The Captain's Daughter

by Leah Fleming

The secrets in a woman's heart are deeper than the ocean...For May Smith, travelling with her husband and baby girl Ellen, stepping foot on the Titanic marks the start of an incredible journey, one which is destined to take her from the back streets of Bolton to the land of opportunity: the United States. But when the 'unsinkable' Titanic hits an iceberg one cold dark night, May's dreams are instantly shattered. Jumping from the sinking ship at the last minute, May loses sight of Joe and Ellen. Distraught, she is pulled into a lifeboat. Minutes later, the real-life Captain Smith swims to the lifeboat and hands May a baby swaddled in blankets. Beside herself, and in virtual darkness, May believes the baby to be Ellen. This rescue is witnessed by fellow survivor, Celeste Parkes, married to an American industrialist who is on her way back to Ohio after her mother's funeral. In horror, they both watch the death throes of the mighty ship; May traumatised, knowing her husband has drowned, Celeste wishing her bully of a husband had been on board and out of her life. As the dawn comes up, and the two women are rescued by the Carpathia, a friendship is formed, one which is destined to transcend the Atlantic and social differences between them and last a lifetime. Then May makes a shocking discovery and a split-second decision which will change the lives of so many.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Romance, Roman, Italy, Ebooks

576 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 2011

About the author

Leah Fleming was born in Lancashire and is married with three sons and a daughter. She writes from an old farmhouse in the Yorkshire Dales and an olive grove in Crete.

See more at: http://authors.simonandschuster.com.a...

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sensational!

From the Titanic and its aftermath, WW1 & 2, the suffragettes, this book will take you on an incredible journey.

Fully recommend.

Five stars.

[Selma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Od mene ocjena četiri. Dugo sam tražila ovu knjigu pa sam je i progurala preko reda i nije mi žao. Velika zamjerka je zbog sitnih slova pa nekako i utisak na kraju bude malo manje wow, ali to je do izdavača a ne do sadržaja. Drugi razlog za ocjenu četiri je previše detalja, čudan pokušaj da nas što više približi likovima kod mene je imao suprotan učinak, moglo se završiti i na 300 strana bez ovih dodatnih stotinjak.
Priča je podijeljena na pet dijelova od 1912. do 1959. godine, a sve počinje sa dvije žene. Za Mej Smit i njenog muža ukrcavanje na Titanik predstvalja početak putovanja koji će njih i njihovu bebu Elen odvesti iz sirotinjskog kraja Bostona u zemlju mogućnosti o kojoj sanjaju. Međutim, kada na zaprepaštenje svih "neuništivi" Titanik počne da tone, Smitovi umjesto ostvarenja snova doživljavaju noćnu moru. U posljednjem trenutku Mej dospijeva u čamac za spašavanje, izgubivši iz vida muža i kćerku. Ipak, nekoliko trenutaka kasnije, kapetan Smit lično u čamac donosi bebu i predaje je Mej.
Druga žena, Selestina Parks, još jedna mlada žena koja je sama na putovanju iz rodnoga grada krenula kući svjedok je tog događaja. Dok dvije žene sa užasom gledaju kako okean guta ostatke broda razdiru ih potpuno različita osjećanja, Mej očajava zbog gubitka muža, a Selestina priželjkuje da više ne vidi svog.
Kada u osvit zore Karpatija pritekne u pomoć, Mej i Selestinu već vežu spone prijateljstva dovoljno jake da prevaziđu tragediju i društvene razlike, i traju čitav život.
Od mene preporuka za ovu divnu, toplu, surovu i stvarnu životnu priču, jer tajne ženskog srca dublje su od okeana. ❤

