The Lifeboat: A Novel by Charlotte Rogan
Tension. Nail biting, edge of the chair, nerve wracking tension. From start to finish you won't want to put this book down.
Two years after the sinking of the Titanic, the passengers aboard the Empress Alexandra faced the same disaster. In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean the ship sank. Lifeboats were deployed half empty or overloaded and still there were not enough boats to hold all the passengers and crew. Passengers in the water were beaten off the lifeboats with oars.
Grace is a newlywed sailing from London back to New York to meet her in-laws. With little recollection of how she ended up in this particular boat and without Henry, her husband, she's ill equipped for the battle of survival she now faces. Day turns into night again and again and again with no sign of rescue. Rations are depleted. People die. Their tongues swell from lack of water. Their faces blister and peel in the relentless salt and sun. They lose any ability to reason.
I couldn't stop reading. The author had me in the boat rolling with the waves, hallucinating, starving and spending fourteen days aimlessly floating in the middle of the ocean. The characters stayed true to themselves throughout. And when these souls were finally plucked from the water, the pain and suffering failed to stop. The Lifeboat begins with a prologue so the reader knows at least some of the outcome from the start. Even that however, couldn't detract from the author's portrayal of their fight for survival. It was anxious, tense and heart pounding. You'll be hanging on for dear life.
Tension. Nail biting, edge of the chair, nerve wracking tension. From start to finish you won't want to put this book down.
Two years after the sinking of the Titanic, the passengers aboard the Empress Alexandra faced the same disaster. In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean the ship sank. Lifeboats were deployed half empty or overloaded and still there were not enough boats to hold all the passengers and crew. Passengers in the water were beaten off the lifeboats with oars.
Grace is a newlywed sailing from London back to New York to meet her in-laws. With little recollection of how she ended up in this particular boat and without Henry, her husband, she's ill equipped for the battle of survival she now faces. Day turns into night again and again and again with no sign of rescue. Rations are depleted. People die. Their tongues swell from lack of water. Their faces blister and peel in the relentless salt and sun. They lose any ability to reason.
I couldn't stop reading. The author had me in the boat rolling with the waves, hallucinating, starving and spending fourteen days aimlessly floating in the middle of the ocean. The characters stayed true to themselves throughout. And when these souls were finally plucked from the water, the pain and suffering failed to stop. The Lifeboat begins with a prologue so the reader knows at least some of the outcome from the start. Even that however, couldn't detract from the author's portrayal of their fight for survival. It was anxious, tense and heart pounding. You'll be hanging on for dear life.
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