Save Me from the Waves: An adventure from sea to summit
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By Jessica Hepburn
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4 reviews
An adventure story – with a difference. From sea to summit. Fully soundtracked.
‘A breathtaking adventure of a truly inspirational woman’ – Maxine Peake
Jessica Hepburn is an unlikely athlete – she was labelled the ‘arty’ not the ‘sporty’ one in school. She hates exercise and believes the only reason to do it is for food, booze and box-sets on the sofa.
However, in her forties, following a succession of hard and sad life experiences she started to try and exercise her way out of heartbreak. She has now become one of the world’s most extraordinary endurance athletes. The first and only woman (currently) on the planet to have completed the ‘Sea, Street, Summit Challenge’ – which is to swim the English Channel, run the London Marathon and climb Mount Everest (which she calls Chomolungma – the mountain’s original Sherpa name). And possibly the only woman (although this can’t be officially certified) to have listened to eighty years and over 3,000 episodes of her favourite radio programme – Desert Island Discs.
Save Me from the Waves is an inspirational story of physical and mental endurance which starts on the streets of London and culminates on top of the world, fuelled by song. It explores the redemptive power of music and mountains. How family and friends can be lost and found in the most unusual places. And encourages everyone to live big and bravely when life doesn’t go to plan. Because sometimes we all need saving from the waves. And whether it’s high and far away or closer to home and in your head, an adventure will always change your life for the better.
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Jessica Hepburn is quite remarkable in being the first (and currently the only) woman to achieve the Sea, Street, Summit challenge. As a result, I had expected more of an in depth insight into how she changed her life through training and endurance. However, instead of hearing about any really arduous schedules, we are treated to a well-documented catalogue of all of the episodes of Desert Island Discs where the guests were seen by Jessica as her companions and motivational coaches leading up to and during her challenges. This approach gave the book an unusual format which was not what I was expecting.
There were some lovely Desert Island Disc highlights such as the cracked bell in Leonard Cohen’s ‘Anthem’ which allows light to get in. Also, a reference to different types of friendships in ‘Who Knows Where the Time Goes’ - some friendships are constant and some come to an end when the time is right. I felt that the song choices add another dimension to the book and I look forward to revisiting the book to explore those in their own right.
Jessica Hepburn gives encouragement to everyone to go on adventures because they will always change your life for the better. Not all adventures have to be huge physical challenges, some can be like listening to all episodes of Desert Island Discs.
Thank you so much for introducing us to this wonderful book.
I am convinced that Jessica Hepburn's Save Me From The Waves will take up it's rightful place among the best of women's life writing. A worthy new member to a club that includes Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk, Amy Liptrot's The Outrun, Cheryl Strayed's Wild and Raynor Winn's The Salt Path.
On the surface there is Hepburn listening to all 3000 episodes of Desert Island discs while training and attempting to summit Chomolungma. Essentially however, it is the story of a woman overcoming loss with the help of the Desert Island castaways. Insightful and never sentimental, the short chapters are lessons in survival, the entire book an adventure seeking self knowledge to overcome and live well.
The choice to write about the castaways as if they were accompanying her on her walks and climbs, talking and listening to her, reflects the intimacy I, too, experience when listening to talk radio and podcasts, something I had never previously been consciously aware of. It also makes it very clear that anyone who has achieved the extraordinary or reached a level of fame that puts them in the public eye, should heed their words, for they may lead to the salvation or the ruin of someone's life.
I loved the book, and hope that it will finally get the author some recognition: I found out that she was the first woman to complete the Sea Street Summit challenge by swimming the English Channel, running the London Marathon and climbing Everest, wrote two prior books and a blog and won Theatre Manager of The Year among other accolades. Someone please get the woman a Wiki page!
Hythe Book Group
Are you a lists person, what does your music taste say about you?
I thought this book would be about Jessica’s physical challenges, like running marathons, swimming the English channel and climbing Everest, but it’s more than that – it’s about how music and life experiences intertwine. Jessica’s writing style makes you feel like you’re chatting with a friend, making you reflect on your own life and the songs that define it.
Listening to songs from Desert Island disc hits, Jessica takes you on a journey of her own adventures, discovery, and achievements. Her story is full of personal reflection, and self belief, it celebrates imperfection and resilience. It reminds you to embrace life’s challenges and grow from them.
Jessica’s journey will inspire you to look at your own life through the lens of music and self reflection.
I was looking forward to reading this book with our Book Group as I was intrigued by the achievements of the author and her back story. However, sadly, the book itself turned out to be not really one I got on with. I enjoyed the first couple of chapters as it was a chatty, easy read but then I realised that each chapter was only about 2-3 pages and the whole thing became too ‘bitty’ for me to really enjoy. I felt it was a shame because I do applaud her for her achievements, even if the scale and impact of them got a bit lost for me amongst all the lists. I expect she would be a wonderfully warm and entertaining speaker at, for example, book festivals or if she had her own podcast but I’m afraid her writing style and structure was not really my kind of thing.
I am very grateful to the publishers for supplying us with copies of this book for our Book Group to read and discuss, thank you for your support.
V Ryrie
Hunstanworth Village Hall Book Group
