That Fatal Night: The Titanic Diary of Dorothy Wilton

Dear Canada

by Sarah Ellis

In the aftermath of the Titanic disaster, a young girl must come to terms with haunting memories from the voyage.

It is May 1912, one month after the horrific sinking of the Titanic, and twelve-year-old survivor Dorothy Wilton is sent home from school in disgrace when she strikes another student. Although she's expelled, her sympathetic teacher encourages Dorothy to write an account of her experience on the ship, with the hopes that it will help Dorothy come to terms with her trauma.

And so begins a truly remarkable story, which reads like a time capsule of the era: Dorothy writes about visiting her bohemian grandparents in England before setting sail back home, the luxurious rooms and cabins on board, a new friend she makes, and the intriguing people they observe. However, amidst all of this storytelling, a shadow lurks, a secret Dorothy is too traumatized to acknowledge - a secret about her own actions on that fatal night, which may have had deadly consequences.

Through young Dorothy's eyes, award-winning writer Sarah Ellis expertly takes a unique perspective on the Titanic tragedy, exploring the concept of survivor's guilt with devastating honesty.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Canada, Middle Grade, Childrens, Fiction, Historical, Young Adult

170 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2011

About the author

Writer, columnist, and librarian Sarah Ellis has become one of the best-known authors for young adults in her native Canada with titles such as The Baby Project, Pick-Up Sticks, and Back of Beyond: Stories of the Supernatural. In addition to young adult novels, Ellis has also written for younger children and has authored several books about the craft of writing. Praised by Booklist contributor Hazel Rochman as "one of the best children's literature critics," Ellis "writes without condescension or pedantry. . . . Her prose is a delight: plain, witty, practical, wise."

Ellis was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1952, the youngest of three children in her family. As she once noted, "[My] joy in embroidering the truth probably comes from my own childhood. My father was a rich mine of anecdotes and jokes. He knew more variations on the 'once there were three men in a rowboat' joke than anyone I've encountered since.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

After Sarah Ellis' That Fatal Night: The Titanic Diary of Dorothy Wilton was published in the autumn of 2011, I signed out a copy from my local public library in early January 2012 with eager anticipation, as the Dear Canada series of fictional diaries is usually one of my absolute favourite middle grade reading pleasures. But sadly, That Fatal Night: The Titanic Diary of Dorothy Wilton has not at all been what I would call either a personal favourite or even all that readable and relatable (and has in fact been my most actively disliked instalment of the Dear Canada series to date. And truth be told, I do not even remember all that much of the specific details of Sarah Ellis' text except that I really have not in any manner enjoyed in particular her writing style, that the way Sarah Ellis has her main protagonist Dorothy Wilton tell her story of being a survivor of the Titanic disaster just does not and will never emotionally speak to me and actually simply just mostly annoys and frustrates to no end.

For not only would I both on a personal and intellectual level have much rather perused a fictional diary of Dorothy Wilton actually being on board of the Titanic and not just remembering her experiences after the fact, as the lack of immediacy has been rather majorly noticeable, but even more of an issue at least for me and my sometimes rather short attention span is the fact that in her journal, in that Fatal Night: The Titanic Diary of Dorothy Wilton, Dorothy Wilton constantly moves back and forth, from visiting her grandparents in England and her ill fated voyage on the Titanic to the present, where Dorothy has just been expelled from school, and this indeed so often that I certainly have been driven almost to distraction and have not at all even remotely enjoyed my reading experience even a tiny bit (and yes, while I might not in fact recall many of the specific and minute details of That Fatal Night: The Titanic Diary of Dorothy Wilton I do well remember that Sarah Ellis' and by extension also her main protagonist and fictional diarist Dorothy Wilton's style of composition totally rubs me the wrong proverbial way and has as such also majorly destroyed any kind of reading pleasure for me).

And thus, only a one star rating for That Fatal Night: The Titanic Diary of Dorothy Wilton (for although I do indeed recall appreciating the historical background information presented at the back of the book, this does in no way redeem author Sarah Ellis' to and for me like finger nails running down a chalkboard's writing style and especially so considering that like all of the Dear Canada books, there is also no bibliography in the non fiction section of That Fatal Night: The Titanic Diary of Dorothy Wilton, no suggestions for further reading and study).

