What do you think?
Rate this book
Brodolom
Grace Winter, 22, is both a newlywed and a widow. She is also on trial for her life. In the summer of 1914, the elegant ocean liner carrying her and her husband Henry across the Atlantic suffers a mysterious explosion. Setting aside his own safety, Henry secures Grace a place in a lifeboat, which the survivors quickly realize is over capacity. For any to live, some must die. As the castaways battle the elements, and each other, Grace recollects the unorthodox way she and Henry met, and the new life of privilege she thought she'd found. Will she pay any price to keep it? The Lifeboat is a page–turning novel of hard choices and survival, narrated by a woman as unforgettable and complex as the events she describes.
294 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2012
631 people are currently reading
18411 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Rogan
10 books192 followersCharlotte Rogan spent 25 years as a closet writer before THE LIFEBOAT was published in 2012. The book was nominated for the Guardian first book award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and the Goldsboro Books and Historical Writers Association debut historical fiction prize. It was included on The Huffington Post's 2015 list of "21 books from the last 5 years that every woman should read" and has been translated into 26 languages. Rogan's second novel, NOW AND AGAIN, was published in April, 2016.
“Writing is my attempt at reverence—for the natural world and for the thing in people that will sometimes do the right thing in spite of the consequences to themselves and in spite of the cacophony of voices claiming privileged insight into what the right thing is.”
“Writing is my attempt at reverence—for the natural world and for the thing in people that will sometimes do the right thing in spite of the consequences to themselves and in spite of the cacophony of voices claiming privileged insight into what the right thing is.”
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,845 reviews
July 5, 2018
1914.
the atlantic ocean.
39 people.
one lifeboat.
where people stop being polite and start being real.
oh, yeah...
i loved this book.
it has all the elements of a good survival story with all the furnishings of a well-written mystery novel. alliances will form, motives will be shrouded, lies and misdirection will win the day, and exposure and deprivation will make even the well-intentioned people a little loopy and unreliable.
it is a great idea for a novel, and rogan writes it well. the framing device is of a survivor - married for ten weeks and a widow for over six - standing trial along with two other women for murrrderrrrr. but where is the line between murder and what needs to be done in order to come out the other side of extreme circumstances?
and is anyone at all telling the truth?
this story is very carefully told. hints are dropped here and there, peppering the narrative with doubt and revelations of manipulation, feigned oblivion, and ulterior motives, but it is still a pretty harrowing survival story. it just happens to also be a clever character study and a meditation on faith vs human agency, gender politics, and difficult choices.
all in this tiny little package!
this is the queen of all unreliable narrators, and i found myself wanting to start the whole book over again from the beginning immediately after finishing it.
i don't want to give anything away, but i highly suggest putting it on your "to-read" shelf and snatching it up when it comes out on april 10.
i am excited to talk about this book with others.
come to my blog!
the atlantic ocean.
39 people.
one lifeboat.
where people stop being polite and start being real.
oh, yeah...
i loved this book.
it has all the elements of a good survival story with all the furnishings of a well-written mystery novel. alliances will form, motives will be shrouded, lies and misdirection will win the day, and exposure and deprivation will make even the well-intentioned people a little loopy and unreliable.
it is a great idea for a novel, and rogan writes it well. the framing device is of a survivor - married for ten weeks and a widow for over six - standing trial along with two other women for murrrderrrrr. but where is the line between murder and what needs to be done in order to come out the other side of extreme circumstances?
and is anyone at all telling the truth?
this story is very carefully told. hints are dropped here and there, peppering the narrative with doubt and revelations of manipulation, feigned oblivion, and ulterior motives, but it is still a pretty harrowing survival story. it just happens to also be a clever character study and a meditation on faith vs human agency, gender politics, and difficult choices.
all in this tiny little package!
this is the queen of all unreliable narrators, and i found myself wanting to start the whole book over again from the beginning immediately after finishing it.
i don't want to give anything away, but i highly suggest putting it on your "to-read" shelf and snatching it up when it comes out on april 10.
i am excited to talk about this book with others.
come to my blog!
November 6, 2022
“Because ours had been one of the last lifeboats to be launched, the water before us was congested. I saw two boats collide as they tried to avoid a mass of floating debris, and a calm center of my mind was able to understand that Mr. Hardie was aiming for a patch of clear water away from the rest. He had lost his cap, and with his wild-looking hair and fiery eyes, he seemed as suited to disaster as we were terrified by it. ‘Put yer backs into it, mates!’ he shouted, ‘show me what yer made of!” and the people with the oars redoubled their efforts. At the same time, there was a series of explosions behind us, and the cries and screams of the people still on board the Empress Alexandra or in the water near it sounded as hell must sound, if it exists. I glanced back and saw the large hulk of the ocean liner shudder and roll, and for the first time I noticed orange flames licking at the cabin windows…”
- Charlotte Rogan, The Lifeboat
Before I even started the first page of The Lifeboat, I knew that no matter what, I was going to like it, at least a little. The reason: you can’t go wrong, dramatically speaking, when you set your story on a lifeboat adrift at sea.
Three elemental forces are instantly at work. Most fundamentally, the story pits mankind versus nature, a tiny human arrayed against the vast ocean. Then, there is the inevitable clash of survivor versus survivor, as rations run out, and tempers fray. Finally, you have each person struggling with themselves, a conflict between the strength of spirit and the weakness of flesh.
Without having to do any plotting or outlining, the dramatic arcs of your story have written themselves. All that’s left is to populate your bobbing little life raft and decide upon your ending.
The Lifeboat is nowhere near a great novel, but when it comes to lost-at-sea tales, I’m a cheap date. Give me a sunken vessel, a small craft crammed with diverse people, and the slowly dawning realization that help isn’t coming, and you’ll get my undivided attention.
***
If The Lifeboat sounds familiar, it should! The basic setup will be familiar to anyone who has read Stephen Crane’s The Open Boat, or watched Alfred Hitchcock’s similarly-named 1944 film, or happened to catch the Tyrone Powers-starring, Hitchcock-knockoff Abandon Ship! while drinking wine and watching Turner Classic Movies at 2:00 a.m.
By way of summary, it is 1914 and the passenger liner Empress Alexandria is on her way to New York. Suddenly, she is rocked by an explosion and begins to sink. The titular lifeboat is loaded and launched before the Empress Alexandria dives from sight. Thirty-nine people, a mixture of men, women, and a child, escape on the boat. But that, as they say, is only the beginning.
***
Rogan’s twist – and it isn’t earthshaking – is to begin the novel after the lifeboat has already been rescued. The first-person narrator, the young, newly-married Grace Winter, introduces herself to us by standing in the rain (naturally, because this is fiction) and coyly mentioning that she is set to “stand trial for my life.” She also informs us that she has two co-defendants – Hannah West and Ursula Grant – and that she is a widow.
Depending on your vantage, this is either a bold or tired ploy. In any event, it makes Rogan’s task harder than necessary. By front-loading vital information, the chief question of any life-or-death story – will the heroine survive? – has already been answered. We know that people will make it out of the lifeboat, the only question is how. Rogan is essentially promising the reader that the explanation will have more emotional heft than simply discovering who makes it off the boat. Unfortunately, this is not a promise that she can keep.
***
Rogan does a credible job with the physical aspects. She is good at giving you a visceral sense of being stuck in a small lifeboat in a big sea. Her story feels real when she sticks to hunger, thirst, windburn, blisters, cracked lips; you believe her when she describes the tumultuous swells, the threatening clouds, the endless lines of waves. The suffering of the survivors are made palpable. This alone makes The Lifeboat readable. It is only 274 pages long, well-paced, and mildly diverting.
That is all it is, though.
Rogan tries for more – which I respect – but cannot deliver on her ambitions.
***
It starts with the characters, who are shallow people bobbing atop a deep ocean. The Lifeboat hinges on the conflict between the castaways, yet they are poorly drawn and easily confused. With one exception, no one makes a lasting impression. Some of the survivors aren’t even referred to by name. Take “the deacon,” for instance. You will not be surprised to learn that he prays a lot. There is also an inveterate whiner named Mary Ann. She says some cryptic things that are never explained. No matter. I was too distracted by her name. Another three-hour tour gone horribly wrong!
Hannah and Mrs. Grant, Grace’s future co-defendants, are there, of course. Neither of them are given any motivation or back-story. They just kind of exist until the plot requires them to do otherwise. Neither of them have accrued enough weight to deliver the impact that Rogan expects of them.
The only character who generates any interest is the antagonist, Mr. Hardie. Hardie is a sailor from the Empress Alexandria and takes charge of the boat. At first he is seen as their salvation; later, as things go bad, he becomes the locus of complaint. He stands out for a couple reasons. First, he is the hub of the central conflict over who is to decide the fate of the lifeboat. Second, he is the focus of so much speculation by Grace that you’re almost forced to be intrigued. In the end, he is sketched as thinly as the rest, but the mysteriousness adds to his allure.
I actually did a little thought experiment with regards to Rogan’s characters. I created a hypothetical. If I transplanted these people to a different context, could they hold a story? What if, for example, Grace and Mary Ann and Mr. Hardie and the deacon were put into a pizzeria. Would we have the makings of a decent book? The answer is no. Unless the pizzeria sank in the middle of the ocean, and everyone had to climb aboard a huge pie crust to survive.
***
Grace herself is a rather unsympathetic guide. She is the classic unreliable narrator, her memory failing at convenient times. She withholds information for no reason save to gin up false tension.
It’s too bad that literary red herrings are not edible, because the survivors could have feasted. Rogan sets up a number of small mysteries, none of which are resolved. These side plots are smoke and mirrors, meant to distract from the thinness of the story. To an extent, I suppose it worked. Once I got reading, I never considered stopping. Rogan intrigued me enough to keep going, page after page, long after I realized that The Lifeboat was decidedly average.
***
The Lifeboat suffers a bit from not knowing what it wants to be. Is it a tale of survival? A tale of mystery? A courtroom drama? A bit of all three, thrown into a mixture that never coalesces. There are missed opportunities, also. Rogan subtly sets up battle lines between the men and women on the boat. Properly executed, this might have been a fascinating deconstruction of gender roles. While Rogan feints in this direction, she is too distracted by other elements.
All might have been saved by a slam-bang ending. That never comes. The big event Grace alludes to on page six turns out to be the very thing you guessed on page seven. The bookended storytelling also backfires, because the lifeboat sequences have inherent power, while the courtroom scenes do not. For some reason, just as things reach a fever-pitch on the boat, Rogan jarringly switches course, placing us in jail with Grace instead of the open water.
The Lifeboat is a novel I will slot into the time-killer category of books, best read at the bus stop, airport, or the dentist’s waiting room. You might even pack it in your luggage for your next cruise, just in case you end up having some extra time on your hands.
- Charlotte Rogan, The Lifeboat
Before I even started the first page of The Lifeboat, I knew that no matter what, I was going to like it, at least a little. The reason: you can’t go wrong, dramatically speaking, when you set your story on a lifeboat adrift at sea.
Three elemental forces are instantly at work. Most fundamentally, the story pits mankind versus nature, a tiny human arrayed against the vast ocean. Then, there is the inevitable clash of survivor versus survivor, as rations run out, and tempers fray. Finally, you have each person struggling with themselves, a conflict between the strength of spirit and the weakness of flesh.
Without having to do any plotting or outlining, the dramatic arcs of your story have written themselves. All that’s left is to populate your bobbing little life raft and decide upon your ending.
