Suzanne Heywood

Suzanne completed her Ink Academy course in 2016, with tutor Marina Kemp. She was signed by literary agent Caroline Michel, and received a publishing deal with William Collins, an imprint of Harper Collins. Her first published book, What Does Jeremy Think, was a 2021 Sunday Times Bestseller. Her second book, Wavewalker, is a memoir and was published in April 2023.

About WAVEWALKER:

Aged just seven, Suzanne Heywood set sail with her parents and brother on a three-year voyage around the world. What followed turned instead into a decade-long way of life, through storms, shipwrecks, reefs and isolation, with little formal schooling. No one else knew where they were most of the time and no state showed any interest in what was happening to the children.

Suzanne fought her parents, longing to return to England and to education and stability. This memoir covers her astonishing upbringing, a survival story of a child deprived of safety, friendships, schooling and occasionally drinking water… At seventeen Suzanne earned an interview at Oxford University and returned to the UK.

From the bestselling author of What Does Jeremy Think?, WAVEWALKER is the incredible true story of how the adventure of a lifetime became one child’s worst nightmare – and how her determination to educate herself enabled her to escape.

‘A jaw-dropping and thrilling real-life adventure on the high seas for a girl who just craved normality and finally found her way back to it’ – Sarah Brown

‘This is a story of an epic childhood journey, so exciting and so shocking it is hard to know whether you’re reading about a dream or a nightmare… Wavewalker is thrilling, horrifying, beautifully written – I couldn’t put it down’ – Ed Balls

Suzanne Heywood is a British executive and former civil servant. Her biography of Jeremy Heywood, What Does Jeremy Think?, was a 2021 Sunday Times Bestseller. WAVEWALKER is the memoir of Suzanne’s childhood and youth spent on a small boat sailing the world and fighting for her education, and freedom.