Paul Williams a handsome and charismatic young man returns to India after the completion of his education. Unknown to him he had been adopted immediately after his birth as he was the illegitimate son of an English woman and coincidentally, Walter the son of one of the founders of the company for whom he was now going to work. Walter was eventually dismissed because after saving a young widow from committing suttee they had lived together much against the conventions of the time' Paul is very good at his job and assists the company to purchase a small factory at a far better price than they contemplated due to an affair he had with the wife of the accountant who was advising the purchase. Later, on the death of his adoptive mother he discovers who he really is and what happened to his real father and decides that nothing will stop him becoming Chairman of the company a position he believes his father should have had.and an ambition which leads to a terrible climax.

**Winner of the William Hill 2018 Sports Book of the Year Award** A Sunday Times Book of the Year and Telegraph Best Book of 2018 'Extraordinary' Clare Balding The poignant, life-affirming story of a determined boy, a visionary coach, and how the dream of a record-breaking Channel swim became reality Eltham, South London. 1984: the hot fug of the swimming pool and the slow splashing of a boy learning to swim but not yet wanting to take his foot off the bottom. Fast-forward four years. Photographers and family wait on the shingle beach as a boy in a bright orange hat and grease-smeared goggles swims the last few metres from France to England. He has been in the water for twelve agonizing hours, encouraged at each stroke by his coach, John Bullet, who has become a second father. This is the story of a remarkable friendship between a coach and a boy, and a love letter to the intensity and freedom of childhood.

Paul Williams a handsome and charismatic young man returns to India after the completion of his education. Unknown to him he had been adopted immediately after his birth as he was the illegitimate son of an English woman and coincidentally, Walter the son of one of the founders of the company for whom he was now going to work. Walter was eventually dismissed because after saving a young widow from committing suttee they had lived together much against the conventions of the time' Paul is very good at his job and assists the company to purchase a small factory at a far better price than they contemplated due to an affair he had with the wife of the accountant who was advising the purchase. Later, on the death of his adoptive mother he discovers who he really is and what happened to his real father and decides that nothing will stop him becoming Chairman of the company a position he believes his father should have had.and an ambition which leads to a terrible climax.