The Lifeboat is nowhere near a great novel, but when it comes to lost-at-sea tales, I’m a cheap date. Give me a sunken vessel, a small craft crammed with diverse people, and the slowly dawning realization that help isn’t coming, and you’ll get my undivided attention.
***
If The Lifeboat sounds familiar, it should! The basic setup will be familiar to anyone who has read Stephen Crane’s The Open Boat, or watched Alfred Hitchcock’s similarly-named 1944 film, or happened to catch the Tyrone Powers-starring, Hitchcock-knockoff Abandon Ship! while drinking wine and watching Turner Classic Movies at 2:00 a.m.
By way of summary, it is 1914 and the passenger liner Empress Alexandria is on her way to New York. Suddenly, she is rocked by an explosion and begins to sink. The titular lifeboat is loaded and launched before the Empress Alexandria dives from sight. Thirty-nine people, a mixture of men, women, and a child, escape on the boat. But that, as they say, is only the beginning.
***
Rogan’s twist – and it isn’t earthshaking – is to begin the novel after the lifeboat has already been rescued. The first-person narrator, the young, newly-married Grace Winter, introduces herself to us by standing in the rain (naturally, because this is fiction) and coyly mentioning that she is set to “stand trial for my life.” She also informs us that she has two co-defendants – Hannah West and Ursula Grant – and that she is a widow.
Depending on your vantage, this is either a bold or tired ploy. In any event, it makes Rogan’s task harder than necessary. By front-loading vital information, the chief question of any life-or-death story – will the heroine survive? – has already been answered. We know that people will make it out of the lifeboat, the only question is how. Rogan is essentially promising the reader that the explanation will have more emotional heft than simply discovering who makes it off the boat. Unfortunately, this is not a promise that she can keep.
***
Rogan does a credible job with the physical aspects. She is good at giving you a visceral sense of being stuck in a small lifeboat in a big sea. Her story feels real when she sticks to hunger, thirst, windburn, blisters, cracked lips; you believe her when she describes the tumultuous swells, the threatening clouds, the endless lines of waves. The suffering of the survivors are made palpable. This alone makes The Lifeboat readable. It is only 274 pages long, well-paced, and mildly diverting.
That is all it is, though.
Rogan tries for more – which I respect – but cannot deliver on her ambitions.
***
It starts with the characters, who are shallow people bobbing atop a deep ocean. The Lifeboat hinges on the conflict between the castaways, yet they are poorly drawn and easily confused. With one exception, no one makes a lasting impression. Some of the survivors aren’t even referred to by name. Take “the deacon,” for instance. You will not be surprised to learn that he prays a lot. There is also an inveterate whiner named Mary Ann. She says some cryptic things that are never explained. No matter. I was too distracted by her name. Another three-hour tour gone horribly wrong!
Hannah and Mrs. Grant, Grace’s future co-defendants, are there, of course. Neither of them are given any motivation or back-story. They just kind of exist until the plot requires them to do otherwise. Neither of them have accrued enough weight to deliver the impact that Rogan expects of them.
The only character who generates any interest is the antagonist, Mr. Hardie. Hardie is a sailor from the Empress Alexandria and takes charge of the boat. At first he is seen as their salvation; later, as things go bad, he becomes the locus of complaint. He stands out for a couple reasons. First, he is the hub of the central conflict over who is to decide the fate of the lifeboat. Second, he is the focus of so much speculation by Grace that you’re almost forced to be intrigued. In the end, he is sketched as thinly as the rest, but the mysteriousness adds to his allure.
I actually did a little thought experiment with regards to Rogan’s characters. I created a hypothetical. If I transplanted these people to a different context, could they hold a story? What if, for example, Grace and Mary Ann and Mr. Hardie and the deacon were put into a pizzeria. Would we have the makings of a decent book? The answer is no. Unless the pizzeria sank in the middle of the ocean, and everyone had to climb aboard a huge pie crust to survive.
***
Grace herself is a rather unsympathetic guide. She is the classic unreliable narrator, her memory failing at convenient times. She withholds information for no reason save to gin up false tension.
It’s too bad that literary red herrings are not edible, because the survivors could have feasted. Rogan sets up a number of small mysteries, none of which are resolved. These side plots are smoke and mirrors, meant to distract from the thinness of the story. To an extent, I suppose it worked. Once I got reading, I never considered stopping. Rogan intrigued me enough to keep going, page after page, long after I realized that The Lifeboat was decidedly average.
***
The Lifeboat suffers a bit from not knowing what it wants to be. Is it a tale of survival? A tale of mystery? A courtroom drama? A bit of all three, thrown into a mixture that never coalesces. There are missed opportunities, also. Rogan subtly sets up battle lines between the men and women on the boat. Properly executed, this might have been a fascinating deconstruction of gender roles. While Rogan feints in this direction, she is too distracted by other elements.
All might have been saved by a slam-bang ending. That never comes. The big event Grace alludes to on page six turns out to be the very thing you guessed on page seven. The bookended storytelling also backfires, because the lifeboat sequences have inherent power, while the courtroom scenes do not. For some reason, just as things reach a fever-pitch on the boat, Rogan jarringly switches course, placing us in jail with Grace instead of the open water.
The Lifeboat is a novel I will slot into the time-killer category of books, best read at the bus stop, airport, or the dentist’s waiting room. You might even pack it in your luggage for your next cruise, just in case you end up having some extra time on your hands.
April 27, 2012
I had such high hopes for this book as it sounded like such a good plot for a story. This book is about 39 people adrift in the ocean in a lifeboat after a mysterious explosion on their ocean liner (think sinking of the Titanic). Grace Winter, newly wedded and now a widow, is one of those on a tiny lifeboat not fit for 39 people. How do 39 people survive together with different points of view, little water and even less food?
This was really difficult for me to get through, but I plowed my way through it. Why didn't I like it? I'm not sure. I would have thought I would have loved a book such as this. The writer wrote it as a first person narrative, but Grace was very passive and the thoughts that poured through her head were not what I wanted to read or expected to read. It seemed to just go on and on and on. Not much "action" but lots on thoughts of Grace.
Would I recommend this to you? It depends on what you like. If you like books that don't develop the characters very much but discuss ethics, morals, thoughts of the times, go ahead and read it. Me? I wouldn't read it as there are just too many good books out there and so little time!!
This was really difficult for me to get through, but I plowed my way through it. Why didn't I like it? I'm not sure. I would have thought I would have loved a book such as this. The writer wrote it as a first person narrative, but Grace was very passive and the thoughts that poured through her head were not what I wanted to read or expected to read. It seemed to just go on and on and on. Not much "action" but lots on thoughts of Grace.
Would I recommend this to you? It depends on what you like. If you like books that don't develop the characters very much but discuss ethics, morals, thoughts of the times, go ahead and read it. Me? I wouldn't read it as there are just too many good books out there and so little time!!
January 30, 2019
I read the book very quickly and enjoyed it as I read it, and then I got to the end and I thought, huh. Just..huh. It left me with no other thought except a certain neutral feeling that I was glad that was over and I could read the next book.
So is it enough for a book to be entertaining while you read it, and then forgettable? I guess that should be enough, only this was ground that has been covered better before, by Alfred Hitchcock. But where Alfred Hitchcock's film is visceral and tense, in this book, because the narrator has every reason to hold things back from the reader, there is a certain distance set up between her and the reader. This narrative choice makes it hard to care about the story much beyond the time it takes to turn the pages to the end. The climax in particular felt flat because of this distancing effect of the narrative voice.
In spite of these flaws I really admire the skill of this first time author and I hope she takes more chances with her next book, which I plan to try.
So is it enough for a book to be entertaining while you read it, and then forgettable? I guess that should be enough, only this was ground that has been covered better before, by Alfred Hitchcock. But where Alfred Hitchcock's film is visceral and tense, in this book, because the narrator has every reason to hold things back from the reader, there is a certain distance set up between her and the reader. This narrative choice makes it hard to care about the story much beyond the time it takes to turn the pages to the end. The climax in particular felt flat because of this distancing effect of the narrative voice.
In spite of these flaws I really admire the skill of this first time author and I hope she takes more chances with her next book, which I plan to try.
September 23, 2023
A story of 39 survivors on an ill-equipped lifeboat. The lifeboat was adrift for 21 days. Rogan provides insight into what tragedy does to different personalities and temperaments. It's a story from one of the surveyor's point of view, who is also being tried for murder. She, Grace, is a 22 year old newlywed who was on the ship with her husband. Her marriage was a secret from his family. He comes from money and her family had fallen from grace. His family wanted him to wed into a more fitting family. So, it's from a woman's prospective, a woman who is trying to survive her financial fall from grace and then survive in a lifeboat. The are very interesting metaphors about surviving life under regular circumstances and surviving under horrendous circumstances.....life as in a lifeboat. Rogan brings up those philosophical questions of "what would you do if" "how would you react if" A very interesting read and totally believable.
April 24, 2024
Rating: 3.875* of five
The Publisher Saith: Grace Winter, 22, is both a newlywed and a widow. She is also on trial for her life.
In the summer of 1914, the elegant ocean liner carrying her and her husband Henry across the Atlantic suffers a mysterious explosion. Setting aside his own safety, Henry secures Grace a place in a lifeboat, which the survivors quickly realize is over capacity. For any to live, some must die.
As the castaways battle the elements, and each other, Grace recollects the unorthodox way she and Henry met, and the new life of privilege she thought she'd found. Will she pay any price to keep it?
The Lifeboat is a page-turning novel of hard choices and survival, narrated by a woman as unforgettable and complex as the events she describes.
My Review: This is Charlotte Rogan's first novel. I do not expect it will, excepting only her own lack of interest in pursuing a writing career, be her last. It has the voice and the control of a fourth or fifth novel, one long chewed over and considered and drafted, which then is utterly transformed by some magical alchemy of fresh insight.
Rogan's forty-person lifeboat is almost entirely filled when it hits the cold, cold North Atlantic in 1914. Hardie, a seaman of the doomed luxury liner the Empress Alexandra (named for the equally doomed Russian Czarina who was herself to founder in a few short years), has hustled himself and our narrator Grace Winter, aboard at the last possible instant, as the lifeboat was about to hit the sea. The narrator, we know from page one, is creating the story we're reading for her lawyers, those defending her from a murder charge leveled against her for, in the course of a mutiny against the morally suspect Hardie, killing him by pitching him overboard.
What is it about this story, then, with its not-new outlines, that merits the busy, overbooked reader's attention? Grace. She is an unreliable narrator, she is even aware of her unreliable perceptions, and yet she is, in this tale, weaving a myth as subtle as any out of the Greek sacred tradition.
Grace doesn't ponder or study on anything. Grace floats above the sea, whether the literal North Atlantic or the metaphorical subconscious, in a dangerously unreliable craft, loaded with people who don't seem real to her, don't seem like actual flesh and blood, don't exist in full four-dimensional spacetime for her.
Grace is in shock. Probably. Grace is manipulative and selfish. Probably. Grace is a sociopath. Quite possibly. But Grace, above all things, is a survivor. So what is Grace, in the end? Victim or victor?
