Title: Surviving Savannah

Author: Patti Callahan

Publisher: Berkley 2021

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 431

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

When Savannah history professor Everly Winthrop is asked to guest-curate a new museum collection focusing on artifacts recovered from the steamship Pulaski, she's shocked. The ship sank after a boiler explosion in 1838, and the wreckage was just discovered, 180 years later. Everly can't resist the opportunity to try to solve some of the mysteries and myths surrounding the devastating night of its sinking.

Everly's research leads her to the astounding history of a family of eleven who boarded the Pulaski together, and the extraordinary stories of two women from this family: a known survivor, Augusta Longstreet, and her niece, Lilly Forsyth, who was never found, along with her child. These aristocratic women were part of Savannah's society, but when the ship exploded, each was faced with difficult and heartbreaking decisions. This is a moving and powerful exploration of what women will do to endure in the face of tragedy, the role fate plays, and the myriad ways we survive the surviving.

I have a history of not liking historical fiction that employs a historical and a modern timeline. I usually find the modern timeline lacking greatly. In this volume, the modern storyline is not perfect, but I mostly enjoyed Everly’s story of finding herself after grief. I was drawn to the book because it is based on a real life maritime disaster and I definitely have a thing for maritime disasters. We drive right into the story of the travelers aboard the doomed Pulaski. And right away, I was loving the character of Augusta. Thankfully we get to see more of her throughout the story. Turning to the modern storyline, I did love the mystery of finding the wreckage and piecing together the story of some of the people. The drama kept me engaged with the storyline and characters until the end. There are a few parts that dragged a bit (obsessing about the Noble Boy/Red Devil for example) but it’s still a solid historical fiction. Don’t skip the notes at the end that dive into the actual history of the Pulaski.

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