Donald Campbell

The love affair between British speed king Donald Campbell and vivacious singer Tonia Bern was one of the great romances of the twentieth century. But passion turned to tragedy with the dramatic death of Campbell on Lake Coniston in January 1967, as he attempted to break the world water speed record in his famous jet boat, Bluebird. In this intimate portrait of her love affair and marriage to Campbell, Tonia tells the inside story of her heady lifestyle with Britain's national land and water speed hero. The collision between the two worlds of 1960s "jetset" and "showbiz" promised a fast and furious ride, but their volcanic marriage and the pressures of trying to combine two high-profile careers sometimes took their toll on the relationship. Writing soon after Donald's death, Tonia turned her tremendous sense of personal loss into a vivid evocation of what it was really like to be a married to a man with a great lust for love-making and high-speed record-breaking. But it has taken her until now to choose to tell the full story. The result is a tale of deep love and passion, fast cars, high living, and a final tragic chapter that we know is coming but don't want to acknowledge.