The cast of characters includes some stock people...the bluff and hearty military man, the iron-willed older matron, the brainless helpless girlie-girl...but also has some really interesting people, too. Grace herself, thank goodness; also the Anglican priest, a useless and vapid nithing who is there, it seems, to make Rogan's point that god will not be the help and succor of the lifeboaties, still less their savior. The able seaman, the tough decision-maker Hardie, is deliciously nasty, admirably strong, and likely as not guilty of taking the bribe Grace's husband offered him to save her (and himself, which one senses he would've done no matter what) as the lifeboat cast accuses him of. He's up against it from the beginning with the passengers, because he beats away survivors trying to get into their already over capacity boat. Everyone assumes that, like the Titanic a mere two years before, the survivors of the Empress Alexandra will be rescued within hours, therefore having a few extra people on board will be okay. Hardie, no one's fool, refuses on behalf of all of them, to play dice with god. He is proven right as the days stretch on...but the initial brutality is what stays in the passengers's minds. Thus his doom is sealed.
The setting, and the harshness of the crisis the characters face, and the inevitable results of being trapped in an unforgiving situation, all work together to make the book gripping. It's tense and it's exciting, and there is a cracking good helping of sea-specific action. And it's this point that allows Rogan the full scope of her talent. She gives Grace the gift of a poet's eye in a thriller-writer's head. There is, as there statutorily must be in sea-rescue takes, a storm. Grace thinks, as the storm approaches, that the water
There now. If that doesn't make you want to invest five or six hours of your reading life in the book, then nothing I can say will change your mind.
The Publisher Saith: Grace Winter, 22, is both a newlywed and a widow. She is also on trial for her life.
In the summer of 1914, the elegant ocean liner carrying her and her husband Henry across the Atlantic suffers a mysterious explosion. Setting aside his own safety, Henry secures Grace a place in a lifeboat, which the survivors quickly realize is over capacity. For any to live, some must die.
As the castaways battle the elements, and each other, Grace recollects the unorthodox way she and Henry met, and the new life of privilege she thought she'd found. Will she pay any price to keep it?
The Lifeboat is a page-turning novel of hard choices and survival, narrated by a woman as unforgettable and complex as the events she describes.
My Review: This is Charlotte Rogan's first novel. I do not expect it will, excepting only her own lack of interest in pursuing a writing career, be her last. It has the voice and the control of a fourth or fifth novel, one long chewed over and considered and drafted, which then is utterly transformed by some magical alchemy of fresh insight.
Rogan's forty-person lifeboat is almost entirely filled when it hits the cold, cold North Atlantic in 1914. Hardie, a seaman of the doomed luxury liner the Empress Alexandra (named for the equally doomed Russian Czarina who was herself to founder in a few short years), has hustled himself and our narrator Grace Winter, aboard at the last possible instant, as the lifeboat was about to hit the sea. The narrator, we know from page one, is creating the story we're reading for her lawyers, those defending her from a murder charge leveled against her for, in the course of a mutiny against the morally suspect Hardie, killing him by pitching him overboard.
What is it about this story, then, with its not-new outlines, that merits the busy, overbooked reader's attention? Grace. She is an unreliable narrator, she is even aware of her unreliable perceptions, and yet she is, in this tale, weaving a myth as subtle as any out of the Greek sacred tradition.
Grace doesn't ponder or study on anything. Grace floats above the sea, whether the literal North Atlantic or the metaphorical subconscious, in a dangerously unreliable craft, loaded with people who don't seem real to her, don't seem like actual flesh and blood, don't exist in full four-dimensional spacetime for her.
Grace is in shock. Probably. Grace is manipulative and selfish. Probably. Grace is a sociopath. Quite possibly. But Grace, above all things, is a survivor. So what is Grace, in the end? Victim or victor?
The cast of characters includes some stock people...the bluff and hearty military man, the iron-willed older matron, the brainless helpless girlie-girl...but also has some really interesting people, too. Grace herself, thank goodness; also the Anglican priest, a useless and vapid nithing who is there, it seems, to make Rogan's point that god will not be the help and succor of the lifeboaties, still less their savior. The able seaman, the tough decision-maker Hardie, is deliciously nasty, admirably strong, and likely as not guilty of taking the bribe Grace's husband offered him to save her (and himself, which one senses he would've done no matter what) as the lifeboat cast accuses him of. He's up against it from the beginning with the passengers, because he beats away survivors trying to get into their already over capacity boat. Everyone assumes that, like the Titanic a mere two years before, the survivors of the Empress Alexandra will be rescued within hours, therefore having a few extra people on board will be okay. Hardie, no one's fool, refuses on behalf of all of them, to play dice with god. He is proven right as the days stretch on...but the initial brutality is what stays in the passengers's minds. Thus his doom is sealed.
The setting, and the harshness of the crisis the characters face, and the inevitable results of being trapped in an unforgiving situation, all work together to make the book gripping. It's tense and it's exciting, and there is a cracking good helping of sea-specific action. And it's this point that allows Rogan the full scope of her talent. She gives Grace the gift of a poet's eye in a thriller-writer's head. There is, as there statutorily must be in sea-rescue takes, a storm. Grace thinks, as the storm approaches, that the water
was bluish-black and rolled past us like an unending herd of whales. The lifeboat alternately rose high on their broad backs and slid down into the deep depressions between them. Above, clouds hurtled through the sky before the wind.... I shivered, and for the first time since the day of the shipwreck, I felt profoundly afraid. We were doomed.
There now. If that doesn't make you want to invest five or six hours of your reading life in the book, then nothing I can say will change your mind.
July 17, 2014
To set the stage; it is 1914 and 39 people, including our narrator Grace, are adrift in the Atlantic, in a life boat that was not designed to hold so many. Their provisions are scant and the possibility of imminent rescue is at best uncertain; but for the reader this story actually begins some time later when Grace our narrator, is about to stand trial for her life.
In preparation for this Grace must recall as much as possible about what happened on that lifeboat and when.
What follows is a captivating, believable, harrowing tale of survival. Imagine 39 separate personalities thrown together in uncomfortably cramped quarters; quarters that brook little movement. Now colour them hungry, thirsty and terrified for their loved ones, whose fates are unknown; colour them fighting both physically and psychologically, for their very own lives.
Imagine yourself and perhaps others you may or may not know, in that boat. Stephen King says; When it comes to the past everyone writes fiction.
I could not look away. This is, gasp and breathe, superb storytelling!
I was also about to say that this is three for three, but on second thought it is actually four and I am sure there will be more. I’m talking of course about the number of excellent books that karen has led me to. So it is then, that with an outward sweep of my arms, that I do bow down and say..... thank you.
In preparation for this Grace must recall as much as possible about what happened on that lifeboat and when.
What follows is a captivating, believable, harrowing tale of survival. Imagine 39 separate personalities thrown together in uncomfortably cramped quarters; quarters that brook little movement. Now colour them hungry, thirsty and terrified for their loved ones, whose fates are unknown; colour them fighting both physically and psychologically, for their very own lives.
Imagine yourself and perhaps others you may or may not know, in that boat. Stephen King says; When it comes to the past everyone writes fiction.
I could not look away. This is, gasp and breathe, superb storytelling!
I was also about to say that this is three for three, but on second thought it is actually four and I am sure there will be more. I’m talking of course about the number of excellent books that karen has led me to. So it is then, that with an outward sweep of my arms, that I do bow down and say..... thank you.
July 13, 2016
Αμφιλεγόμενος ο νόμος της επιβίωσης. Αμφιλεγόμενη και η γραφή του βιβλίου. Η συγγραφέας καταπιάνεται με ένα πολύ θλιβερό και φρικτό θέμα,ένα ναυάγιο και την ανάγκη των ελαχίστων επιβατών που έζησαν κατά τη διάρκεια και μετά απο τη ναυτική τραγωδία,για σωτηρία.
Η πλοκή και η εξέλιξη ειναι γρήγορες, στρωτές και άκρως ενδιαφέρουσες. Το βιβλίο δεν σε αφήνει να το αφήσεις. Όλα γίνονται γρήγορα,τρομακτικά,θλιβερά ανθρώπινα και αρκούντως συνταρακτικά.
Υπάρχει όμως μια αίσθηση που λείπει. Μια νοερή επικοινωνία που πρέπει να έχει ο συγγραφέας με τον αναγνώστη για να μπει στην φαντασία του και να μοιραστούν τα γραφόμενα ως προσωπικές εμπειρίες.
Είναι μια καλογραμμένη τραγωδία αλλά η κορύφωση της δεν με άγγιξε. Δεν με επηρέασε ψυχολογικά. Μολονότι,ότι έχει να κάνει με θαλασσινά ταξίδια,απέραντους σκοτεινούς ωκεανούς,ναυάγια,πνιγμούς και ανημποριά μπροστά στον υγρό θάνατο, είναι ένας απο τους εφιαλτικούς μου φόβους.Και παρόλο που σοκάρομαι και μόνο στη σκέψη μιας τρικυμίας,δεν έζησα τον απόλυτο πανικό μπροστά σε αυτό το φρικτό ναυάγιο.
Κατά τα άλλα,αξίζει να σημειωθεί ότι με μεγάλη επιδεξιότητα και επιτυχία η συγγραφέας χειρίζεται τα αρχέγονα ανθρώπινα ένστικτα.
Την σκληρότητα και την ιδιοτέλεια αυτών που κυριαρχούν σε ένα παιχνίδι επιβίωσης. Τη δύναμη, το ψυχικό σθένος, την πίστη, την απελπισία και τον αγώνα μεταξύ λογικής και τρέλας που φτάνουν στα όρια της ανθρώπινης ύπαρξης εκεί που μονομαχούν η ζωή με το θάνατο.
Εκεί που δεν υπάρχει πολιτισμός,δικαιοσύνη,διαύγεια σκέψεων, αξιοπρέπεια και ενοχές.
Εκεί φαίνονται οι άνθρωποι και τα υποείδη ανθρωπων.
Όταν η ζωή σου εξαρτάται απο συνθήκες που δεν ελέγχονται και τα ένστικτα σου επιτίθονται βάρβαρα σε σε ότι εχεις μάθει να σέβεσαι,να νιώθεις και να πιστεύεις, τότε αποκαλύπτεται ενα άλλο υπαρξιακό επίπεδο που σίγουρα είσαι ένοχος αν καταφέρεις να ζήσεις και περήφανος αν αξιωθείς να πεθάνεις.
Ωστόσο οι επιζώντες έχουν πεθάνει χίλιες φορές στην προσπάθεια σωτηρίας τους και κανείς δεν είναι ο εαυτός του μετά απο αυτό.
Απολύτως κανείς. Ο θάνατος λυτρώνει τα ανθρώπινα ερείπια. Και η σωτηρία τα στοιχειώνει για πάντα.
Η πλοκή και η εξέλιξη ειναι γρήγορες, στρωτές και άκρως ενδιαφέρουσες. Το βιβλίο δεν σε αφήνει να το αφήσεις. Όλα γίνονται γρήγορα,τρομακτικά,θλιβερά ανθρώπινα και αρκούντως συνταρακτικά.
Υπάρχει όμως μια αίσθηση που λείπει. Μια νοερή επικοινωνία που πρέπει να έχει ο συγγραφέας με τον αναγνώστη για να μπει στην φαντασία του και να μοιραστούν τα γραφόμενα ως προσωπικές εμπειρίες.
Είναι μια καλογραμμένη τραγωδία αλλά η κορύφωση της δεν με άγγιξε. Δεν με επηρέασε ψυχολογικά. Μολονότι,ότι έχει να κάνει με θαλασσινά ταξίδια,απέραντους σκοτεινούς ωκεανούς,ναυάγια,πνιγμούς και ανημποριά μπροστά στον υγρό θάνατο, είναι ένας απο τους εφιαλτικούς μου φόβους.Και παρόλο που σοκάρομαι και μόνο στη σκέψη μιας τρικυμίας,δεν έζησα τον απόλυτο πανικό μπροστά σε αυτό το φρικτό ναυάγιο.
