The Sonshine of Our Lives

Sheila Redgrave writes about her son Sir Steve Redgrave, the five times Olympic Gold Medallist which is based upon her own diary entries that she has religiously made each and every day of her life. The book depicts the Redgrave family life during the 30 years of Steve's rowing career. "The Sonshine of our Lives," is not a typo (although dyslexia does run in the family), but refers to the fact that Steve is her son, and that he has always been the sunshine of his parents' lives. The book recounts the Redgrave family history from 1975 to the turn of the millennium and includes all the family related events that took place during these years. It highlights Steve's major rowing competitions and the build up to these and includes all the heartache and the family traumas that happened in the background during this time. While supporting Steve in his ambition to become the best endurance athlete in the world, the book depicts the feelings and the thoughts of a parent observing, at times helplessly, the highs of her son's triumphs and the lows of his ill health during his courageous struggle to survive, against the odds and through two major illness - doing the only job that he was ever qualified to do.