Titanic Ashes

by Paul Butler

In 1925, in a London restaurant, J. Bruce Ismay, former chairman of the White Star Line, has a quiet dinner with his daughter Evelyn. Through the extravagant foliage of the dining room, a young woman watches. Like Ismay, Miranda Grimsden was a passenger on board the ill-fated Titanic that terrible night in April 1912. Fuelled by simmering emotions, Ismay, Evelyn, and Miranda take a backwards journey through the thirteen intervening years to confront issues of cowardice, spite, and revenge, and to dare themselves to exorcise the spectre of the past.

Genres: Fiction

149 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 3, 2012

About the author

Paul Butler is the author of novels The Widow's Fire (In press, Inanna, 2017), The Good Doctor (2014), Titanic Ashes (2012), 1892 (2008), NaGeira (Pennywell Books, 2006), which appeared on one of the judge's (Donna Morrissey) Canada Reads shortlists, Easton's Gold (Brazen Books, 2005), Easton (Flanker Press, 2004), Stoker's Shadow (Flanker Press, 2003), short-listed for the 2004 Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards, and The Surrogate Spirit, Jesperson Publishing (2000). The novels Easton, Easton's Gold and Nageira explore the apsects of the pre-colonial history of the New World. Butler has written for The Globe and Mail, The Beaver, Books in Canada, Atlantic Books Today and Canadian Geographic. He has contributed to CBC Radio regional and national. A graduate of Norman Jewison's Canadian Film Centre and screenwriter of the Archelon Films and Ontario Arts Council short film production, Solstice, Butler is a four-times winner (2003, 2004, 2006, 2008) in the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters Awards.

Reviews

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short novel presents an interesting and necessarily intense perspective on the sinking of the Titanic. The author has constructed a possible chain of events which, while not entirely plausible, does encourage the reader to reconsider the reasons for the vicious portrayal of Bruce Ismay in the media at the time.

The main setting of the story is a hotel dining room in London, England in 1925. The three main characters flesh out some events of the previous thirteen years (since the sinking) through a series of memories and reflections. This technique results in a captivating, if somewhat disjointed, sequence of events.

Appropriately (in my opinion), the book draws no conclusions, leaving the reader to ponder the possibilities that have been presented. An excellent read!

[Marie Barr]

This was a DNF for me, could not get into it.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's 1925 at a London restaurant, 13 years after the sinking of the Titanic. This short story, which I felt was somewhat boring, briefly recounts the aftermath of J. Bruce Ismay's life. Now the FORMER White Star Chairman, he and his daughter Evelyn encounter passengers of the doomed ship eating nearby; the Grimsdens, Agnes and daughter Miranda survivors.There were many unkind looks back and forth and a couple brief encounters and discussions regarding Ismay's cowardice as well as making note of a rather expressive letter sent to Mr. Ismay by Miranda at age ten the September following the disaster indicating that he was a coward and thoughtless person to have taken a seat in a lifeboat when so many women and children were left behind just to save his miserable life. Bottom line, Miranda apologizes to Mr. Ismay's daughter for the letter, Mr. Ismay and Mr. Grimsdens come to terms as Ismay confronts issues of his past actions, and Mr. Grimsdens wife Agnes is a trouble maker as well as a unfaithful wife and overbearing mother.

I had a hard time staying interested even though I normally love books about the history of Titanic.

[peachrings · Rating 4 out of 5]

"So many people have been doing battle for years over the wreckage of his soul, why should he not prod the heap himself for a change?"

"What an astonishing benefit an open, extroverted personality is, he thinks... the currency of so much, of friendship, trade, romance, and love. At times it almost seems the measure of virtue. It’s a man’s calling card and his advertisement; it flows ahead of him in all directions, cementing his reputation, spreading word about his qualities, and perhaps most important of all, securing for him what he may one day need more than anything else: the benefit of the doubt."

Evocative, poignant, and wistful; a nuanced view of Ismay and his role in the sinking, in thoughtful contrast to the usual weaselly caricature we get in most Titanic movies or books.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book about a decade ago - or at least, I began it. I found it in an old list of DNFs and decided to give it another go, and I'm so glad I did. The writing is tense and elegiac, the evening drawing in to a climax that is entirely unexpected. Evelyn in particular was such a strong and sympathetic character.
Also, I just realized I finished reading it on the 111th anniversary of the sinking. Whoa.

[Jerry Cranford · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Titanic Ashes is a fast read filled with elegant expression and surprising emotion. Butler makes it easy to see inside the turmoil both sides felt when split second decisions made the difference between life or death. With surprising conclusions for all, this gem of a novel is sure to please those looking to expand on what came after" -- Historical Novels Review

"Titanic Ashes paints an interesting and seemingly accurate picture of Ismay and provides insight into a troubled man." -- Edwards Book Club

"Butler uses well-documented evidence on which to build this story, and he creates a finely-detailed psychological portrait. Not just of a man, but that of his family – and of the desperate self-delusion of which we are all capable in the face of unattractive truth. Add into the mix a climactic confrontation with another survivor of the Titanic, whose personal circumstances contrast sharply with those of Ismay, and Butler’s novel becomes quite suspenseful as well as absorbing." -- Western Star

"Butler covers a lot of ground in a short space, and the flashbacks are vivid and well executed." -- Quill & Quire

"Titanic Ashes resets the immense and famous tragedy on an intimate scale, interlaced with family loyalties and individual memories." -- The Telegram

"Butler skilfully shows us the characters and their connections. By drawing the barest lines to delineate then, he lets us fill in the colours and shading of the relationships." -- Northeast Avalon Times

"Paul Butler's prose is like Granny's knitting, tightly stitched; its tension perfect." -- The Charter

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short, but moving, novel about an evening at the Palm Room at the Ritz in 1925, when the people at two tables become aware of each other. At one is Bruce J Ismay and his daughter Evelyn. At the other are Mr and Mrs Grimsden, their daughter Miranda and the young man she is to marry. Thirteen years ago Mrs Grimsden and her daughter Miranda, who was only ten at the time, were first class passengers on Titanic's maiden voyage.

Told from the point of view of Miranda, Evelyn and Bruce Ismay, the novel flashbacks over the past, to "the knot at the centre of all their lives". This is a story of acceptance, shame, forgiveness and responsibility. Although, at first, the two tables become aware of each other with part shock and part embarrassment, the end of the evening will change many of their point of views about what happened on that fateful night which has stayed with them all. I was pleasantly surprised by this book, which has taken a real character in Mr Ismay and given him a voice. If you are interested in reading more about what happened to Mr Ismay, you might enjoy How to Survive the Titanic or The Sinking of J. Bruce Ismay.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The opening sections feel a bit drawn out, with a touch of "Downton Abbey"-ish swagger filling the atmosphere surrounding the characters. But the finale makes it worth the wait, as the ultimate catharsis is surprising, witty, and poignant in a very surprising way. I wish the entire novel contained the type of magic that was present in its final pages, but the journey to the conclusion ultimately paid off.

[Noelle Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was quite interesting. I enjoyed reading it and would certainly recommend it to anyone interested. This book was worth reading!

[Nancy Moffett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, short and well written. Based on a true story!