Κατά τα άλλα,αξίζει να σημειωθεί ότι με μεγάλη επιδεξιότητα και επιτυχία η συγγραφέας χειρίζεται τα αρχέγονα ανθρώπινα ένστικτα.
Την σκληρότητα και την ιδιοτέλεια αυτών που κυριαρχούν σε ένα παιχνίδι επιβίωσης. Τη δύναμη, το ψυχικό σθένος, την πίστη, την απελπισία και τον αγώνα μεταξύ λογικής και τρέλας που φτάνουν στα όρια της ανθρώπινης ύπαρξης εκεί που μονομαχούν η ζωή με το θάνατο.
Εκεί που δεν υπάρχει πολιτισμός,δικαιοσύνη,διαύγεια σκέψεων, αξιοπρέπεια και ενοχές.
Εκεί φαίνονται οι άνθρωποι και τα υποείδη ανθρωπων.
Όταν η ζωή σου εξαρτάται απο συνθήκες που δεν ελέγχονται και τα ένστικτα σου επιτίθονται βάρβαρα σε σε ότι εχεις μάθει να σέβεσαι,να νιώθεις και να πιστεύεις, τότε αποκαλύπτεται ενα άλλο υπαρξιακό επίπεδο που σίγουρα είσαι ένοχος αν καταφέρεις να ζήσεις και περήφανος αν αξιωθείς να πεθάνεις.
Ωστόσο οι επιζώντες έχουν πεθάνει χίλιες φορές στην προσπάθεια σωτηρίας τους και κανείς δεν είναι ο εαυτός του μετά απο αυτό.
Απολύτως κανείς. Ο θάνατος λυτρώνει τα ανθρώπινα ερείπια. Και η σωτηρία τα στοιχειώνει για πάντα.
January 19, 2016
Oh Boy...This author has a new book coming out....
I can't help but wonder if I'll be less cynical if I read it. I was dying laughing -rolling on the floor laughing sharing about all my thoughts about this book with my husband..later my kids.
Something about it hit a giggle nerve. I was re-writing this novel as fast as I was reading it in my head! ( mine was comic-tragedy of course-- mostly heavy on the comedy).
I never understood why this little book was so popular for awhile.
Maybe for a great laugh?/!
On Day 4 in "The Lifeboat", Grace (our narrator), says...."Mr. Hoffman spoke without a trace of emotion".
I could NOT stop laughing after that sentence ---I found it hard to take this book serious ---as I ALSO ---did not 'feel' a trace of authentic emotion for this story. (I wanted to)....
These are 'my' personal thoughts.
--We know at the start of the book that a woman is on trial for her life --(did she --or did she 'not' kill a man she was on the lifeboat with?). We know she SURVIVES.....before we start reading. (the back of the book tells us).
Grace goes from 21 days living on a raft boat --to 'prison'. (note: the book was more interesting to me once she got to prison)....towards the very end.
-- I'm STILL laughing as I type (I am sooooooooooooooo sorry). I DO NOT mean this in any righteous way. Its just how I am 'reacting'. I DO NOT blame the author --or anything ---I just keep wanting to LAUGH (a LOT) reading this small novel.
I couldn't seem to filter my mind. (maybe I needed to do meditation) ---
but for starters I kept asking myself...
If I were only married less than a year ---and I was on a ship that was going down with MY NEW HUSBAND ---you can bet your ASS we would have ended up on the SAME lifeboat 'together'. PERIOD!!!! NO-ifs-ands-or-butts-about it! (married=SAME lifeboat)
Another thing --for a small book which was less than 300 pages long ---the author mentions sooooo many characters 'names'. (sure we had our 'main' characters) ---but it seemed pointless to me to 'drop' lifeboat-names as fast as she did --(never having time to develop their character) ---
I would have almost preferred the author say...."The guy with the long nose"....or "Man with bushy eyebrows" than keep dropping names that were not lasting in this story anyway.
And most: My emotions were not 'invested'. It felt like I was reading 'notes' --(things to remember to write in the book) --- but the 'feelings' were flat for me.
And without the feelings --I could have read a newspaper article to read details about a tragedy.
In all fairness: I wasn't a huge fan of the boat movie that came out this year either with almost no words --with Robert Redford. It, 'too', lacked AUTHENIC emotion for me....
whereas I 'did' see the other boat movie "Captain Philips" ---and the type of acting Tom Hanks did in the last few minutes of THAT movie ---was gut-wrenching-believable ---to the point of self-reflecting the ENTIRE depths of the story.
so---I'm not a fan of this book --STRAIGHT-ON--
YET.............I'm THRILLED I had soooooooooooooooooooo much FUN ROLLING-on-the-floor laughing ---(TRYING) to talk to my husband about this book.
And...I am deeply sorry if I am hurting anybody's feelings. Again ---its NOT my intention!
I can't help but wonder if I'll be less cynical if I read it. I was dying laughing -rolling on the floor laughing sharing about all my thoughts about this book with my husband..later my kids.
Something about it hit a giggle nerve. I was re-writing this novel as fast as I was reading it in my head! ( mine was comic-tragedy of course-- mostly heavy on the comedy).
I never understood why this little book was so popular for awhile.
Maybe for a great laugh?/!
On Day 4 in "The Lifeboat", Grace (our narrator), says...."Mr. Hoffman spoke without a trace of emotion".
I could NOT stop laughing after that sentence ---I found it hard to take this book serious ---as I ALSO ---did not 'feel' a trace of authentic emotion for this story. (I wanted to)....
These are 'my' personal thoughts.
--We know at the start of the book that a woman is on trial for her life --(did she --or did she 'not' kill a man she was on the lifeboat with?). We know she SURVIVES.....before we start reading. (the back of the book tells us).
Grace goes from 21 days living on a raft boat --to 'prison'. (note: the book was more interesting to me once she got to prison)....towards the very end.
-- I'm STILL laughing as I type (I am sooooooooooooooo sorry). I DO NOT mean this in any righteous way. Its just how I am 'reacting'. I DO NOT blame the author --or anything ---I just keep wanting to LAUGH (a LOT) reading this small novel.
I couldn't seem to filter my mind. (maybe I needed to do meditation) ---
but for starters I kept asking myself...
If I were only married less than a year ---and I was on a ship that was going down with MY NEW HUSBAND ---you can bet your ASS we would have ended up on the SAME lifeboat 'together'. PERIOD!!!! NO-ifs-ands-or-butts-about it! (married=SAME lifeboat)
Another thing --for a small book which was less than 300 pages long ---the author mentions sooooo many characters 'names'. (sure we had our 'main' characters) ---but it seemed pointless to me to 'drop' lifeboat-names as fast as she did --(never having time to develop their character) ---
I would have almost preferred the author say...."The guy with the long nose"....or "Man with bushy eyebrows" than keep dropping names that were not lasting in this story anyway.
And most: My emotions were not 'invested'. It felt like I was reading 'notes' --(things to remember to write in the book) --- but the 'feelings' were flat for me.
And without the feelings --I could have read a newspaper article to read details about a tragedy.
In all fairness: I wasn't a huge fan of the boat movie that came out this year either with almost no words --with Robert Redford. It, 'too', lacked AUTHENIC emotion for me....
whereas I 'did' see the other boat movie "Captain Philips" ---and the type of acting Tom Hanks did in the last few minutes of THAT movie ---was gut-wrenching-believable ---to the point of self-reflecting the ENTIRE depths of the story.
so---I'm not a fan of this book --STRAIGHT-ON--
YET.............I'm THRILLED I had soooooooooooooooooooo much FUN ROLLING-on-the-floor laughing ---(TRYING) to talk to my husband about this book.
And...I am deeply sorry if I am hurting anybody's feelings. Again ---its NOT my intention!
August 20, 2016
This was a mediocre mess of a historical novel. I had seen some rave reviews of this book and was intrigued by the story: a young woman survives a shipwreck on the Atlantic Ocean in 1914, and there is a power struggle among those on the lifeboat.
Generally I am interested in survival stories and books about civilized society breaking down, but this novel was a pain to get through. For starters, the writing was more juvenile than I expected, and I wondered if I had accidentally picked up a YA novel. Additionally, the main character, Grace Winter, was so annoying and ignorant that it made it difficult to care about her.
The structure of the book was also frustrating in that it is told through flashback, but the pacing was all wrong. It opens with a murder trial, and we understand that some of the characters are in prison for their actions on the lifeboat. Grace S L O W L Y tells the story, day by day, of the events that unfolded on the boat. This book is less than 300 pages, but it dragged on so much that it felt like an epic novel.
I know some readers loved this book, and I'm sorry I didn't care for it more.
Generally I am interested in survival stories and books about civilized society breaking down, but this novel was a pain to get through. For starters, the writing was more juvenile than I expected, and I wondered if I had accidentally picked up a YA novel. Additionally, the main character, Grace Winter, was so annoying and ignorant that it made it difficult to care about her.
The structure of the book was also frustrating in that it is told through flashback, but the pacing was all wrong. It opens with a murder trial, and we understand that some of the characters are in prison for their actions on the lifeboat. Grace S L O W L Y tells the story, day by day, of the events that unfolded on the boat. This book is less than 300 pages, but it dragged on so much that it felt like an epic novel.
I know some readers loved this book, and I'm sorry I didn't care for it more.
April 22, 2012
Wanted to throw myself overboard by chapter three...rather than read any more. But I did. It was hell.
The idea is great: rags to riches governess is in a Lusitania type sinking in an overfilled boat.
Everything's there...but it is as tedious as being stuck on that boat.
Rogan writes well, above average in many ways, but in the all fashionable first person which all publishers now seem to like. Even then, we don't engage with the main character and if you can't nab us in the first person..well...
This is such a wasted opportunity. If the writer had gone into what happened on the boat before it sank, or into the key characters on the lifeboat, it could have really worked. Instead we get endless tedium of the skies and infighting.
This isn't a new idea and Hitchcock's film did it way better...Rogan is let down by the publisher editor and agent who surely must have seen the flaws in this book? Surely?
Due to the reviews and publicity I bought this book...but it was clearly rushed out in Titanic year. Sadly, because Rogan could do better, I won't buy another.
The idea is great: rags to riches governess is in a Lusitania type sinking in an overfilled boat.
Everything's there...but it is as tedious as being stuck on that boat.
Rogan writes well, above average in many ways, but in the all fashionable first person which all publishers now seem to like. Even then, we don't engage with the main character and if you can't nab us in the first person..well...
This is such a wasted opportunity. If the writer had gone into what happened on the boat before it sank, or into the key characters on the lifeboat, it could have really worked. Instead we get endless tedium of the skies and infighting.
This isn't a new idea and Hitchcock's film did it way better...Rogan is let down by the publisher editor and agent who surely must have seen the flaws in this book? Surely?
Due to the reviews and publicity I bought this book...but it was clearly rushed out in Titanic year. Sadly, because Rogan could do better, I won't buy another.
December 12, 2012
Set in 1914 at the beginning of the First World War, after the sinking of the Empress Alexandra a group of 39 people are left adrift in a lifeboat, built to hold far less, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean for 21 days. This tale is told retrospectively from the point of view of Grace Winter, a 22 year old newlywed, who manages to find a place on a lifeboat. But the lifeboat she's found herself on is overloaded and in danger of sinking, there isn't enough food and water for everyone on board, soon some of the passengers are discussing "volunteers" to go overboard. Some may need to die if the rest are to survive.
