Review of Wavewalker: A Memoir of Breaking Free by Suzanne Heywood Rating *****
The author sums up this story with a comment made in one of the final chapters, where she says she felt like she was trapped in someone else’s dream. That dream was her father’s, and it was to sail around the world. The problem was that he also had a wife and two young children, including the author, who was just seven years old at the beginning of their ten-year odyssey.
One of the greatest adventure stories ever told is the story of Magellan’s attempt to circumnavigate the globe. Similar to that story, Suzanne’s dad never really accomplishes his goal. Magellan faced mutinous crews and hostile natives. Wavewalker had a revolving door of crew members who came and went throughout various stops. To help finance the trip, these crew members paid their own way. Additionally, both stories involve unpredictable weather, severe storms, and the need to ration food.
Magellan, however, was not the historical reference used throughout this story. The impetus for what seems like a spur-of-the-moment decision was to commemorate the bicentennial of Captain Cook’s third voyage around the world. Gordon Cook shared the surname of the famous Captain Cook, although it was never determined if there was any family connection to the explorer. It did, however, offer an opportunity to bring in sponsorship money, and later he offered tours that touted the bicentennial connection.
Suzanne, who had an eagerness to learn, was forced to teach herself through correspondence courses. Her mother, who had planned to teach both her and Suzanne’s brother, John, became disinterested in that responsibility. What Suzanne accomplished on her own, despite the other tasks she was given while helping out on the boat is remarkable.
Suzanne’s story is also similar to another memoir about unconventional parents, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. I can just hear Gordon telling everyone that it was time to skedaddle.
I listened to the majority of the book. I’m glad that the author was also the narrator. I could not imagine anyone else doing such a great job. It wasn’t until I loaded up the book in my Kindle and saw the picture of Wavewalker that I realized just how big a boat it really was. I had envisioned a sailing boat similar to those making around-the-world trips today, which are much smaller and sleeker.
While Suzanne had an unconventional upbringing, she also had experiences that few people have had. I am currently embarking on my own around-the-world journey, but mine is being recreated in virtual reality using Microsoft Flight Simulator.