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four a half stars.
I loved this book and was emotionally involved from the start. At varying times I was angry, outraged, exasperated and in tears. The scenes from the Titanic had far more impact on me than when I watched the Leonardo DiCaprio movie that left me unmoved and bored.
Despite being from different classes Celeste and May due to circumstances brought about by the ship’s sinking and their rescue forge a firm friendship. There is also another story, that of Angelo who is waiting for his wife and daughter to come from Italy.
I found sometimes when you expected the story to go a certain way, something happened that changed it a little. The characters were all very well drawn. I was right there all the time with May and Celeste in particular, but also with the generations after. The f word is used once only in the book by Celeste’s husband Grover. Used in context it hits you like a pail of icy water in the face. This, along with his actions, makes the reader despise Grover all the more.
The sinking of the Titanic is only part of the story and the novel follows Celeste, May and Angelo’s families through World War 1 and then World War 2. My interest did wane a fraction in the middle of the book, but quickly picked up momentum again. Despite having family here, I kept sneaking back to this book every time I got a few moments, even getting up earlier than everyone else to read. Towards the end of the book there was no way known I was going to put that book down till I finished the last few pages. Thankfully family understand my reading compulsion.
I found the title misleading. Though she does come into it, the captain’s daughter is by no means a main character. That aside, this is a well researched, well told and detailed story with likeable, well rounded characters and one that I enjoyed greatly.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book, set around the myth that Captain Smith rescued a baby or a young child from the water after the Titanic sank. The book starts off with the Titanic and finishes in 1959, and although there are a couple of slow moments, it flies through the decades and with very short chapters, it's a fast read, even at nearly 600 pages long.

I found a lot of similarities between this and my other favourite Titanic fictional book, No Greater Love, by Danielle Steel. Both books deal with the Titanic and how it affects the lives of the characters for years afterwards. The characters in this were well thought out, and well described, so much so, you almost feel like you know them by the end of the book.

The only quibbles I do have with the book, are the title and the the Titanic itself. The Captain's Daughter is completely the wrong title for the book, as the person to whom it refers features very briefly, although there are one or two other brief references to her. Otherwise a totally different title would have fitted the book better. Whether the author was initially writing a different story, or whether it was the publisher's decision for that title, it was the wrong one. Also, yes I know everyone knows what allegedly happened on the Titanic by now, but the sinking happens by page 50 of the book. Although we had a nice introduction to the characters, I did feel it was a bit rushed and would liked to have seen the actual events expanded a little bit.

Quibbles aside, I recommend this not only to fans of the Titanic, but to anyone interested in a good historical read.

[Chelsie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good read about two women's lives who were irrevocably changed the night the Titanic sank. This hefty novel then spans three generations of their families and how their bond became unbreakable and how they became family with each other. I also learned a few new things about the Titanic and some things with the aftermath of the tragedy.

[Maria Lavrador · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um livro muito agradável de se ler, que relata a amizade improvável de 2 sobreviventes da tragédia do Titanic, bem como os segredos que cada uma esconde. Gostei da escrita e dos capítulos pequenos, sendo que o que me fez levar tanto tempo a ler foi a quantidade de paginas que ele tem (quase 600...)

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this! I'm giving it 4.5 stars. It was a good read from the start, tugging at the heartstrings and with enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. Some of the turns the story took I could see coming, but others surprised me.

One of the things which surprised me was the time-frame this took place over - I knew it started with the sinking if the Titanic, but didn't realised it followed people through their lives into the 1950's. I do like it when books do this - I like seeing characters grow up through the years, so I really enjoyed this aspect.

Initially, I was a little daunted by the size (over 500 pages), but it was a very easy read, with short chapters. I always find short chapters more enticing than long ones - it makes it much easier to "read just one more chapter" before getting on with everything else I need to be doing! And now I'm in the middle of a much less interesting book which I neglected in order to start and finish this one, but the thought of going back to it doesn't appeal - I think I need to mull over this one a bit longer!

[Natasa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leah Fleming tells the story of two women who meet on the lifeboat along with the impact on their family members. The decisions made in those hours, along with the strength they developed, form the basis for this story. Love, heartache, deceit, failure, and success: these characters experience it. An excellent book I recommend it to anyone.

[Francesca Nield · Rating 5 out of 5]

An epic novel spanning three generations and two continents, Leah Fleming's "The Captain's Daughter" has been meticulously researched and is beautifully written. Its unpretentious but lyrical style make it a joy to read. The storyline is plausible, where it could have been hackneyed, and despite it covering such a large time span the plot never loses momentum. Each character is carefully crafted and developed and the dialogue is realistic. It is a novel which could be enjoyed in one sitting. I read it over a period of weeks and never once lost its thread: a tribute, I think, to the style and great storytelling of this talented author. A thoroughly pleasurable read.