The Lifeboat is the debut novel of author Charlotte Rogan. It is a compelling, gripping and extremely thought-provoking tale. This novel tells the story of survival at its most basic level. It explores human nature and morality. It shows what happens to people while they are fighting to stay alive. The novel is a psychological thriller really. The book is very well-written. I really loved the author's writing style. I was completely engrossed in this novel from the very first page. The way in which Charlotte Rogan describes the moral decisions the characters have to make is quiet chilling. With everyone weak from hunger, in despair over their situation on the lifeboat, fearing they won't be rescued and they'll die out there, all the characters find their behaviour, beliefs and morals being tested to the limit. It's extremely terrifying. You can't help but finding yourself wondering "would I do the same in that situation?"
Grace was an unreliable narrator, which I thought added to the story by making it all the more shocking. Even by the end of the novel, I wasn't sure what to make of Grace. Was she as innocent as she appeared to be? Or was she frighteningly manipulative? In parts of the novel, Grace seems to be surprisingly honest in revealing her negative thoughts and feelings about the other passengers in the lifeboat, along with her worries about her husband's survival. You are left wondering if what Grace is telling you is the whole truth, deliberate lies, or the effects that shock, starvation and exhaustion are having on her mind. She's a very complicated character.
I'm sure we all hope we’d behave better if we were in a similar situation but this novel poses some interesting moral questions: if you're own survival was at stake, how far would you go to ensure you were the last one left standing?
I can't wait to read more from this author! Four stars!
The Lifeboat is the debut novel of author Charlotte Rogan. It is a compelling, gripping and extremely thought-provoking tale. This novel tells the story of survival at its most basic level. It explores human nature and morality. It shows what happens to people while they are fighting to stay alive. The novel is a psychological thriller really. The book is very well-written. I really loved the author's writing style. I was completely engrossed in this novel from the very first page. The way in which Charlotte Rogan describes the moral decisions the characters have to make is quiet chilling. With everyone weak from hunger, in despair over their situation on the lifeboat, fearing they won't be rescued and they'll die out there, all the characters find their behaviour, beliefs and morals being tested to the limit. It's extremely terrifying. You can't help but finding yourself wondering "would I do the same in that situation?"
Grace was an unreliable narrator, which I thought added to the story by making it all the more shocking. Even by the end of the novel, I wasn't sure what to make of Grace. Was she as innocent as she appeared to be? Or was she frighteningly manipulative? In parts of the novel, Grace seems to be surprisingly honest in revealing her negative thoughts and feelings about the other passengers in the lifeboat, along with her worries about her husband's survival. You are left wondering if what Grace is telling you is the whole truth, deliberate lies, or the effects that shock, starvation and exhaustion are having on her mind. She's a very complicated character.
I'm sure we all hope we’d behave better if we were in a similar situation but this novel poses some interesting moral questions: if you're own survival was at stake, how far would you go to ensure you were the last one left standing?
I can't wait to read more from this author! Four stars!
June 28, 2012
I was really attracted to the idea of this book: 39 passengers on a lifeboat struggling for survival, making tough choices, and operating within a tricky ethical and moral framework.
But, for me, the book didn't live up to its promise. The characters were poorly developed - I simply didn't care about them. The single first-person narrative structure lessened the reader's ability to interpret the situation from multiple points of view - and the narrator is a dull, reasonably submissive, self-centred bore. There are too many flashbacks to the time prior to the sinking of the ship, and too much of the story is set after the final passengers have been rescued. The dilemmas were framed in the predominantly Christian ethical framework of the early 20th century, which was very limiting. And, predictably, there was a church figure amongst the passengers on the lifeboat.
This is a short book, but it was a struggle to plough through. It had enjoyable moments and passages, but the narrative structure of the story and the period in which it was set both conspired to constrict the moral and ethical superstructure to such an extent that it ceased to be interesting.
In summary, the premise is great, but the execution is poor.
But, for me, the book didn't live up to its promise. The characters were poorly developed - I simply didn't care about them. The single first-person narrative structure lessened the reader's ability to interpret the situation from multiple points of view - and the narrator is a dull, reasonably submissive, self-centred bore. There are too many flashbacks to the time prior to the sinking of the ship, and too much of the story is set after the final passengers have been rescued. The dilemmas were framed in the predominantly Christian ethical framework of the early 20th century, which was very limiting. And, predictably, there was a church figure amongst the passengers on the lifeboat.
This is a short book, but it was a struggle to plough through. It had enjoyable moments and passages, but the narrative structure of the story and the period in which it was set both conspired to constrict the moral and ethical superstructure to such an extent that it ceased to be interesting.
In summary, the premise is great, but the execution is poor.
February 19, 2015
I re-read The Lifeboat in January this year as it was chosen for my book club. I had initially read it for the first time in 2012. I really loved it the first time around and enjoyed it just as much the second time. It got very mixed reviews at my book club and I don’t think everyone was as eager as I was about it!
I loved the fact that Grace Winter was an unreliable narrator; therefore we couldn’t believe the majority of what she told us readers. I came to the conclusion that she was an extremely manipulative, deceitful and untrustworthy character. I ended up questioning everything about her and everything she relayed about the experiences on The Lifeboat. The story poses moral questions as to what we would do if faced with a similar life or death situation, how we would survive, what or who we would be willing or unwilling to sacrifice, how long we would stand by our moral standards when faced with circumstances of survival. It contains an array of different and varied characters, different backgrounds, beliefs and ethical opinions, but Mrs Grant, without really having to outwardly do much, was a great character in the book, a quiet but very effective influence.
It’s a very good debut, well written, engaging, well thought out and was a very enjoyable re-read.
I loved the fact that Grace Winter was an unreliable narrator; therefore we couldn’t believe the majority of what she told us readers. I came to the conclusion that she was an extremely manipulative, deceitful and untrustworthy character. I ended up questioning everything about her and everything she relayed about the experiences on The Lifeboat. The story poses moral questions as to what we would do if faced with a similar life or death situation, how we would survive, what or who we would be willing or unwilling to sacrifice, how long we would stand by our moral standards when faced with circumstances of survival. It contains an array of different and varied characters, different backgrounds, beliefs and ethical opinions, but Mrs Grant, without really having to outwardly do much, was a great character in the book, a quiet but very effective influence.
It’s a very good debut, well written, engaging, well thought out and was a very enjoyable re-read.
April 2, 2012
Article originally published on www.blogcritics.com
Survival in a lifeboat may sound like a simple plot line, but it astounds in the hands of debut novelist, Charlotte Rogan. In The Lifeboat Grace Winter, age 22, sails from Europe to America with her new husband in order to meet her mother-in-law. After an explosion on luxury liner, the Empress Alexandra, Grace’s husband Henry secures her a place on a lifeboat. She survives three weeks in the overcrowded boat. Upon rescue, she finds herself on trial for murder—another form of survival.
No spoilers here. All of this information is in the prologue.
1914. Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. Seaman John Hardie takes charge on Lifeboat 14. His maritime experience enables him to adjust to changes in their circumstances. It also gives him the grit to put a boot in the face of a lost soul trying to climb aboard the already dangerously full lifeboat. When he is not giving orders, he remains aloof or expounds on scientific maritime facts and lore.
In this tiny boat adrift in a boundless ocean, the author examines whether murder justifies survival. The owners of mother ship, the Empress Alexandra, saved money by building lifeboats to hold only eighty percent of their intended capacity. “Capacity 40 persons” says the plaque on Grace’s lifeboat now holding 39 people. Something or someone must give.
Told in the first person by Grace, the survivors’ ordeals and fates are reveled in a series of flashbacks. Lifeboat duties are assigned. Stories told to pass the time become untruths as people “whisper down the lane.” We learn Grace’s constantly changing opinions of other passengers and assessment of their fate. She fills in back story about her relationship with Henry. She is “in the middle of a nothingness that was everything, or everything that mattered.” Conditions worsen. Camaraderie veers toward suspicion. Surprising rivalries and alliances develop. Deprivation and emotional decay further weaken any hope for the survivors.
We learn early on that Grace has been married for ten weeks. Did Henry pay for her inclusion in the rescue? What does she know of her husband’s fate? Can Grace come through this experience with her innate belief in man’s goodness intact?
A Princeton graduate, author Charlotte Rogan lives in Westport, Connecticut. She spent her childhood surrounded by sailors. In the book’s trailer, Rogan relates her interest in writing the story was perked upon perusing old legal texts. There she found the story of two drowning soldiers floating on a plank that can only support one. The case examined whether or not it was murder for one to push the other off if the plank would only hold one man.
The Lifeboat, published by Little, Brown and Company has just been released and is being translated into eighteen languages. It is shortlisted for the Amazon Rising Stars webpage.
The Lifeboat, Rogan’s rich debut novel, interlaces many layers of petty jealousies, shrouded motives, moral dilemmas, and psychological complexities. What are the boundaries of human civility? How humane are we when pushed to the brink?
Little, Brown and Company graciously supplied the review copy for my unbiased opinion.
Survival in a lifeboat may sound like a simple plot line, but it astounds in the hands of debut novelist, Charlotte Rogan. In The Lifeboat Grace Winter, age 22, sails from Europe to America with her new husband in order to meet her mother-in-law. After an explosion on luxury liner, the Empress Alexandra, Grace’s husband Henry secures her a place on a lifeboat. She survives three weeks in the overcrowded boat. Upon rescue, she finds herself on trial for murder—another form of survival.
No spoilers here. All of this information is in the prologue.
1914. Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. Seaman John Hardie takes charge on Lifeboat 14. His maritime experience enables him to adjust to changes in their circumstances. It also gives him the grit to put a boot in the face of a lost soul trying to climb aboard the already dangerously full lifeboat. When he is not giving orders, he remains aloof or expounds on scientific maritime facts and lore.
In this tiny boat adrift in a boundless ocean, the author examines whether murder justifies survival. The owners of mother ship, the Empress Alexandra, saved money by building lifeboats to hold only eighty percent of their intended capacity. “Capacity 40 persons” says the plaque on Grace’s lifeboat now holding 39 people. Something or someone must give.
Told in the first person by Grace, the survivors’ ordeals and fates are reveled in a series of flashbacks. Lifeboat duties are assigned. Stories told to pass the time become untruths as people “whisper down the lane.” We learn Grace’s constantly changing opinions of other passengers and assessment of their fate. She fills in back story about her relationship with Henry. She is “in the middle of a nothingness that was everything, or everything that mattered.” Conditions worsen. Camaraderie veers toward suspicion. Surprising rivalries and alliances develop. Deprivation and emotional decay further weaken any hope for the survivors.
We learn early on that Grace has been married for ten weeks. Did Henry pay for her inclusion in the rescue? What does she know of her husband’s fate? Can Grace come through this experience with her innate belief in man’s goodness intact?
A Princeton graduate, author Charlotte Rogan lives in Westport, Connecticut. She spent her childhood surrounded by sailors. In the book’s trailer, Rogan relates her interest in writing the story was perked upon perusing old legal texts. There she found the story of two drowning soldiers floating on a plank that can only support one. The case examined whether or not it was murder for one to push the other off if the plank would only hold one man.
The Lifeboat, published by Little, Brown and Company has just been released and is being translated into eighteen languages. It is shortlisted for the Amazon Rising Stars webpage.
The Lifeboat, Rogan’s rich debut novel, interlaces many layers of petty jealousies, shrouded motives, moral dilemmas, and psychological complexities. What are the boundaries of human civility? How humane are we when pushed to the brink?
