As our world continues to face global uncertainties, new COVID variants, war, supply disruptions and escalating living costs, we escape the present to delve into turbulent times of the past.
The first several selections illuminate different aspects of one of the most shocking events of 1912—the sinking of the supposedly “unsinkable” luxury cruise liner, the Titanic, lost on her maiden voyage after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic in the middle of the night.
LAST PORT OF CALL: THE QUEENSTOWN SERIES Book 1 by Jean Grainger focuses on the people gathered at a newly opened boarding house in the Irish town where the Titanic made her last landfall before setting out on her fatal Atlantic crossing. The story takes place at Cliff House, an estate turned into a boarding house when it was inherited by Harp Delaney Deveraux and her mother, former housekeeper at the estate owned by Henry Deveraux—who, Harp learned after his death, was her father. Some of their first guests are passengers slated to board the Titanic during her stop in Queenstown; some are friends or relatives come to see them off, and others are people curious to have a first-hand look at the brand-new pride of the White Star fleet. As their stories intertwine, the tension heightens—for the reader knows, as these people do not, the fate that awaits those who embark on this journey.
THE GIRL ON THE CARPATHIA by Eileen Enwright Hodgetts presents a view of the aftermath of the sinking, featuring a fictional heroine along with a varied cast that includes the real people who investigated and testified about the tragedy, their words often taken verbatim from transcripts of the hearings. The fictional Kate Royston, a daughter of wealth fallen on hard times, has taken a job as a governess to escape the US and is accompanying her employers to Europe aboard the RMS Carpathia. Walking the deck one frigid night, she overhears the news of the distress signal being sent out from the Titanic and pitches in to help with the rescue efforts. Once Carpathia arrives, Kate assists the survivors from the life boats and the few they rescue from the water. By the time Carpathia returns to New York, there is already outrage and speculation as to why this supposedly indestructible ship could have sunk. When Senator William Alden Smith begins hearings to investigate the disaster, Kate finds herself called as a witness—and what she has seen and overheard said by survivors sometimes makes her version of events clash with those of powerful people who want a different viewpoint to prevail. Featuring well-known historical figures like Lady Duff Gordon and White Star Line chairman Sir Bruce Ismay, Hodgetts’s fascinating account shows the plight of one innocent witness caught up in the maelstrom of a tragedy that pits together the powerful interests of millionaires, a President, and a Senate investigating committee.
In THE SECOND MRS. ASTOR by Shana Abe, we see the story of the Titanic from the personal viewpoint of one of its most poignant survivors, Madeleine Force Astor. Though Madeline is upper-class, her family isn’t in the same league as the Astors. But when the seventeen-year-old Madeline meets the forty-six-year-old, recently divorced John Jacob Astor, it’s love at first sight for them both. To escape the relentless press coverage, disapproval and speculation, the couple take an extended honeymoon voyage on the Nile. Finally finding a measure of peace and able to concentrate on each other, the two spend a blissful period—and Madeline discovers she is pregnant. An encounter with Joseph Ismay of the White Star Line has convinced Jack Astor to book their homeward voyage on White Star’s newest ship, giving them one last episode of luxury and relaxation before returning to face their New York critics. But it is a widowed Madeline who arrives in port alone. Anxious that the son she bears five months later will know something of his father, how his parents came to be together, and the happiness they shared, Madeline writes a letter for him. It is this first-person letter, alternating with third-person descriptions of the life of the couple before and after the Titanic, that interweaves to form this compelling, heart-breaking story.
We skip several decades to arrive in 1939, setting for our final selection, THE LAST DEBUTANT by Georgie Blalock. There is not much concrete information about Valerie de Vere Cole, real-life niece of one-time British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlin. Blalock interweaves what little is known with vivid period details to frame this story of the last days before World War II and the young people of wealth and social position who, like our heroine, sense a war is coming that will change their lives forever. After her upbringing by neglectful parents, Valerie has found stability and warmth living at Downing Street with her aunt and uncle, the Prime Minister. While trying to conceal a scandalous past, Valerie mingles with debutants from British society and New World notables like Eunice and “Kick” Kennedy. Contrasted with the story of high society, we have that of Marian Holmes, one of the Prime Minister’s typists, whose experiences are far different from those of the privileged debutantes. But commoner or high-born, the world for all of them was soon to change…
From toasting a voyage doomed to end in disaster to champagne and caviar on the eve of a war that will change Britain’s fortunes forever, this month’s selections allow us to be armchair observers of events from turbulent times of the past. Immerse yourself in one of these selections, and leave the crisis of our world behind!
THE LAST DEBUTANTES by Georgie Blalock
Fans of The Kennedy Debutante and Last Year in Havana will love Georgie Blalock’s new novel of a world on the cusp of change…set on the eve of World War II in the glittering world of English society and one of the last debutante seasons.
They danced the night away, knowing their world was about to change forever. They were the debutantes of 1939, laughing on the outside, but knowing tragedy— and a war—was just around the corner.
When Valerie de Vere Cole, the niece of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, makes her deep curtsey to the King and Queen of England, she knows she’s part of a world about to end. The daughter of a debt-ridden father and a neglectful mother, Valerie sees firsthand that war is imminent.
Nevertheless, Valerie reinvents herself as a carefree and glittering young society woman, befriending other debutantes from England’s aristocracy as well as the vivacious Eunice Kennedy, daughter of the U.S. Ambassador. Despite her social success, the world’s troubles and Valerie’s fear of loss and loneliness prove impossible to ignore.
How will she navigate her new life when everything in her past has taught her that happiness and stability are as fragile as peace in our time? For the moment she will forget her cares in too much champagne and waltzes. Because very soon, Valerie knows that she must find the inner strength to stand strong and carry on through the challenges of life and love and war.
Historical [William Morrow Paperbacks, On Sale: August 24, 2021, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780063009295 / eISBN: 9780063009301]
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About Georgie Blalock
Georgie Blalock is an amateur historian and movie buff who loves combining her different passions through historical fiction, and a healthy dose of period piece films. When not writing, she can be found prowling the non-fiction history section of the library or the British film listings on Netflix. Georgie writes historical romance under the name Georgie Lee.
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About Julia Justiss
Real, intense, passionate historical romance
Award-winning romance author Julia Justiss, who has written more than thirty historical novels and novellas set in the English Regency and the American West, just completed her first contemporary series set in the fictional Hill Country town of Whiskey River, Texas.
A voracious reader who began jotting down plot ideas for Nancy Drew novels in her third grade spiral, Julia has published poetry and worked as a business journalist.
She and her husband live in East Texas, where she continues to craft the stories she loves. Check her website for details about her books, chat with her on social media, and follow her on Bookbub and Amazon to receive notices about her latest releases.
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