Description

Book Synopsis

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024
SHORTLISTED FOR THE HATCHARDS AND BIOGRAPHERS'' CLUB FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE

''Poetic, candid and utterly compelling'' FREYA BROMLEY
''Absolutely remarkable'' LYNN BARBER
''Reads with the tension of a thriller, illuminating the the struggle and sacrifice of elite sport'' CATHY RENTZENBRINK
''An embodied water odyssey'' LIDIA YUKNAVITCH

This is not a story about making history. This is the story of walking away from it all.

Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell was once a double British Champion and the first Black woman ever to swim for Great Britain. As her body and mind are sharpened through gruelling training, press scrutiny and the harshness of adolescence, Rebecca charts her career''s ascent and her singular love of the water, before explaining why she walked away from it all.

A compulsive and unforgettable study of intensity, These Heavy Black Bones meditates on Blackness, identity and the ecstasy of peak physical performance, and lays bare the pressures within the swimming world.

These Heavy Black Bones

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    A Paperback by Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell

    £10.44

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    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Wed 2 Sep 2026.

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      Book details

      Publisher Canongate Books
      Published 6 May 2025
      ISBN-13 9781837260652
      978-1837260652
      ISBN-10 1837260656
      Also in:
      Sport Swimming and diving

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024
      SHORTLISTED FOR THE HATCHARDS AND BIOGRAPHERS'' CLUB FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE

      ''Poetic, candid and utterly compelling'' FREYA BROMLEY
      ''Absolutely remarkable'' LYNN BARBER
      ''Reads with the tension of a thriller, illuminating the the struggle and sacrifice of elite sport'' CATHY RENTZENBRINK
      ''An embodied water odyssey'' LIDIA YUKNAVITCH

      This is not a story about making history. This is the story of walking away from it all.

      Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell was once a double British Champion and the first Black woman ever to swim for Great Britain. As her body and mind are sharpened through gruelling training, press scrutiny and the harshness of adolescence, Rebecca charts her career''s ascent and her singular love of the water, before explaining why she walked away from it all.

      A compulsive and unforgettable study of intensity, These Heavy Black Bones meditates on Blackness, identity and the ecstasy of peak physical performance, and lays bare the pressures within the swimming world.

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