Little, Brown and Company graciously supplied the review copy for my unbiased opinion.
March 19, 2012
Clear the decks and call in sick; once you begin reading this riveting this debut book, it's going to be hard to come up for air.
The narrator, aptly named Grace, appears on the first pages and right away, we know a few important plot points. We know that Grace survived on a lifeboat after her ship - like the Titanic two years prior - goes down. We also know that she is now on trial for a murder that took place during the ensuing ordeal. But here's what we don't know: how reliable is Grace as the tale-teller? Is she coldly capable of taking whatever actions are necessary to survive? Or is she simply a shell-shocked bystander, susceptible to the slightest suggestion?
In flashbacks, we learn about the harsh reality of lifeboat passenger survival, under the direction of one of the sea fellows named Hardie. The name is likely no accident: like Thomas Hardy's characters, Hardie and the rest of the survivors are overwhelmingly and overpoweringly in the grip of fate and chance. "None of us are worth a spit," Grace ruminates. "We were stripped of all decency. I couldn't see that there was anything good or noble left once food and shelter were taken away."
Indeed, as the characters are forced to endure worse and worse conditions - decreasing rations of food and water, the unexpected squall, the weakening of body and spirit, the emotional horrors of wondering about loved ones - they also form alliances that are crucial in determining who will live and who will die. It quickly becomes evident that some must be sacrificed for the majority to live since the lifeboat bears more people than it can safely carry.
There is an elegiac overlay in this tale: Hardie is at first regarded as all-knowing and godlike. In a Bible parable, he is able to come up with a feast of raw fish and water to feed the hungry. But as hope fades and order falls apart, the one-time prayers become "decidedly pagan, a prayer of appeasement to the sea..." And the sea becomes "as murky and cold as Satan's heart." Not unlike Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, the journey is not just into the deepest waters but into the deepest recesses of one's own mind; knowledge of the human condition is hard-earned and sobering.
Once I began this page-turner, it was virtually impossible to put it down. The theme weaves around that crucial question: during the worst of ordeals, is it possible for a person to be both alive and innocent? Are those who are left standing survivors...or murderers? Or put another way, what would each of us do to stay alive? Thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown for a galley for my Kindle; the opinions are entirely my own.
The narrator, aptly named Grace, appears on the first pages and right away, we know a few important plot points. We know that Grace survived on a lifeboat after her ship - like the Titanic two years prior - goes down. We also know that she is now on trial for a murder that took place during the ensuing ordeal. But here's what we don't know: how reliable is Grace as the tale-teller? Is she coldly capable of taking whatever actions are necessary to survive? Or is she simply a shell-shocked bystander, susceptible to the slightest suggestion?
In flashbacks, we learn about the harsh reality of lifeboat passenger survival, under the direction of one of the sea fellows named Hardie. The name is likely no accident: like Thomas Hardy's characters, Hardie and the rest of the survivors are overwhelmingly and overpoweringly in the grip of fate and chance. "None of us are worth a spit," Grace ruminates. "We were stripped of all decency. I couldn't see that there was anything good or noble left once food and shelter were taken away."
Indeed, as the characters are forced to endure worse and worse conditions - decreasing rations of food and water, the unexpected squall, the weakening of body and spirit, the emotional horrors of wondering about loved ones - they also form alliances that are crucial in determining who will live and who will die. It quickly becomes evident that some must be sacrificed for the majority to live since the lifeboat bears more people than it can safely carry.
There is an elegiac overlay in this tale: Hardie is at first regarded as all-knowing and godlike. In a Bible parable, he is able to come up with a feast of raw fish and water to feed the hungry. But as hope fades and order falls apart, the one-time prayers become "decidedly pagan, a prayer of appeasement to the sea..." And the sea becomes "as murky and cold as Satan's heart." Not unlike Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, the journey is not just into the deepest waters but into the deepest recesses of one's own mind; knowledge of the human condition is hard-earned and sobering.
Once I began this page-turner, it was virtually impossible to put it down. The theme weaves around that crucial question: during the worst of ordeals, is it possible for a person to be both alive and innocent? Are those who are left standing survivors...or murderers? Or put another way, what would each of us do to stay alive? Thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown for a galley for my Kindle; the opinions are entirely my own.
June 29, 2012
Lifeboat snapped me to attention with its opening line delivered in the prologue "Today I shocked the lawyers, and it surprised me, the effect I could have on them." A first line might not make or break a book but it can set the tone and draw you in. This one tickled my curiosity to read on and find out the who, what and why.
This is the perfect book to coincide with the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. If you've ever wondered what it might be like to be forced to abandon your comfy stateroom for the uncertainty of survival in a lifeboat, Lifeboat is realistic enough to give you a glimpse.
Rather than start with the explosion that caused the ditch to sea of the passengers of the Empress Alexandra, Lifeboat's first pages begin with Day One, the survivors silent in the lifeboat either acknowledging or not their fate.
The lifeboat, #14, the one we're privy too, was one of the last to be launched, is taken charge of by one of the ship's mates, Mr. Hardie. This seems lucky for its flock as Mr. Hardie has much knowledge of the sea, rationing supplies, weather, sailing, etc. The main narrator is Grace Winter, age 22, both a newlywed and a widow. She sees Mr. Hardie as a godsend to her plight. If anyone can get them rescued Mr. Hardie seems the likely choice. Not all would agree.
While the inhabitants of the Titanic lifeboats were rescued rapidly, most within hours, we quickly learn that Lifeboat #14 is not to be so lucky. It is apparent that this lifeboat is overcrowded, 39 passengers, and though it should hold 40, cost reductions to its design make it inadequate to hold that many.
At the outset, the 39 passengers are not named, but are slowly introduced throughout the narrative, a clever device used by the author. I found myself writing down their names, keeping track each. much like friends.
As I continued reading I started to wonder which of the survivors was a reliable narrator and who might be manipulating me. Mr. Hardie, Grace, Mrs. Grant, each of these and a few others, the strongest personalities aboard.
Lifeboat presents complexities and moral issues. There is much to think about, much to talk about, as each day goes by and the fate of the survivors becomes contingent on weather, their numbers, space, water and food supplies. Who lives, who dies? The lines between good and evil become murkier and a person's choices less black and white.
Lifeboat seems to be a realistic portrayal of a shipwreck and its aftermath. It would make for a great book discussion.
This is the perfect book to coincide with the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. If you've ever wondered what it might be like to be forced to abandon your comfy stateroom for the uncertainty of survival in a lifeboat, Lifeboat is realistic enough to give you a glimpse.
Rather than start with the explosion that caused the ditch to sea of the passengers of the Empress Alexandra, Lifeboat's first pages begin with Day One, the survivors silent in the lifeboat either acknowledging or not their fate.
The lifeboat, #14, the one we're privy too, was one of the last to be launched, is taken charge of by one of the ship's mates, Mr. Hardie. This seems lucky for its flock as Mr. Hardie has much knowledge of the sea, rationing supplies, weather, sailing, etc. The main narrator is Grace Winter, age 22, both a newlywed and a widow. She sees Mr. Hardie as a godsend to her plight. If anyone can get them rescued Mr. Hardie seems the likely choice. Not all would agree.
While the inhabitants of the Titanic lifeboats were rescued rapidly, most within hours, we quickly learn that Lifeboat #14 is not to be so lucky. It is apparent that this lifeboat is overcrowded, 39 passengers, and though it should hold 40, cost reductions to its design make it inadequate to hold that many.
At the outset, the 39 passengers are not named, but are slowly introduced throughout the narrative, a clever device used by the author. I found myself writing down their names, keeping track each. much like friends.
As I continued reading I started to wonder which of the survivors was a reliable narrator and who might be manipulating me. Mr. Hardie, Grace, Mrs. Grant, each of these and a few others, the strongest personalities aboard.
Lifeboat presents complexities and moral issues. There is much to think about, much to talk about, as each day goes by and the fate of the survivors becomes contingent on weather, their numbers, space, water and food supplies. Who lives, who dies? The lines between good and evil become murkier and a person's choices less black and white.
Lifeboat seems to be a realistic portrayal of a shipwreck and its aftermath. It would make for a great book discussion.
March 27, 2012
The Empress Alexander has sunk and some of the passengers escaped on lifeboats. That is where we begin this story, in the lifeboat and on the first day. Grace, the protagonist, made it onto a lifeboat and we see the events and the people through her eyes. In some ways it is a literal recounting of the 21 days on the lifeboat as Grace is writing journal entries to remember each day and event as she sits in a jail cell in Boston. The crime is not currently clear but will be explained, day by day, how the group changes and power shifts. What will each of the life boat members do to survive? What will they sacrifice?
In some ways, the book reminded me of Life of Pi. It is also an allegory for society. In the microcosm of the lifeboat, power, sacrifice, greed, and convention along with God are all touched upon and change like the weather and waves. In the vast ocean, one tiny lifeboat could be overlooked. Does anybody know they are there? Does anybody care? Who is in charge? Who can save them?
The book is riveting and, at times, disturbing. Great book club book with many themes left for discussion.
In some ways, the book reminded me of Life of Pi. It is also an allegory for society. In the microcosm of the lifeboat, power, sacrifice, greed, and convention along with God are all touched upon and change like the weather and waves. In the vast ocean, one tiny lifeboat could be overlooked. Does anybody know they are there? Does anybody care? Who is in charge? Who can save them?
The book is riveting and, at times, disturbing. Great book club book with many themes left for discussion.
December 21, 2015
The ship you are traveling on sinks. You are fortunate enough to have a space on one of the lifeboats. But it is over crowded,people are desperate.Hard choices are made, people die. Rescue comes after twenty-one agonizing days.And when you are finally on dry land, you and two other women are on trial for murder. That is the book. Told as dispassionately as the author wrote it.
I have read other books with the lifeboat premise. And they were pretty good. What happened to this one I do not know. But I would have been better yo skip this one.
I have read other books with the lifeboat premise. And they were pretty good. What happened to this one I do not know. But I would have been better yo skip this one.
April 3, 2012
Today, and this month marks the 100th anniversary of the Titanic. The Titanic went down historically on April 12th, 1912. On that note, The Lifeboat is being published this month. I was sent a copy by Penguin. I started to read it 2 days ago.
Wow, The Lifeboat blew me away with its narrative. The Lifeboat is literary, but it is also filled with mystery, and suspense. After the Titanic went down, did you ever wonder what it was like on the lifeboats for them? Did you re-call if you saw the movie, Titanic it was said the capacity for the lifeboats was not enough for the capacity for the entire ship. The question, who will survive? Do you sacrifice others to save yourself? What would you do if you were in this situation?
The Lifeboat, is thought provoking and think about mankind and human nature. The lifeboat has a capacity of 40 passengers. 39 passengers were on the lifeboat. It was filled to capacity. The regulations then for lifeboats was not accurate.
The Lifeboat, takes place on a ship, called the Empress Alexandra. The story is told by Grace Winter. She has just been married to her wealthy banker husband, Henry. While on the ship, it explodes. There is implications that her husband bought her a seat on a lifeboat that was filled to capacity. There fits the story, with plenty of twists and turn and mystery, with plenty of accusations, and paranoia, and strong women characters to make you think what you would do any extreme disaster. The story is written into Henry and Grace's romance, and the problems they had before their marriage, his and her family life.
This is one novel, I will set up with little information. This story I felt was that good. It doesn't need any further explanation. Just a fast paced novel that you wish it would not end. The Lifeboat is a satisfying read.
