all if you forget this.
The important thing is that I don t.
On a hot still morning on a beautiful beach in Jamaica, Decca Aitkenhead s life changed for ever.
Her four-year-old boy 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, they became the most improbable couple in London. She was an award-winning Guardian journalist, famous for interviewing leading politicians. 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 remarkable story of love and loss, of how one couple changed each other s lives and of what a sudden death can do to the people who survive.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Fourth Estate (12 Jan. 2017) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 240 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0008142157 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0008142155 |
| Dimensions | 19.8 x 1.8 x 12.9 cm |
by Norma Skelton
All at Sea , a very different story of two lovely people being thrown together from different lives and falling in love. Only to to parted far too soon by the loss of Tony.
Tragic.
by Peliroja
This was not what I was expecting at all. I’ve only skimmed the final quarter of the book as I am becoming angrier and angrier as it goes on. I thought from the blurb that Tony was a reformed drug addict/criminal and was intrigued to hear about his life, and sad death, as a reformed character. The fact that he was dealing crack and the author knew this and lived on money obtained in this manner is just wrong. (Yes, she made her own money, but his money went towards her mortgage, food, gifts, holidays etc. etc.) I am resentful that I have spent £8.69 on this book and, therefore, given her even more money. This woman wrote to billionaires after Tony’s death asking for money that she did not actually need. Billionaires who had had the kindness to write to express their sorrow.
The author explains how she once watched Tony stop the car, get out and have a short conversation with a man and then head-butt him and how he calmly got back in the car and continued driving. I’m sorry, but whilst I thought he was reformed I found the whole thing intriguing. I cannot understand how this woman chose to have children with him after seeing this behaviour and knowing full well that he was a drug dealer. His 2 sons now have to grow up with this knowledge in the public eye. What a selfish woman she is. She even tried to justify the drug addiction, saying that his behaviour wasn’t how most crack addicts are portrayed. Oh please. He was a drug pusher. There is no justification. None. Nada. Never.
So she loved him? She gave over three whole sentences to telling of an abortion of a child by this man she loved. Three sentences. Why mention it at all? Anyone who knows anyone who has had an abortion knows of the agonising decision taken beforehand and the mental suffering afterwards. The author brushed this off like an annoying itch.
So many plaudits from famous people. I’m disgusted. This is not the reformation story I thought it would be. The author should be ashamed of herself. I hope her sons change their names when they are old enough.
I should add that I am sorry Tony died (though the actual autopsy was referred to lots, I couldn’t see the results given anywhere in the following pages.) but do not think it just that anyone should be making money recounting his unreformed criminal life and, ultimately, his death.
by flicitart
I could feel for Decca’s predicament. The elephant in the room is that her husband was still growing dope illegally, and therefore it became hard to see how he had really changed, and why was he working for kids company? Decca’s description at the beginning,- how could this be happening to me, is heartbreaking. I would have been more engaged if it had been more truthful about the emotions of finding out you had been living a lie, you hadn’t changed him. I have had similar experiences and would have understood Decca more if she shared that disappointment. But this is a brave true story and I feel for her.
by Celia Fife
This is a beautifully written and brutally honest account of one woman’s experience of the sudden death (drowning whilst on Holiday in Jamaica) of her partner. She describes in heart-stopping detail the near-derangement that gripped her following Tony’s death. As she put it, “I may as well have had all my skin ripped off.” Half-way through the book, I started to fret about Tony and Decca’s relationship. They’d both been married to other people when they met. Had they divorced? If not, I could see legal problems looming – and so it proved to be. Decca, it turns out, had divorced, but Tony hadn’t. Although he hadn’t lived with his wife during the ten years he and Decca had been together, Tony was still legally married to another woman and his will had been made out in her favour. I’m not moralising here – far from it, having been in a not dissimilar situation myself – but (as those situations do), it meant, legally, that Decca and her two little boys counted for nothing. Finally, I was shocked to read a review that suggested Decca’s book was “self-indulgent and self-pitying.” Yes, her description of the process of grief is visceral, but it’s probably also the most eloquent and brave book on the subject that’s ever been published.
by Angela Akers
This is a very poignant story about love and loss. Decca illustrates with great clarity how a simple holiday can change into a life-changing event in an instant. The aftermath is described in detail and must affect everyone who reads it. Very good writing and insights.
by WENDY
Heart beaking and insightful, a book of love, loss and bravery which taps into human nature in an incredible way that we can all relate to.
by Chrissie Liz
Amazing, gripping book telling the story of Decca Aitkenhead’s unlikely relationship with Tony a married drug dealing crack addict. But that is just a small part of the man she falls in love with. And, as you read this book, you realise that Tony is a far more complex character than you would think from that description. A character who turns out to be loving and protective, genuine and honest, funny and charismatic. Decca’s description of him deciding to give up crack and change his life, and the strength of will he employs to do so, has you cheering him on. You really feel as if you know Tony, and it’s a measure of how well this book draws you into their life that you feel so devastated when you read what happened. Because Tony died rescuing his and Decca’s eldest son from drowning and this book is Decca’s account of that and the immediate aftermath. It is a measure of how good this book is that I read it, then immediately read it again and have just finished reading it a third time. And each time I wish it had a different ending. Read it!
by Alex T
Read this in 2 days (despite knowing the “ending” from before page 1) and loved every second. I found it so vivid in depicting Tony and brutally honest from Decca about her own thoughts at all stages. It made me think hugely about race, class, love, divorce, family, death, life. Amazing to think her sons will have this account of their father and the love which brought them into the world even though they lost him so unfairly. Thank you for the insights and honesty Decca, loves your interviews for years and this was devastatingly powerful.