This is the story of Deirdre Barnard - champion water-skier, daughter of pioneering heart surgeon Chris Barnard, woman in her own right.

In this wise and funny book, Deirdre Barnard stands up and tells it like it is - about life in the Barnard family as they coped with the successes and losses that befell them, about the heartless intrusions into privacy that were the flip side of fame, about bereavement and true friendship and the sustaining power of family.

Deirdre Barnard is an entertaining and courageously forthright storyteller with a wicked wit. This is a moving account of her sometimes painful but ultimately uplifting personal journey; its compassion and humour will touch us all.

DEIRDRE BARNARD is a champion water skier, and the daughter of the celebrated heart surgeon Dr. Chris Barnard. She lives with her husband in Cape Town.