A good summer read, but not while on a cruise. I give it 5 thumbs up. I like to read books at a different time and place, and something I have not experienced, and make you think. This fits the bill. Thank you Anna for a copy to review.
Wow, The Lifeboat blew me away with its narrative. The Lifeboat is literary, but it is also filled with mystery, and suspense. After the Titanic went down, did you ever wonder what it was like on the lifeboats for them? Did you re-call if you saw the movie, Titanic it was said the capacity for the lifeboats was not enough for the capacity for the entire ship. The question, who will survive? Do you sacrifice others to save yourself? What would you do if you were in this situation?
The Lifeboat, is thought provoking and think about mankind and human nature. The lifeboat has a capacity of 40 passengers. 39 passengers were on the lifeboat. It was filled to capacity. The regulations then for lifeboats was not accurate.
The Lifeboat, takes place on a ship, called the Empress Alexandra. The story is told by Grace Winter. She has just been married to her wealthy banker husband, Henry. While on the ship, it explodes. There is implications that her husband bought her a seat on a lifeboat that was filled to capacity. There fits the story, with plenty of twists and turn and mystery, with plenty of accusations, and paranoia, and strong women characters to make you think what you would do any extreme disaster. The story is written into Henry and Grace's romance, and the problems they had before their marriage, his and her family life.
This is one novel, I will set up with little information. This story I felt was that good. It doesn't need any further explanation. Just a fast paced novel that you wish it would not end. The Lifeboat is a satisfying read.
A good summer read, but not while on a cruise. I give it 5 thumbs up. I like to read books at a different time and place, and something I have not experienced, and make you think. This fits the bill. Thank you Anna for a copy to review.
March 11, 2012
I vacillated back and forth with whether to give this three stars, because the story sort of faltered a bit the last 60 pages or so, or four stars because the writing was really quite brilliant. In the end, I settle on four because a debut novel this well written deserves a star bump.
The narration of the ships accident and subsequent lifeboat ordeal was very compelling. There are some mystery/intrigue/suspense type "teasers" that didn't really pan out, I don't think. And, I'm not really sure I bought that the main character and narrator, Grace, was a mere 22-years of age. The voice sounded much older and more mature, and nothing in her revelations about herself suggested that she'd endured the life experience necessary to have the resolve, strength, or determination that she exhibited. If the writing were not as strong as it was, I'd be forced to deduct a star for this breech in authenticity.
Quick read. I don't think you'd at all regret spending the day or two it will take to read it.
The narration of the ships accident and subsequent lifeboat ordeal was very compelling. There are some mystery/intrigue/suspense type "teasers" that didn't really pan out, I don't think. And, I'm not really sure I bought that the main character and narrator, Grace, was a mere 22-years of age. The voice sounded much older and more mature, and nothing in her revelations about herself suggested that she'd endured the life experience necessary to have the resolve, strength, or determination that she exhibited. If the writing were not as strong as it was, I'd be forced to deduct a star for this breech in authenticity.
Quick read. I don't think you'd at all regret spending the day or two it will take to read it.
May 30, 2021
Warning: This book is highly disruptive to one's daily routine.
I just couldn't stop reading it, despite the fact that I've exams going on! I had to know what happens to Grace, who is an unforgettable character and the narrator of the book. Grace is not exactly likable nor is she particularly trustworthy - there are many times I doubted the credibility of her words. But she is a character who remained with me, along with Mrs. Grant and Hannah.
This book has something for everyone. It is scary, suspenseful and even thought-provoking. I especially enjoyed the dynamics between those on the lifeboat. It made me think about how, when it comes to the need to survive, all ethical/moral codes undergo a complete change.
The only negative thing about the book is that it increased my phobia of ships/boats :D
I will be looking forward to Charlotte Rogan's future works.
Visit my Bookstagram for more book reviews:
Literarianism
I just couldn't stop reading it, despite the fact that I've exams going on! I had to know what happens to Grace, who is an unforgettable character and the narrator of the book. Grace is not exactly likable nor is she particularly trustworthy - there are many times I doubted the credibility of her words. But she is a character who remained with me, along with Mrs. Grant and Hannah.
This book has something for everyone. It is scary, suspenseful and even thought-provoking. I especially enjoyed the dynamics between those on the lifeboat. It made me think about how, when it comes to the need to survive, all ethical/moral codes undergo a complete change.
The only negative thing about the book is that it increased my phobia of ships/boats :D
I will be looking forward to Charlotte Rogan's future works.
Visit my Bookstagram for more book reviews:
Literarianism
March 11, 2017
This book made me think about what I would do if I ever found myself in a survival situation. Would I remain calm and act in a moral and ethical manner, or would I become someone I do not know? Someone ruthless and only concerned for my survival? How can I truly know the answer until I am confronted with the dilemma like the people on the lifeboat? I can only hope that I know myself to my core...but do we ever really know?
What would you do to live?
What would you do to live?
September 13, 2016
I'm very disappointed.
The story line held so much promise that was sadly unresolved and unrealized. None of the characters were likeable. There wasn't enough real information to know them or see them clearly. All of the action in the story was told with a vague and unemotional delivery. I felt manipulated and used by the author and publisher and I regret spending my money on this book.
The story line held so much promise that was sadly unresolved and unrealized. None of the characters were likeable. There wasn't enough real information to know them or see them clearly. All of the action in the story was told with a vague and unemotional delivery. I felt manipulated and used by the author and publisher and I regret spending my money on this book.
April 17, 2014
Well, it's a bit flat, but that's because the main protagonist, Grace, is a cold calculator who might be a bit of a sociopath, or not, but I'd say that due to her environment of genteel respectability and finishing school education, her personality is initially undeveloped. However, the experience of being shipwrecked and on a lifeboat with 40 people for 21 days either changes her personality, or what I believe, rubbed off the cultural accretions that she had accumulated in growing up. She survives the ordeal of starvation and lack of water (revealed early in the book, so not a spoiler) and is in difficulty when rescued because of what I think is a poor decision not excused by being near death and not thinking clearly. She thinks it happened because she was unduly influenced or pressured; I think it was her nature coming alive and in being released, acting out her rage against men of power and authority. Some might call it vaguely a feminist story, but I think it was more about the cultural condition of being a person who is made dependent by law, prejudice and custom, which can result in seething resentment of the power difference between men and women, especially during World War I.
It's perfect for a book club read. I don't think the book is written in an intense manner, but the issues it brings up in the reading are definitely food for thought. And at least, none of the passengers are food for anything else above water, so it doesn't quite become a horror genre - close, but I'd say not.
The characters are outlines, except for Grace. However, she is an unreliable narrator twice, once because by nature she is a manipulative opportunist, and second because she does not know herself, not being an introspective person. I think for the reader the biggest clue as to who, or what, Grace is, is that the two characters who force her into "making a choice of sides", Mrs. Grant (why does Grace always call her Mrs. Grant and not by her first name? Hmmmmm) and Hannah look at her speculatively several times and ultimately choose her as
The other characters, perhaps ten of the lifeboat inhabitants, that are spotlighted are obviously foils for the readers' conversation on finishing the novel. Hardie, the lower class hero of the moment is both bad guy and good guy. Grace looks to him for God-like saving powers (she is God's Grace...tee hee). She loves him (like a Stockholm Syndrome victim) until Mrs. Grant (she grants Grace to be her instrument of grace) impresses her as someone who has more authority and power than the enigmatic Hardie. Hardie was exposed as a person who may have ulterior and selfish motives, while Grant is ready and willing to take and assume the reponsibility of authority. That single facility seduces Grace so that she bestows her faith in Grant without examining any evidence or logic behind people's behaviors, or stop for perspective.
The other characters are simply stock footage - the good innocent, the deacon, the steerage mother and child, the scientist/philosopher, the gossip, the accountant, the hysterical woman, a Colonel, working-class men and an upper-class older woman, etc. and I think they are there to prove that whatever their opinions, moral judgements and skill set, the only ones that matter are one's determination to live and luck. While there are hard feelings, accusations of favoritism, struggles to maintain moral decorum and self-respect -these are not gone into with any depth, so I think the purpose of these characters was to show how utterly what and who they believed themselves to be was completely without any relevance. All that mattered here appeared to be determination and gamesmanship.
It's a good book, with many quotable lines and observations, and I could extend this review for many more paragraphs copying them and admiring. However, I thought it a bit unfinished for this type of literary novel. It didn't reach the smart, underlying symbolism which to readers is similar to the undertones you might be unaware of in a ringing bell, but that make your chest vibrate.
It disappointed me, but I'll be looking for the author's next book.
It's perfect for a book club read. I don't think the book is written in an intense manner, but the issues it brings up in the reading are definitely food for thought. And at least, none of the passengers are food for anything else above water, so it doesn't quite become a horror genre - close, but I'd say not.
The characters are outlines, except for Grace. However, she is an unreliable narrator twice, once because by nature she is a manipulative opportunist, and second because she does not know herself, not being an introspective person. I think for the reader the biggest clue as to who, or what, Grace is, is that the two characters who force her into "making a choice of sides", Mrs. Grant (why does Grace always call her Mrs. Grant and not by her first name? Hmmmmm) and Hannah look at her speculatively several times and ultimately choose her as
The other characters, perhaps ten of the lifeboat inhabitants, that are spotlighted are obviously foils for the readers' conversation on finishing the novel. Hardie, the lower class hero of the moment is both bad guy and good guy. Grace looks to him for God-like saving powers (she is God's Grace...tee hee). She loves him (like a Stockholm Syndrome victim) until Mrs. Grant (she grants Grace to be her instrument of grace) impresses her as someone who has more authority and power than the enigmatic Hardie. Hardie was exposed as a person who may have ulterior and selfish motives, while Grant is ready and willing to take and assume the reponsibility of authority. That single facility seduces Grace so that she bestows her faith in Grant without examining any evidence or logic behind people's behaviors, or stop for perspective.
The other characters are simply stock footage - the good innocent, the deacon, the steerage mother and child, the scientist/philosopher, the gossip, the accountant, the hysterical woman, a Colonel, working-class men and an upper-class older woman, etc. and I think they are there to prove that whatever their opinions, moral judgements and skill set, the only ones that matter are one's determination to live and luck. While there are hard feelings, accusations of favoritism, struggles to maintain moral decorum and self-respect -these are not gone into with any depth, so I think the purpose of these characters was to show how utterly what and who they believed themselves to be was completely without any relevance. All that mattered here appeared to be determination and gamesmanship.
It's a good book, with many quotable lines and observations, and I could extend this review for many more paragraphs copying them and admiring. However, I thought it a bit unfinished for this type of literary novel. It didn't reach the smart, underlying symbolism which to readers is similar to the undertones you might be unaware of in a ringing bell, but that make your chest vibrate.
It disappointed me, but I'll be looking for the author's next book.
July 1, 2012
In the late 19th century a large number of shipwrecks led to tales of atrocities committed by those who survived; many were put on trial under charges of murder and cannibalism. Charlotte Rogan recalls these accounts and marries them with the early 20th century ocean liner disasters of the Titanic and Lusitania to create a harrowing exposition of human behavior.
In 1914, en route from Britain to American, an ocean liner capsizes after a mysterious on-board explosion. Several life boats are filled and launched. In one is Grace Winter, the story's narrator. Grace, a newlywed, fears for the fate of her husband, Henry, from whom she was separated in the chaos as the ship capsized. She joins thirty-eight other survivors in a lifeboat that is designed to hold half that number. These passengers - literally adrift - become psychologically and morally so as the days pass and the odds of surviving dwindle.
