A child held hostage to the dreams of her parents

You often see newspaper articles or social media posts about families that decide to travel the world in some unusual way. If you have every wondered how that works out in reality then you need to read Wavewalker by Suzanne Heyward. The author’s family decided in the 1970s to sail in a small boat to replicate a voyage of Captain Cook and at seven years old the author went with them. The original three year voyage extended as the author’s father found other ways to make money (their sponsorship dried up) and various paying guests sailed with them so that over ten years later the voyage was still continuing.

Two things become obvious as you read this biography. The first is that the dream to travel and live this way was that of Suzanne’s father who seems to have been obsessed to such a degree that he flouted regulations and ignored a lot of health and safety. The second thing that rapidly becomes apparent is that Suzanne’s mother has been persuaded to be on this voyage and doesn’t really enjoy most of it so she assigns responsibility to others very easily. The parents have little time or concern for their two children (Suzanne has an older brother) and don’t want to let their desires get in the way of the parents want to do.

As Suzanne grows up she wants to get an education and she especially wants to stay in one place. This doesn’t fit in with what her parents want, which seems to be for her to be an unpaid hand on their boat. Eventually she has to make her own arrangements to be educated which involves defying her parents and leaving the boat to set up home in New Zealand.

It is obvious that Suzanne’s parents are still alive as she writes this book because she careful not to attach much blame to them – or at least not as much as I would have. It is also obvious that she now has a fractured relationship with her brother because she says very little about him after he leaves the boat with her. If this were not the case I think this book would be more scathing about the way that Suzanne is treated which, in my opinion, amounts to neglect and abuse (although, of course, we only get her point of view).

This is a book which confirms everything I have ever thought about those newspaper articles and the parents who want their children to sacrifice their childhood to the desire of adults. It’s a fascinating story, with high points as well as the lows, and a tribute to one woman’s determination to live her own life.