[Rosemary Atwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Leah Fleming’s writing style falls into that successful and very dependable niche territory occupied by Catherine Cookson, Mary Stewart, Maeve Binchy and Rosamund Pilcher - well researched, absorbing tales of a variety of women set against backdrops which combine social history and world events.

Fleming manages the novel’s long timeframe (1912-1959) skilfully, although there is a slight unevenness which creeps into the second half, as the plot shifts sometimes clumsily between characters and geographical locations.

This is a reasonably rewarding and undemanding read, though, with good structure and dialogue that is never overwritten or too descriptive, although the ending is disappointingly drawn out and slightly unnecessary.

[Giulia · Rating 5 out of 5]

When British middle class woman May steps on the Titanic with her beloved husband and their 1 year old baby girl Ellen, she doesn't know that her life as she knows it, is going to change forever.
Celestine is an American upper class woman, who is going back to his rich heartless bully husband and to her 5 years old boy, Roddy.
Their lives couldn't be more different but when the tragedy of the Titanic brings them together, they discover that social status is not what defines people. And they find in each other, the strength to overcome the difficulties of life.

When May loses her husband and baby in the ocean, she's broken and desperate ,but then the Captain puts a little baby in her arms and she thinks they were given a second chance.
In the morning light though, she makes a dreadful discover : the baby she's been carefully holding through the night is not hers.
With her heart aching for the loss of her husband and daughter she decides to keep the little girl she was given and raise her as her own.
But is she aware of what it really means? Will she be capable of keeping such a terrible secret?


An amazing story that follows three different generations, through one of the most difficult times of our history.
Handling violence, loss, love ,friendship and secrets, it brings us into the lives of two strong women as they face the hardest of battles.

I have loved this book to pieces. It was moving, misterious, adventurous and breathtaking.
I have felt a very strong connection with the two main charachters May and Celestine and also May's daughter Ella.
It was very well written, the author let us in into the charachter's souls and we get to know them very deeply.
At certain points I could almost feel what they felt- their pain, their fear, their loss.
This book made me laugh, cry, skip beats, hold my breath and blow up in tears once more.
It was a really page turner for me, I was on holiday and I could not wait to go to the beach or to bed at night so that I could keep on reading it and find out what happened next.

I would LOVE to see a tv show out of this (a movie would not be possible as it follows 50 years or more), but they could make a really good show out of it.
I absolutely reccomend this book to all those who are looking for adventure, love, tears and mistery.

5 huge stars to this amazing book!

[Rachael McDiarmid · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had an advanced copy of this book and really enjoyed it. Didn't care for the title of the book though - as it didn't represent the story. All the copy for the book mentions something along the lines of "Captain Smith swims to the lifeboat and hands May a baby swaddled in blankets." The Captain and his grown-up daughter are minor, minor, MINOR figures. To name the book referencing the captain does not work for me. Once May has a baby in her arms, and meets the ballsy Celeste, I lovely friendship follows the Titanic sinking - across two continents, class barriers, and two completely different women. There's also alternate story being played out of a father convinced his baby survived the sinking which comes to a satisfying conclusion. (OK I "balled" but then I'm a complete softie). So I must be upfront and say I enjoyed just about everything about this book - bar the title!

[Liza Perrat · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging story with likeable characters. The storyline, if a tad far-fetched in places, had me turning the pages until the end. Very entertaining!

