The Midnight Watch: A Novel of the Titanic and the Californian by David Dyer

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: March 30, 2016

As the Titanic and her passengers sank slowly into the Atlantic Ocean after striking an iceberg late in the evening of April 14, 1912, a nearby ship looked on. Second Officer Herbert Stone, in charge of the midnight watch on the SS Californian sitting idly a few miles north, saw the distress rockets that the Titanic fired. He alerted the captain, Stanley Lord, who was sleeping in the chartroom below, but Lord did not come to the bridge. Eight rockets were fired during the dark hours of the midnight watch, and eight rockets were ignored. The next morning, the Titanic was at the bottom of the sea and more than 1,500 people were dead. When they learned of the extent of the tragedy, Lord and Stone did everything they could to hide their role in the disaster, but pursued by newspapermen, lawyers, and political leaders in America and England, their terrible secret was eventually revealed. The Midnight Watch is a fictional telling of what may have occurred that night on the SS Californian, and the resulting desperation of Officer Stone and Captain Lord in the aftermath of their inaction. Told not only from the perspective of the SS Californian crew, but also through the eyes of a family of third-class passengers who perished in the disaster, the narrative is drawn together by Steadman, a tenacious Boston journalist who does not rest until the truth is found. David Dyer's The Midnight Watch is a powerful and dramatic debut novel--the result of many years of research in Liverpool, London, New York, and Boston, and informed by the author's own experiences as a ship's officer and a lawyer.

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I feel like the only person who didn’t fall for David Dyer’s The Midnight Watch: A Novel of the Titanic and the Californian. I’ve been in the minority before, it’s no big deal, but I wanted to like this one and I am rather disappointed it didn’t work out.

I personally found the general idea is fascinating and give Dyer a lot of credit for attempting it. Explaining what might have prevented the Californian from acting proved a refreshing angle. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of a comparable narrative and I enjoyed the contrast this story provided alongside others featuring the disaster.

I was also impressed with the author’s utilization of the historic record. I think Dyer’s use of context masterful and feel his manipulation of the material intensely creative. A great deal of research went into this piece and as a fan of the genre, I couldn’t help admiring the dedication that so obviously went into the creation of this piece.

I preached a desire to see male protagonists at the Historical Novel Society Conference in Denver last year and Dyer’s work made that wish a reality in the best way. He creates a diverse cast of flawed individuals with a wide range of personal experiences. The story is naturally quite masculine in tone, but the novel doesn’t suffer for it and I hope the powers that be recognize that fact and open the door for more male protagonists.

Unfortunately for me, certain elements of the story’s structure undermined the novel’s strengths. I don’t mean to sound cruel in this admission, but the monotony of the narrative put me to sleep on more than one occasion. Despite all that I appreciated, there simply wasn’t enough movement to engage my imagination.

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So responsibility for action fell like a snowflake from the sky, landing gently between them, touching neither. And in this concentrated moment in history, nothing was done.

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The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Local Library

Read: July 20, 2012

Just in time for the centennial anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic comes a vivid, romantic, and relentlessly compelling historical novel about a spirited young woman who survives the disaster only to find herself embroiled in the media frenzy left in the wake of the tragedy. Tess, an aspiring seamstress, thinks she's had an incredibly lucky break when she is hired by famous designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon to be a personal maid on the Titanic's doomed voyage. Once on board, Tess catches the eye of two men, one a roughly-hewn but kind sailor and the other an enigmatic Chicago millionaire. But on the fourth night, disaster strikes. Amidst the chaos and desperate urging of two very different suitors, Tess is one of the last people allowed on a lifeboat. Tess’s sailor also manages to survive unharmed, witness to Lady Duff Gordon’s questionable actions during the tragedy. Others—including the gallant Midwestern tycoon—are not so lucky. On dry land, rumors about the survivors begin to circulate, and Lady Duff Gordon quickly becomes the subject of media scorn and later, the hearings on the Titanic. Set against a historical tragedy but told from a completely fresh angle, The Dressmaker is an atmospheric delight filled with all the period's glitz and glamour, all the raw feelings of a national tragedy and all the contradictory emotions of young love.

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Lady Duff Gordon

I have started to review Kate Alcott's The Dressmaker a hundred times and a hundred times I've thrown up my hands in frustration. Focusing on content alone makes it impossible to understand where I am coming from, but examining my experience with the book also leaves quite a bit out. Apologies, but this might be a little long winded. 

It seems like aa lifetime ago, but like so many I went through a Titanic phase, studying anything and everything I could get my hands on. The publication of The Dressmaker rekindled that interest. Eagerly I waited for the book to become available at my local library. 

While I waited, I came across a New York Times article that detailed the trials Patricia O'Brien faced in getting her manuscript to print. I was naturally upset by the treatment she received from the publishing industry and by the time I finally landed a copy of her work was convinced her struggle was entirely unjust. Then of course, I read the book. 