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: Someday I hope to read all the books in this series.

This book takes a different point of view than most kid's historical fiction I've read about the Titanic. The book starts a few months after the sinking and we meet Titanic survivor 12 year-old Dorothy, her traveling companion did not survive, something for which she feels guilt and Dorothy doesn't really want to talk about the Titanic anymore. She gets into an altercation at school and is sent home for the remainder of the year. Her teacher brings her home work and a journal where she tells Dorothy to write about her Titanic experience as it may help to put it into perspective for her. Dorothy writes about her life now and her life in England where she was visiting her Grandmother and Grandfather before her fateful journey home, touching on every subject but the one that has redefined her life. Eventually, Dorothy does take the plunge and tells us what it was like for her that evening the "unsinkable" ship The Titanic sunk.

An enjoyable story, with much more going for it than just a recounting of the Titanic's final days. We have a full-blown story of a survivor's life, living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. What it was like to deal with being a survivor when so many more had died, the guilt and blame a person throws on themselves. Also daily life in Halifax , 1912 is explored as is rural life in 1912 England. I enjoyed Dorothy's tone of voice in this epistolary novel told through her journal writings. The only thing that bothered me is that she sometimes went into theatre mode and wrote scenes as if she were writing a play script, these were a bit bothersome but they did add some humour. Another good entry to this popular series for girls.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's May 1912, and twelve-year-old Dorothy Wilton has returned to her home in Halifax after surviving the sinking of the Titanic. She just wants to go back to her normal routine and not talk about what happened, but finds herself expelled from school after hitting another girl who said horrible things about the victims of the disaster. Dorothy's favorite teacher suggests that during her time away from school, she should write a diary about what happened to her, to help her come to terms with her experience.

Dorothy begins the story by writing about her trip to England to meet her grandparents. Her grandparents were very kind and their housekeeper had twelve-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, that Dorothy became close friends with during her stay in England. For her journey home, her father got her a ticket on the grandest ship ever built, the Titanic. Dorothy had fun exploring the ship and made a new friend, but hated her traveling companion, Miss Pugh, who worked for Dorothy's father and had agreed to travel with her since she too was visiting a relative in England. Miss Pugh did not survive the disaster, and Dorothy blames herself for her death.

That Fatal Night is different than most novels for young readers about the Titanic, since it is set after the sinking and is mainly about a survivor struggling to accept what happened. This book is shorter than most other books in the Dear Canada series, and I think it could have been a bit longer with some more description of Dorothy's time on the Titanic. However, I still really enjoyed it, I love almost anything I read about the Titanic and I really liked that this book offered a unique perspective by being set afterwards. I recommend this book to readers interested in the Titanic or who enjoyed other books from the Dear Canada series.

[Vikki VanSickle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite issues of guilt and post-traumatic stress, That Fatal Night is not a heavy or traumatic read. Dorothy has a lot of pluck and Ellis has done an excellent job of recreating the diary of a girl who never intended her words to be read. She is honest about the people she likes and doesn’t like and never minces words, the effect of which is laugh out loud funny. Dorothy has a keen eye for detail and brings the Titanic to life for the reader, mentioning how the photographs in the paper cannot capture “the smells.” The tone reminded me a little bit of a Budge Wilson short story called “My War” about a girl living in Halifax during WWII who just can’t get enough of the excitement and the drama until tragedy comes into her life and she has a change of heart. Both this story and Ellis’ novel capture the horrors and loneliness of trauma in addition to the burden of other people’s reactions to your trauma.

Dear Canada fans and lovers of Titanic literature will welcome this addition to the canon. As always in this series, a historical note is included in the back for fact lovers. All in all, a very welcome addition to the Dear Canada family and one of Sarah Ellis’ best novels.

[Bethany Gorski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gotta tell ya I love a Dear Canada

[Valerie Cotnoir · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is now one of my new favorite Dear Canadas (of the few I've read...I have a lot to catch up on!). I loved the style Ellis used to tell Dorothy's story, having her write some of her favorite memories in England like scenes in a play, going back and forth between the past and the present. There was a great deal of depth and emotion in the story as Dorothy grappled with the grief, anger and regret that came from the horrific Titanic accident. Her story made the Titanic episode come home to me in a surreal kind of way--this event really happened to real, ordinary people and I can't imagine how scary it must have been to have survived it. For a few hours, I felt taken away to her time--I feel like I experienced the Titanic with her.