[Meteori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Priča je dobro napisana, ali je jako tužna, pogotovo za ovo vrijeme koje proživljavamo.
Nije mi smetalo što su glavni likovi plod fikcije jer je radnja dobro uklopljena sa činjenicama.
Knjiga je vrijedna čitanja. Ali ukoliko se već osjećate tužno, ostavite je za neka srećnija vremena.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Captain's Daughter by Leah Fleming is an historical novel set between 1912 - 1959. The action moves from the Titanic to Akron, America; Lichfield, England; New York; Tuscany and the Italian battlefields of World War II. It is an epic story of love, loss, war and friendship.
The novel is told in the third person but from several different viewpoints as the action alternates between the continents.
We all know the story of the Titanic. Fact is interwoven with fiction within the pages of The Captain's Daughter. The reader meets Captain Smith and the unsinkable Molly Brown, as well as the fictitious May and Celeste. As the ship goes down so friendships are forged that will not be broken, as lives are forever altered.
The novel deals with the role of women in society. Suffragettes are mentioned, and it is the women, under Margaret Brown who set up the Titanic relief fund for the poor who lost everything when the ship went down. At a time when there were no widows pensions, the Titanic relief fund was a real god send.
There is the difficult subject of domestic abuse contained within the novel's pages. It is sensitively tacked by Leah Fleming. Women hid beatings they received because they were ashamed, they mistakenly thought they were to blame. They stood up for their husbands in public whilst cowering in private. Leah Fleming highlights the brutal nature of their lives and shows the courage needed to break free from the cycle of abuse.
Within the story there is the theme of searching and belonging. Orphaned characters do not know their roots. Hope that loved ones some-how survived the Titanic persists not only for weeks but sometimes for years. Hope refuses to die.
Leah Fleming deals with the theme of PTSD. It occurs in both the survivors of the Titanic and of war. The condition was not recognised at the time, but lives were shattered or altered by the horrors seen and heard.
There is also a secret running throughout the novel. It begins the night the Titanic goes down and it persists throughout the book. It is a secret that causes both guilt and hope. It is a secret that is almost taken to the grave. As the years pass, the secret becomes a heavier burden to bear but also one that cannot be shared.
The theme of friendship runs throughout the novel. Friendships are forged both on that fateful night in April 1912 and during the war years. These bonds of friendship will not be broken as they were made in adversity.
I love Leah Fleming's novels. She writes not only with depth of knowledge but also with compassion. The Captain's Daughter was a fabulous read and I can highly recommend it.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. A fantastic book. I am so interested in anything "Titanic" related, so I practically devoured this story. It follows the lives of a handful of people directly involved in the Titanic: Celeste and May, who, although from different classes, they end up on the same lifeboat (May is pulled out of the water) and form a firm friendship that spans their lifetimes. And also Angelo who is devastated over the loss of his wife and baby daughter in the tragedy, convinced his daughter is still alive ... somewhere.

The sinking of the Titanic is just a small part of the story. It then follows Celeste and May, and Angelo - through the first World War ... then through the second World War. The amount of sadness and hardship the people of this time endured is barely comprehendible.

I took a half star away from a 5 star book because it did get a tiny bit drawn out in the second half of the book. Still, a great read.

[Sadurninenca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una historia preciosa. No es una novela romántica, más bien es la historia de dos mujeres marcadas por un trágico suceso que lucharán mano a mano, varias décadas, para intentar volver a ser felices. La novela está muy bien escrita, narrada con un lenguaje sencillo y ameno, con muchos diálogos que le dan una mayor fluidez a la historia

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was good , I thought it would be more about the titanic .
The book could have been reduced , it was too long in places .

[Ana Rodrigues · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gostei muito, só peca por ser um bocadinho extenso...

[Jo Ring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this book. Titanic wartime.

[Tony Siciliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing in this novel is fairly average, but the story line is compelling. It covers nearly 50 years in the lives of the main characters and their children and grandchildren. It is a story of secrets. Some secrets are revealed early in the story, while others are not revealed until the end. It was difficult to put down the book as I was very eager to see how the story was resolved. It's a great story line and and its conclusion proves worth the wait.

[stasia]

dnf p130, chap 31, 21%

sympa mais ça m'intéresse pas plus que ça et comme il fait 600p je préfère le mettre de côté et lire autre chose
ceci dit je pense qu'il plaira aux gens qui aiment le contemporain historique

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review to come .... A lovely, albeit slow at times, story ... Had a lot of potential but fell a bit short for me ... Still a good read

Review time.....

The story follows the lives of three people who were affected by the Titanic - a tragedy that would forever bind them. For May and Joe Smith and their baby Ellen sailing on the 'unsinkable' ship meant a new live and a new start in America. For Celestine Parkes, it was a trip home to her son and husband - following the loss of her mother. And lastly, for Angelo Bartolini it was the ship that would bring his wife and newborn daughter into his arms.

However, the dreams of the three were not to happen as they hoped staring with the sinking of the ship through to the wars and death of the 1900's. The story followed their stories throughout the years from 1912 until 1959.

