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readinginmagnolia 's review for:
Surviving Savannah
by Patti Callahan
Based on the true story of the sinking of the steamship Pulanski in 1838, sailing from Savannah to Baltimore via Charleston, and told in dual timelines with fictional characters including a modern day history teacher/museum curator who lost her BFF due to a drunk driver, and two women travelling on the steamship, one with her abusive husband, their baby and slave nursemaid, and her aunt who was travelling with her brother and his wife to help care for their children and get away from the Savannah heat for the summer.
Everly has survivor’s guilt, not to mention feelings for her BFF’s fiancé who was also her friend, and has pretty much shut Oliver out of her life in recent years. Still Oliver approaches Everly to curate an exhibit based on the now found wreckage and its artifacts, since he knows her interest in the ship’s fate as her grandfather had told her fascinating tales about one of the women on board the doomed “Southern Titanic” when she was a child. Everly sets out to investigate what happened to the passengers, specifically Lilly, which passengers survived, and how their lives were affected by the sinking of the ship.
Lilly and Augusta are both women dealing with similar and vastly different issues living in the South in the 1800s, which come to a head during the disaster on the ship. They both have choices to make and they have to live with the repercussions, one has the potential to forge a new life and one must learn to make survival mean something more than just surviving, which has a very strong connection with the modern storyline with Everly.
I truly enjoyed both timelines. I loved both the adventuresome tale of the survivors and the investigation and adventure into the depths to find the artifacts. There is a lot to discuss with the book from this time period and location, from history to women’s issues and slavery. I think this will make an excellent book club pick.
Everly has survivor’s guilt, not to mention feelings for her BFF’s fiancé who was also her friend, and has pretty much shut Oliver out of her life in recent years. Still Oliver approaches Everly to curate an exhibit based on the now found wreckage and its artifacts, since he knows her interest in the ship’s fate as her grandfather had told her fascinating tales about one of the women on board the doomed “Southern Titanic” when she was a child. Everly sets out to investigate what happened to the passengers, specifically Lilly, which passengers survived, and how their lives were affected by the sinking of the ship.
Lilly and Augusta are both women dealing with similar and vastly different issues living in the South in the 1800s, which come to a head during the disaster on the ship. They both have choices to make and they have to live with the repercussions, one has the potential to forge a new life and one must learn to make survival mean something more than just surviving, which has a very strong connection with the modern storyline with Everly.
I truly enjoyed both timelines. I loved both the adventuresome tale of the survivors and the investigation and adventure into the depths to find the artifacts. There is a lot to discuss with the book from this time period and location, from history to women’s issues and slavery. I think this will make an excellent book club pick.