I'm sorry, but Jack Dawson winning a pair of tickets in a lucky hand of poker was more believable than Tess Collins landing a position with Lucile Duff Gordon on the docks the day Titanic set sail. It is a pivotal moment, one the entire book depends on, but I couldn't force myself to swallow it for anything. The very idea is nothing short of ridiculous though not quite so much as the manner in which Alcott tackled the actual sinking.

The sinking of Titanic

Alcott's story begins in Cherbourg on April 10th, the iceberg made famous by the tragedy is first mentioned on page 48 and by page 65 our plucky heroine is watching dawn break over the waves from a lifeboat in the north Atlantic. While I can understand that Alcott wanted to focus on the hearings that followed the sinking, I cannot wrap my head around actual event receiving less than twenty pages of text. Honestly it might as well have been left out entirely.

Do you see what I'm getting at? The story lacked plausibility, there is no real development of the characters or their relationships and it utterly failed to strike the emotional chord I expected considering the intense subject matter. I wanted to like the piece, but Alcott missed the mark at nearly every turn, the exception being female reporter Pinky Wade who I actually enjoyed even if her involvement with the suffragette movement clashed with the legal proceedings that inspired Alcott to write the book. 

Arrival of the "ship of sorrow" at New York

I forced myself to finish the piece, but it was an uphill battle all the way. By the time I completed the final page I couldn't help wondering if this book was ever given a fair shot. It was initially rejected because of the author's sales record, but it was also part of the rush of Titanic lit that was released to coincide with the centennial anniversary of the disaster. Was it at all possible that the book was rushed through the editing process? Would this lack of development and conflicting storylines exist if the book were to have been released on  some other date? Would the marketing department have created a promotional campaign that more accurately reflected the content of the book if they hadn't been concerned with a deadline? These are just a few of the questions that plagued me every time I attempted to write this review, the root cause of my frustration and reason I don't really know how to phrase my feelings on the book. 

I honest don't know if I had trouble with The Dressmaker because I couldn't appreciate Alcott's style of storytelling or because I set an unrealistic expectation and that my judgment was corrupted before I even got hold of the piece. I am willing to admit both played a part in forming my overall impression of the book, but I suppose in the end it doesn't really matter. I liked the idea of the book, Alcott's exploration of the aftermath, but the execution failed to draw me in.

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“I've told you to look for opportunity, dear Tess. Keep your head up, not down. Don't settle for safety. Push forward-you are not foolish to try.”

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One Night to Remember by Kristin Miller

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Personal Kindle Library

Read: March 23, 2012

First class clothing designer Elizabeth Scott isn’t all that she appears. She may be elegant and poised on the outside, dining with the richest on the ship, but she’s hiding a dark secret within. Thieves boarded the Titanic, too… Officer Thomas McGuire is as honest as they come. Working to make a decent living on the ship of dreams, he can’t believe his eyes when the most striking lady he’s ever seen steals from another first class passenger. As the night goes on, Thomas must decide whether he plans to arrest or seduce Elizabeth and she’s not making it easy on him—the heat sparking between their bodies is unlike anything either of them has ever known. Time is running out… The Titanic is sinking fast, with little more than an hour before it settles on the ocean floor. Although Elizabeth has finally met a true gentlemen, one who gazes upon her with total adoration and fulfills her deepest fantasies, he insists on helping other passengers until the last minute, even if that means going down with the ship.

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The fatal flaw in One Night to Remember is in the formatting. Miller chose to write her story as a novella which is fine but it doesn't give her a lot of opportunity to develop the cast. We learn very little about Miss Scott and even less about Mr. McGuire. They feel as if they are going through the motions more than anything. Miller might understand the motivations and background of her characters but these concepts were never adequately conveyed to her audience. As a reader, the lack of development made it difficult to accept or even care about Elizabeth and Thomas.

From a historic point of view I couldn't get excited over Miller's depiction of the sinking. Having read a handful titles about the ship I was familiar with the concepts Miller approached in her work. The confusion, the uncertainty... even the drama surrounding Collapsible B. All of it was old news. I think Miller and a lot of other authors forget the sinking itself is well known and as such doesn't make for much of a plot twist. 

According to the about the author section, "this book is the culmination of twenty-four years of research and countless dreams about writing a Titanic novel." I don't doubt the author harbors a deep affection for the ship and its fate but that passion doesn't translate well to her work. In reading the piece, I couldn't help feeling One Night to Remember had been slapped together in a mad rush to capitalize on the hundredth anniversary of the disaster. The erotic love scenes might appeal to certain brackets but I don't think there is much here for the main stream reader.

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"Let us pretend that you are bold and I am more than taken by you. Let us pretend that we are secluded within the four walls of this stateroom and whatever happens within these walls stay here."

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