Sea Legs

This beautiful award-winning memoir follows a mother and daughter’s journey into the water to discover profound life lessons from whales and dolphins about the power of care and connection.

Eleanor Dooks is raising her family on the Scottish seaside, but she’s afraid of the water—until her eleven-year-old daughter, a wheelchair user, discovers a passion for swimming. As they begin to embrace the water, they soon find that the surrounding marine life seem to know something about caregiving that we don’t.

They learn of gentle acts of care: dolphins with severe spinal deformities thriving in their pods, and whales with missing lower jaws being fed by their fellows. Is the evolutionary success of these creatures down to survival of the fittest, or does it reveal the benefits of another kind of society, one that values interdependence over independence? Caregiving, far from being a burden, may be the key to community resilience.

Energized by these insights, Eleanor and Oona soon travel around the world chasing dreams of seeing whales in the wild. From Seattle harbors to Floridian lagoons, from Iceland to the Canary Islands off the coast of West Africa, they find powerful stories that enliven our understandings of the animal world—and deepen our understanding of our shared humanity.

The tender bond between mother and daughter is beautifully drawn in these enchanting pages. Honest and life-affirming, Sea Legs takes readers alongside Eleanor and Oona’s unforgettable journey, and becomes a rallying cry for affirming our connection to one another and with the world around us.