[ These Heavy Black Bones] documents the dedication demanded of a young athlete; the sacrifice and strain that comes with competing at the highest of levels. It's vulnerable and exposing * * Observer * * What a book! Rebecca is such a brilliant writer and These Heavy Black Bones reads with the tension of a thriller, illuminating the world of elite sport, both the struggle and sacrifice. A feast in every way: for the intellect and the senses, so very visceral -- CATHY RENTZENBRINK Absolutely remarkable. There can't be many top athletes who are also top writers and so devastatingly honest. It is truly unique -- LYNN BARBER In a searing new memoir, former champion swimmer Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell reveals the true cost of excellence * * Vogue * * Not often do I read a story where the writer loves and inhabits water deeply enough to change her life forever. Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell's These Heavy Black Bones is an embodied water odyssey from a fellow writer, athlete and aquanaut, a woman who shreds both the competition at the highest levels as well as the structures that hold up white systems of oppression. A decolonisation of body and voice. A love song to water and what it takes to self-liberate -- LIDIA YUKNAVITCH As a teenage swimmer, Ajulu-Bushell realized that being exceptional came with a cost. Struggling with the pressure she felt to succeed in a predominately white sport, she quit while training for the 2012 Olympics * * TIME * * Speaks about the intensity of training and the pressure of often being the only Black woman poolside * * Women's Health * * A moving, open memoir which made me admire Rebecca even more than I did before -- PIPPA VOSPER Poetic, candid and utterly compelling - I was ready to follow Rebecca's writing wherever it flowed. This book is a true tide of courage! -- FREYA BROMLEY