I'm pretty sure Ellis wrote other Dear Canadas and I look forward to admiring her writing style in further works.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I'm just finally growing out of these books, because normally I love them, but this one was "just ok." It was a lot shorter than most of the Dear Canada books too. What I didn't like was how long it took to get to the part where the girl tells her stories about the Titanic. When I finally got there, it was interesting to read, albeit short. A good book for younger kids, but maybe no longer for young adults like myself, despite a past affection for this series.

[Stars]

it is a sad but happy book i liked it a lot

[Katarina · Rating 1 out of 5]

This truly was a different perspective but I did not like the way the book was written. I will say I could see myself loving these books at the age of 8-10, they would have been so engaging to read at such a young age. I can see why people would love them, and enjoy them. I have always loved books about history, they are always so interesting. The book was written almost like a play, at the beginning it was a normal book but a quarter way through she started writing it as a play, or script and it was confusing and not my favourite way to read a book. I couldn't get through the book, it was too hard for me to get through. I think there's different dear's like Dear Canada but there is also Dear America, I kind of want to read Dear America just to see what it's like and if it's any better. I felt like this was more about her grandparents than herself as a titanic survivor. It would have been interesting if she talked more about herself and her experience on the Titanic. This book was just very meh. Happy Reading!!!!

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actually rating is more like 1.5 stars, but I bumped it.

I'm sorry to say this, but the Dear America version is way better...and I feel like it's probably more historically accurate.

That said, the story is 137 pages long, and Dorothy only starts talking about her Titanic experience around page 77 and mostly concludes by page 122. Also, a good chunk of that has more to do with the aftermath then the time of the Titanic and it's sinking. The rest of this book is mostly long winded entries about what happened while visiting her grandparents and her day to day life AND a good chunk of it is written like a play script. Why? No idea. I dislike reading plays, so I found this book a real struggle.

I feel like the whole Titanic thing was more or less glossed over. It's also a known fact very few women and children from 2nd class survived and most of the crew perished, so....eh. Not as historically accurate as I would have liked, as previously stated.

Conclusion

For such an interesting piece of history, this book sure made it a struggle to get to it and then kinda just crammed it all in there within a couple of entries. Not overly impressed.

Eh, sums up my feelings on this book.

I suggest you read the Dear America version if you really want a diary style book about the voyage of the Titanic written by a preteen/young teen aged girl.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is from the Dear Canada Series for 8-12 year olds. It's an engaging read, and tells the experience of a 12 year old survivor of the sinking of the Titanic. It's interesting and not at all upsetting or grim. It imparts history in an age appropriate way. I highly recommend it for advanced (maybe more mature) 8-9 year old readers

[stitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

titanic good soup

[Victoria Shepherd · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderfully frank and personal account of an epic tragedy.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this first-rate novel, LOCAL SCHOOLGIRL: TITANIC SURVIVOR Dorothy Wilton is supposed to be writing a journal about the disaster. Instead she journals about her 2-month stay in England with her grandparents before boarding the Titanic, interspersed with her current life in Halifax dealing with the trauma of surviving.

“Now I will think over my bad behaviour. No. I will NOT. I will think over the bad behaviour of Irene Rudge.” I loved Dorothy’s spirited, honest, realistic personality!

I adored Dorothy’s “irresponsible bohemian” grandparents (as her father calls them) and their home called Mill House: “There was reading, at all times of the day and in all different places. Mill House was messy with reading … also messy with talk” and, I would add, messy with imagination. “Fun is what grown-ups who say, ‘Don’t get carried away by make-believe,’ don’t understand. If you go along with the make-believe you have fun and you also get licorice bullseyes. Sometimes.” Here’s another of Dorothy’s wonderful descriptions of Mill House: “There is a special kind of quiet on Sunday afternoons. It feels as though the house has taken off its shoes and put on its slippers and has gone to sleep in an easy chair with the paper across its face.”

