Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
This is a MMD recommendation that was a Summer Reading Guide "adjacent." As always, it takes a lot for a historical novel to break through for me; it's just not my favorite genre. This one alternated between characters who were on a steamship that blew up (a real event in 1838) and a modern-day historian preparing a museum exhibition about the event. The author imagined the terror of the ship's sinking and the days spent afterwards hoping for rescue from two characters' perspectives, one an "old maid" woman of 22 who was absorbed into her wealthy brother's household and helps care for her nieces and nephews, and one this woman's 21-year-old married cousin whose husband is also wealthy but who is secretly sadistic. Both families are slave owners, and in the wake of the disaster, both women reckon with the culture they've been unconsciously imbued with. The historian's story is more personal--she is trying to recover from the trauma of seeing her best friend die, and the absorption of her work both helps the pain and hinders the personal reckoning.
The length of the book is due to the focus on the moments after the ship's boiler explodes and the days following the wreck, when the characters are surviving at sea. Breaking this across many episodes that alternate with present-day action is smart--it carries across the immediacy of the horror of hours and days at sea, experiences and sensations cataloged, which necessarily repeat and overlap. But because it is broken up, the reader doesn't get restless.
For me, I find that telling a historical story from the perspective of one or two characters experiencing it can often lead to overblown character writing--squeezing in the facts of history may squeeze out character nuance. This is not necessarily true, but often is; I would say I found the characters less compelling than the overall story in this novel.
The length of the book is due to the focus on the moments after the ship's boiler explodes and the days following the wreck, when the characters are surviving at sea. Breaking this across many episodes that alternate with present-day action is smart--it carries across the immediacy of the horror of hours and days at sea, experiences and sensations cataloged, which necessarily repeat and overlap. But because it is broken up, the reader doesn't get restless.
For me, I find that telling a historical story from the perspective of one or two characters experiencing it can often lead to overblown character writing--squeezing in the facts of history may squeeze out character nuance. This is not necessarily true, but often is; I would say I found the characters less compelling than the overall story in this novel.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Overall i really enjoyed this. It's ambitious but it focuses a lot on grief-it's experience and surviving it. I feel like there were a lot of platitudes and the character dialog didn't seem that believable to me. I love books that offer perspectives from multiple characters so this really worked for me, but i would have lived if they centered Priscilla/Chike, Lilly's enslaved nursemaid, more. Rather, the story is told from the perspective of three women from wealthy southern families.
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
Such a unique historical fiction read about a ship wreck I had never heard about. Great character development and tie in to present day.
This was an interesting book to read. I liked the dual timelines. I've read several books with this structure recently and I think this one was really well done. I thought the characters were well-drawn and I was invested in their stories. I wasn't thrilled with Everly's arc, but I can't put my finger on what bothered me about it.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced reading copy of this book.
I really, really wanted to love this book. The premise sounds exactly like the sort of books I adore: antebellum fiction, shipwreck, underwater archaeology, dual-period timeline. So I am really disappointed that this whole book fell flat for me.
What did I like: the characters in the novel felt like real people. I found myself rooting for them. I felt their suffering through the narrative. I could see myself meeting these people in real life. The whole context of learning about the tragedy of the steamship Pulaski while curating a museum display about the passengers on board provided a great framework for this novel. I was so intrigued by the way the author wove historical fact and characters throughout the novel. And the fact that this is based on a little-known historical fact makes it all the most interesting.
What I didn't like: the book was just too long. There were several bits of the story that seem to have been added with no real purpose. Though I really love underwater archaeology, this whole story line could have been cut without losing anything from the novel. I realize that the actual Pulaski shipwreck was found off the coast of North Carolina while the author was writing the book, but it really does seem to just be shoved in there around all the other parts of the story. In addition, the historical narrative similarly dragged. The sinking of the ship happens right at the beginning of the novel and then the rest of the timeline is people waiting to be rescued. There was very little to keep me engaged during these portions of the story. Finally, I understand that the author uses Everly's personal tragedy to link her to Lily and Augusta's experience, but this also felt unnecessary to the story. Everly's interest in the story of the Pulaski made just as much sense without having to link it to the loss she recently experienced.
Overall, I found this book a little lacklustre. All the pieces of an excellent historical novel are there, they just get lost amongst all the extraneous scenes and details. I liked the characters and I loved learning about a tragic voyage about which I previously knew little but, ultimately, my enjoyment was overshadowed by the slow pacing of the book.
I really, really wanted to love this book. The premise sounds exactly like the sort of books I adore: antebellum fiction, shipwreck, underwater archaeology, dual-period timeline. So I am really disappointed that this whole book fell flat for me.
What did I like: the characters in the novel felt like real people. I found myself rooting for them. I felt their suffering through the narrative. I could see myself meeting these people in real life. The whole context of learning about the tragedy of the steamship Pulaski while curating a museum display about the passengers on board provided a great framework for this novel. I was so intrigued by the way the author wove historical fact and characters throughout the novel. And the fact that this is based on a little-known historical fact makes it all the most interesting.
What I didn't like: the book was just too long. There were several bits of the story that seem to have been added with no real purpose. Though I really love underwater archaeology, this whole story line could have been cut without losing anything from the novel. I realize that the actual Pulaski shipwreck was found off the coast of North Carolina while the author was writing the book, but it really does seem to just be shoved in there around all the other parts of the story. In addition, the historical narrative similarly dragged. The sinking of the ship happens right at the beginning of the novel and then the rest of the timeline is people waiting to be rescued. There was very little to keep me engaged during these portions of the story. Finally, I understand that the author uses Everly's personal tragedy to link her to Lily and Augusta's experience, but this also felt unnecessary to the story. Everly's interest in the story of the Pulaski made just as much sense without having to link it to the loss she recently experienced.
Overall, I found this book a little lacklustre. All the pieces of an excellent historical novel are there, they just get lost amongst all the extraneous scenes and details. I liked the characters and I loved learning about a tragic voyage about which I previously knew little but, ultimately, my enjoyment was overshadowed by the slow pacing of the book.