We know from the opening prologue that Grace is rescued and is now on trial for her life. The story's tension, therefore, is not a matter of if, but how and who. Rogan masterfully maintains this tension by revealing the story through Grace's wobbly perspective. The reader has an unshakeable sense that this young woman cultivates a naive and winsome appearance to disguise the cunning and narcissism she has honed to survive life's misfortunes. But who are we to judge? Who knows which sides of ourselves we may be forced to call upon when our lives depend upon it?
And the author does not judge. She creates a claustrophobic and haunting world set upon a merciless sea and lets Fate and the survivors' shifting morals shape events. She allows paranoia to seep into the cutty, hinting at greater plots afoot, but restricts the reader's vision to Grace's self-serving memories.
As compact as this story is, it drags in the middle, as if the author was seeking to stretch the narrative out to reach a full-length novel minimum word count. There is a limit to the dramatic impact of scenes of bailing water and huddling together for warmth. But that is a faint complaint of an otherwise compelling and well-crafted thriller.
In 1914, en route from Britain to American, an ocean liner capsizes after a mysterious on-board explosion. Several life boats are filled and launched. In one is Grace Winter, the story's narrator. Grace, a newlywed, fears for the fate of her husband, Henry, from whom she was separated in the chaos as the ship capsized. She joins thirty-eight other survivors in a lifeboat that is designed to hold half that number. These passengers - literally adrift - become psychologically and morally so as the days pass and the odds of surviving dwindle.
We know from the opening prologue that Grace is rescued and is now on trial for her life. The story's tension, therefore, is not a matter of if, but how and who. Rogan masterfully maintains this tension by revealing the story through Grace's wobbly perspective. The reader has an unshakeable sense that this young woman cultivates a naive and winsome appearance to disguise the cunning and narcissism she has honed to survive life's misfortunes. But who are we to judge? Who knows which sides of ourselves we may be forced to call upon when our lives depend upon it?
And the author does not judge. She creates a claustrophobic and haunting world set upon a merciless sea and lets Fate and the survivors' shifting morals shape events. She allows paranoia to seep into the cutty, hinting at greater plots afoot, but restricts the reader's vision to Grace's self-serving memories.
As compact as this story is, it drags in the middle, as if the author was seeking to stretch the narrative out to reach a full-length novel minimum word count. There is a limit to the dramatic impact of scenes of bailing water and huddling together for warmth. But that is a faint complaint of an otherwise compelling and well-crafted thriller.
May 5, 2013
I'm not a big fan of boats: I've only been on one cruise (not counting annual booze cruises in Aruba). I have, however, read two unforgettable yarns set in lifeboats in the past few months. The first one was Unbroken which I read and liked earlier this year and now this one. It is a remarkable achievement. The story unfolds during a trans-Atlantic voyage a few days after those fateful shots were fired in Sarajevo in 1914. Henry and Grace, newlyweds, are separated during the chaotic moments after their ship catches fire. Grace ends up in a lifeboat which is overcrowded and lacks sufficient supplies without knowing her husband's fate. She is our 
May 13, 2014
Rogan’s debut novel, written in her fifties, imagines another ocean liner disaster between the Titanic and the Lusitania. Her Empress Alexandria catches fire and sinks in 1914, leaving half the passengers stranded in lifeboats on the Atlantic. The book is presented as the diary account of Grace Winter, a newly married first class passenger whose husband finagles her a last-minute seat on an already overcrowded lifeboat captained by crew member Mr. Hardie. Predictable squabbles break out onboard, as people are asked – or forced – to volunteer to sacrifice themselves so the leaks will not get worse and the food and water supply will hold out. Readers know from the start that Grace is on trial, but it is not until later that we learn why: .
As the confession of a supposed female criminal, The Lifeboat somewhat resembles Gillespie and I or Alias Grace (and that shared name can hardly be a coincidence), but doesn’t have the warmth and verve of those novels’ unreliable narrators. The novel also reminded me strongly of Jamrach’s Menagerie, with its intense evocation of the claustrophobic, physically gruelling experience of being lost at sea. But again, The Lifeboat lacks the same vitality. Grace’s narrative is quite dull and flat, which means that even the kind of climactic experiences she has to recount end up sounding ordinary. Rogan has a definite talent, but needs to find a better voice for her next novel. Perhaps an omniscient narrator, or a narrative split between various characters including Grace, would have been more suitable.
As the confession of a supposed female criminal, The Lifeboat somewhat resembles Gillespie and I or Alias Grace (and that shared name can hardly be a coincidence), but doesn’t have the warmth and verve of those novels’ unreliable narrators. The novel also reminded me strongly of Jamrach’s Menagerie, with its intense evocation of the claustrophobic, physically gruelling experience of being lost at sea. But again, The Lifeboat lacks the same vitality. Grace’s narrative is quite dull and flat, which means that even the kind of climactic experiences she has to recount end up sounding ordinary. Rogan has a definite talent, but needs to find a better voice for her next novel. Perhaps an omniscient narrator, or a narrative split between various characters including Grace, would have been more suitable.
February 6, 2012
If you read this book, remember to breathe. Several times my eye zipped all the way down to the end of a chapter, or jumped back over several details in the previous paragraph, before I took in oxygen again. Book Apnoea, I’ve decided to call it.
The premise is simple: 39 people are in a lifeboat. That’s practically everything you need to know, except even the most casual reviewer should supply a bit more. It’s set in the year 1914 somewhere in the Atlantic. It’s told retrospectively from the point of view of Grace, who survives the ordeal and is now standing trial for a terrible crime. And from the start fatalities are not possible, but inevitable.
The genius of this novel is the way it turns the lifeboat into a community, a gossipy parish complete with factions and paranoia. Morality and pragmatism rub up against each other creating friction at first, then overlapping, then merging.
Comparisons jump out at you. It’s like ‘Lord of the Flies’ with Edwardian ladies. It’s like ‘Touching the Void’ – like ‘The Worst Journey in the World’ – like ‘127 Hours’ and it’s true ‘The Lifeboat’ occupies a genre space with these other works, real and imagined. It also reminded me of Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None’ which I read at the age of 13, and which has given me the creeps ever since.
But Charlotte Rogan has something else to offer too, the rare gift of articulate literary prose combined with thumping-good storytelling. After I finished this novel, I felt like standing up and applauding. More, Charlotte! More!
The premise is simple: 39 people are in a lifeboat. That’s practically everything you need to know, except even the most casual reviewer should supply a bit more. It’s set in the year 1914 somewhere in the Atlantic. It’s told retrospectively from the point of view of Grace, who survives the ordeal and is now standing trial for a terrible crime. And from the start fatalities are not possible, but inevitable.
The genius of this novel is the way it turns the lifeboat into a community, a gossipy parish complete with factions and paranoia. Morality and pragmatism rub up against each other creating friction at first, then overlapping, then merging.
Comparisons jump out at you. It’s like ‘Lord of the Flies’ with Edwardian ladies. It’s like ‘Touching the Void’ – like ‘The Worst Journey in the World’ – like ‘127 Hours’ and it’s true ‘The Lifeboat’ occupies a genre space with these other works, real and imagined. It also reminded me of Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None’ which I read at the age of 13, and which has given me the creeps ever since.
But Charlotte Rogan has something else to offer too, the rare gift of articulate literary prose combined with thumping-good storytelling. After I finished this novel, I felt like standing up and applauding. More, Charlotte! More!
December 14, 2015
In the summer of 1914 the Empress Alexandra sinks; this elegant ocean liner suffers from a mysterious explosion and all the passengers scramble for safety. Henry Winters managers to secure a place on a lifeboat for his new bride Grace but when the people on the lifeboat soon realise they are over capacity the real struggle for survival begins.
The Lifeboat is an elegant and thrilling novel with many complex issues weaved into it. For any to live, some must die but the hard choice of survival can be taken too far. At what point does the struggle for survival turn into manslaughter and can you really live with your actions. With personality clashes between characters like John Hardie and Mrs Grant, this book is just a stimulating and thought provoking read.
My first thought with this book was that this was just playing out a novel based on ecologist Garrett Hardin’s metaphor for resource distribution. Hardin’s metaphor describes a lifeboat bearing 50 people, with room for ten more. The lifeboat is in an ocean surrounded by a hundred swimmers. The “ethics” of the situation stem from the dilemma of whether swimmers should be taken aboard the lifeboat. But when I read this book there was more of a focus on the moral dilemma, in regards to an overcrowded lifeboat.
This book is a highly emotional novel and while you do get some character development, this mainly focuses on Grace and her take on the situation at hand. I must admit to hating Mrs Grant throughout the entire book; she was bossy and always plotting against the others. While John Hardie seems to always try to do what was best for the people in the lifeboat and he seemed strong and determined; it was interesting to see how the pressure got to him.
Another aspect this book dealt with was the one of social class; the sinking of the Empress Alexandra brought people from all different social backgrounds onto the lifeboat. So it is interesting when they need to throw people off the lifeboat for survival how important class is to the people wanting to survive; as if that would be have importance at a time like this. I think Charlotte Rogan did a great job setting the novel in 1914; you have the sinking of the Titanic not too long before in 1912 and the time and age is perfect to look at the issue of social class as well as morals.
The Lifeboat is a stunning debut novel from Charlotte Rogan; while it could use a bit more development with some of the characters, this booked worked well with exploring the issues it set out to explore. I think Rogan has a worthy example of well crafted contemporary fiction, with the dilemmas the characters face and the pace the novel keeps. I really am impressed with the way this novel turned out and I hope Charlotte Rogan has an equally impressive sophomore novel.
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2013/...
The Lifeboat is an elegant and thrilling novel with many complex issues weaved into it. For any to live, some must die but the hard choice of survival can be taken too far. At what point does the struggle for survival turn into manslaughter and can you really live with your actions. With personality clashes between characters like John Hardie and Mrs Grant, this book is just a stimulating and thought provoking read.
My first thought with this book was that this was just playing out a novel based on ecologist Garrett Hardin’s metaphor for resource distribution. Hardin’s metaphor describes a lifeboat bearing 50 people, with room for ten more. The lifeboat is in an ocean surrounded by a hundred swimmers. The “ethics” of the situation stem from the dilemma of whether swimmers should be taken aboard the lifeboat. But when I read this book there was more of a focus on the moral dilemma, in regards to an overcrowded lifeboat.
This book is a highly emotional novel and while you do get some character development, this mainly focuses on Grace and her take on the situation at hand. I must admit to hating Mrs Grant throughout the entire book; she was bossy and always plotting against the others. While John Hardie seems to always try to do what was best for the people in the lifeboat and he seemed strong and determined; it was interesting to see how the pressure got to him.
Another aspect this book dealt with was the one of social class; the sinking of the Empress Alexandra brought people from all different social backgrounds onto the lifeboat. So it is interesting when they need to throw people off the lifeboat for survival how important class is to the people wanting to survive; as if that would be have importance at a time like this. I think Charlotte Rogan did a great job setting the novel in 1914; you have the sinking of the Titanic not too long before in 1912 and the time and age is perfect to look at the issue of social class as well as morals.
The Lifeboat is a stunning debut novel from Charlotte Rogan; while it could use a bit more development with some of the characters, this booked worked well with exploring the issues it set out to explore. I think Rogan has a worthy example of well crafted contemporary fiction, with the dilemmas the characters face and the pace the novel keeps. I really am impressed with the way this novel turned out and I hope Charlotte Rogan has an equally impressive sophomore novel.
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2013/...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,845 reviews