But, of course, Dorothy does write about her Titanic experience, by starting small, answering her teacher’s one question: “How was your cabin on board the Titanic different from your room at home?” Eventually she could write about how the shipwreck affected her: “Nobody understands … Every new thing made me think of something lost, something drowned. I tried to be grateful and good but I could not be cheerful. Nobody understands.” (nobody except author Sarah Ellis, that is!)

Dorothy is struck by the If Only’s: “If only she had not been going to England … If only there had not been an iceberg. If only there had been more lifeboats. If only I was never taken over by a temper. There is no end to if only.”

“In my mind, because I did not watch it disappear, I could not believe that it was gone. All those chairs and china and pillows and pianos and grapefruits. It was impossible. I did not think about all the people who had disappeared because I did not know that yet … I thought that they were on other lifeboats.”

“The Carpathia came close to us and the rowing men rowed up against the side of it. There were lifeboats all around and many men’s voices. There were ladders over the side. The two rowing men helped me into a seat like a garden swing and I was hauled up the side. It was like being pulled up a cliff. I would have been frightened but I had nothing left to be frightened with.”

I’ll end with one more example of Dorothy’s unique way of describing life: “In plays people say real, important things every time they speak, but in real life sometimes words just fall out of your mouth.”

My only disappointment was the length of this book—I wish it was at least twice as long.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this one up for nostalgia’s sake — I wanted to see how Dear Canada stacked up against my beloved Dear America series, particularly the still-superb Voyage on the Great Titanic. And I’m pretty impressed! DA’s book is definitely better if you want a focus on the Titanic’s voyage and disaster in the narrative itself, whereas DC’s That Fatal Night is exclusively told in hindsight. I give the author serious kudos for portraying PTSD in a child so honestly and authentically while still giving us an inkling of what a headstrong, playful, and stubborn kid Dorothy was pre-disaster. For that reason alone, this is a worthy contribution to the plethora of Titanic literature out there. Most books focus on the sinking, whereas this one is far more interested in the aftermath, which is sorely underrepresented in Titanic fiction. Bonus points for being geared towards children.

My one gripe is that the stewardess, Beryl, is VERY obviously based on Violet Jessop (right down to the character’s anecdotes about childhood, which were blatantly lifted from Jessop’s memoir), and there was no recognition of this in the historical notes or in the author’s notes. Absolutely no mention of Jessop at any point in this book. The plot and writing were superb, but this just doesn’t sit right with me. Otherwise a quick but enjoyable read.

[Amelia · Rating 2 out of 5]

That Fatal Night is a book about a Titanic survivor trying to realize what happened to herself by writing in a diary. It is particularly hard for her because she thinks that it's her fault that her mistress got left behind and drowned. She writes many things including her life before and during the Titanic and how life changing it was. It was very well told and gave you lots of details about the Titanic. I would recommend the book to anyone, especially people who are interested in learning more about the Titanic. Enjoy! :)

[Meghan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story has very little Titanic in it. Mostly it is Dorothy avoiding the subject by talking about the months leading up to the Titanic. This was likely meant to demonstrate PTSD (a condition that was not recognized at the time), but it does not make for as interesting a story. Also did not enjoy the constant use of scripting. The historical note was odd and was mostly trying to sound trendy, and the author’s note was all over the place.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like books told in diary form (though I didn't care as much for the parts written as a play). Titanic and the sinking don't really come into the story until about halfway, but there is a treat for E. Nesbit fans.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have always had a soft spot for Dear Canada books but I feel like the American version went into detail a lot better. This one just skimmed and though I loved the character and that I don't think it should have been characterized as being for the Titanic when it didn't deal with it very much

[Renaissance · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a different perspective of the titanic disaster. She did not want to talk about it. Sometimes the play format bothered me.

[Ingrid van Beek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book! Even though I knew exactly what was going to happen, it still hit me hard! Beautiful story, and a lovely new perspective of the titanic story of which I have read so many books.