'What was done, is done. There is no going back now.'

For me, the story was touching and good however it could have been better. Firstly - I found it slow in parts and too long for what it was. Also the 'mystery' that shrouded the characters would have been felt more so if the readers too, were unawares of what had gone down... For me from the outset of the book and that fateful April night in 1912 - it was clear how the book would eventual come to its conclusion...

Despite this, it was a lovely and heartwarming story of hope, love and courage against the steepest of odds.

'Courage is only fear that has said its prayers.'

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young, first class, woman boards "the ship of dreams", the Titanic. This young woman is on her way back to America from England, having gone home for her mother's funeral. She dreads returning to her husband, who is abusive. The only thing that has her looking forward to returning is her baby son. While on board, she becomes acquainted with Margaret Brown and admires her for the way she speaks her mind. Fast forward a few years later, she has left her abusive husband and is in hiding under the name "Rose".

Anyone else think this sounds like Titanic fanfiction? That was the cord it struck with me.

When I added this book to my to-read list, I really thought it was going to be about Captain Smith's daughter...I mean, it is called The Captain's Daughter right? But Captain Smith's daughter plays a extremely minor role compared to other characters in the book. So, I'm not really sure how the title is supposed to fit in.

I was also surprised that this book covered so much time, 1912-1959. It honestly could have been 200 pages shorter and nothing would have been lost. However, it wasn't the last 100 pages that needed to be cut, those were some of the most touching scenes.

I never grew attached to any of the characters the way I had hoped. Of them all (and there are A LOT), I felt the most for Angelo but my favorite was probably Anthony and he was only there for a very brief amount of time compared to others.

Overall it was alright, I did like some parts more than others but I won't be rushing out and telling people they need to read this right now.

[Henrieke · Rating 3 out of 5]

- 2.5 stars -

This was not as great as I expected it to be. Despite the great theme (Titanic survivor looking for her family), I hardly felt connected to the main characters in this book.

Due to the time span (roughly 40 years) and the number of 'main' characters (about 6 of them), each person was discussed very briefly and not in-depth at all. Sometimes I wondered; 'how is that person doing?' And then there would be a page or something on that persons life, but it were mere facts and hardly any emotions. The only person I feel I got to know very well, died halfway this book.

Also, the amount of coincidental events was a bit too much for me. Why did that one guy meet a specific person during World War II in Italy? It feels like the writer did it to complete the plot in the story. A bit staged if you ask me.
Then there is the mystery of the title. It doesn't suit the story at all!

However, this was an interesting story, a fun read. Would I recommend reading it? No, probably not.

[Myreadbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

J'ai particulièrement aimé l'intrigue dans ce roman depuis le temps que je voulais le lire. On y retrouve Celeste et May que le destin à rapproché durant le naufrage du titanic, elles vont se liées d'amitié et l'auteure va nous compter leur histoire durant la période de 1912 à 1959.

I especially liked the plot in this novel since the time I wanted to read it. We find Celeste and May that destiny closer together during the sinking of the Titanic, they will become friends and the author will tell us their story during the period from 1912 to 1959.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel, I would have given it five stars but I thought that it stretched the 'reveal' out for too long. The book starts with the Titanic tragedy and continues through two world wars following the lives of three of the survivors. It seems to be well researched, each era is faithfully depicted. I don't think that I have read any books by this author but I will be looking for more of her books.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no hesitation in giving this book a five star rating. It was such a thoroughly good read, well presented, a story of love and loss and families and friendships, spanning some four decades an starting with the Titanic and her fateful voyage. I was sorry to come to the end of the book, I was really absorbed in wanting to know what happened yet I knew there must be an end.

[Sladja_n_a · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Sve žene pre ili kasnije nauče da čuvaju tajne koje nose duboko u sebi. Ovo je jedna od tajni koje treba da ostanu pokopane."
"U ratu niko ne pobeđuje, dušo. Čak ni oni koji misle da su pobedili."

Prva polovina knjige mi je bila odlična, druga polovina me je smorila. Imala sam utisak da je knjiga od 1000 stranica.

[Wicahpis · Rating 4 out of 5]

É uma história, com histórias dentro e dentro da História do mundo