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 & 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 & saved their son’s life – then drowned before her eyes When Decca & 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 & 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 & redemption privilege & prejudice ALL AT SEA is a remarkable story of love & loss of how one couple changed each other’s lives & of what a sudden death can do to the people who survive