[LobsterQuadrille · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

That Fatal Night is a pretty impressive book. The writing is strong, conveying Dorothy's trauma in a way that feels true to life. It's almost misleading to tout this as a Titanic diary, though. It's much more an exploration of its personal impact. Dorothy doesn't start describing the ill-fated voyage until halfway through the book, and her memories of the evacuation are hazy. This is realistic since she had only just been woken up and hadn't fully processed what was happening, but it's not an in-depth account like many readers are probably looking for. I did find the reveal of why Dorothy blamed herself for Miss Pugh's death a bit silly, and I wasn't fond of the play script format she used for some scenes. But for the most part this was an impactful read. And I was relieved to find that there was no cheesy forced romance ripped off from the Titanic film like there was in the Dear America Titanic diary. Between both series' takes on the event, I recommend the Dear Canada one much more. It isn't as much about the voyage itself, but it feels far more real and raw.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, who knew there was a spinoff series called Dear Canada?!?

I started off thinking this book was super weird. Dorothy immediately says she will never discuss the Titanic again, and the first half or so of the book is poems copied word for word and weird summaries of The Three Musketeers and stuff. I almost gave up on it, but then it suddenly switched when she finally wrote about the disaster. It was then clear to me that the first half of her journal was definitely a defense mechanism, because she was carrying so much guilt.

It's rare in books about the Titanic to have a character have NO idea what is happening. She was basically thrown into a lifeboat and assumed that everyone on the ship would be following behind her. Reading about her confusion on where everyone was once she was on the Carpathia was heartbreaking.

This book may have started off strangely, but it ended up being extremely well done.

[San · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5.

Continuing with my mission to read through the Dear Canada series, I picked up That Fatal Night because I knew it would bring me back to my Titanic phase (the one we all had as children I'm sure, along with the Ancient Greece phase and space phase etc etc). I was really pleased by how well the author managed to convey the emotions of a child who just went through in traumatic event in a time where mental health was taboo and not often thought about subject.

Dorothy is ridden with guilt as one of the few survivors of the Titanic and struggles to talk about the one thing she cannot get out of her mind. Everything about the way her trauma is portrayed really strikes me as accurate to her age and time period. Definitely a book to pick up for a youngster in your life (or for yourself!).

[h · Rating 3 out of 5]

These remind me of going to the library in elementary school. I used to take out the one called No Safe Harbour, which tbh was actually pretty gory/horrifying, and that's why I liked it. I read it again at the beginning of the pandemic.

I thought this one would be pretty brutal too but it wasn't! I wasn't a huge fan of the way she made some of her jorunal entries into plays and I thought there'd be more of the actual sinking.

Even still I like historical fiction and I enjoyed the extra info + pics at the end :)

Gonna read more of these since they're fast lol gotta meet that reading goal, I have 9 books to go!!

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

That fatal night was not good, kinda good, and then just good. Also a little sad. I liked the ending. This was the first Dear Canada book I started reading, but then I had to return it to my school library and then my friend took it and it seemed like forever that it took her to read it but I got it today and finished it. Even though this book wasn’t THAT good I think it deserves a 4 stars because I loved the Titanic story told by that perspective. If you want to read this book you have to start reading it to get the story but near the end is when it gets better.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my very first Dear Canada book I’ve read. I enjoyed the writer’s style, the characters and her descriptions. I however didn’t like the “play” form that was written out and I would have enjoyed it a bit more if it would have been her on the Titanic not just memories. That being said I do think the perspective was unique considering in that era PTSD wasn’t something talked about or really known, so by the author having her writing out her memories it allowed her to slowly heal as a child who went through something traumatic.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not one of my favourite of the Dear Canada series, but it was okay. The facts for this book are startling and scary. It’s also crazy to think that during WWI this was happening to Canada. From the Titanic to the Spanish Flu to the Halifax Harbour Explosion. I get really tearful thinking about all the people who died. Each and every individual person that died led their own life and had their own family. I highly recommend reading this book.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine read. Took about an hour start to finish. I grew up on the Dear America books and this popped up on my elibrary recommendations. I didn’t even know they’d made a Dear Canada series, so I was intrigued. If you’re familiar with those, very similar in scope and format. I initially wasn’t sold on the look-back form of storytelling taken in this book, verses the typical “as-it-happens” account most of these books take, but it grew on me in the end.

[colleen bucco · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have said it very good because she feels like at first she can not talk about what happened even in the dairy. After it happened she goes back to school and there is one that thinks she really she really was not on the ship at all. Even she had grow up she hide from her family for the longest time. I would this a very good read