When Elinor, the daughter of the Cotton King, marries Frederick, she dreams of the love she’s read about in novels. When the marriage turns out to be simply a business transaction on her husband’s side, Elinor’s life is turned upside down. Living away from her loving father and with a cold aristocratic family, she’s miserable, and made even more so when her son Teddy is born and she learns of the life in store for him.

When passage on the Titanic ends in disaster, Elinor seizes the opportunity to begin a new life in New York, where no one knows who she is.

Having loved Frances Quinn’s writing before, I was so excited to pick up her latest historical fiction novel, especially with the link to the Titanic! It was such an easy read that I flew through, with characters I absolutely hated (all of the upper class English characters) and characters I loved (Elinor’s father and Molly’s family).

It seemed to be a book of two halves for me. The first half made me angry for various reasons (mostly the restrictions of the time - no fault of the author’s!) but I struggled to feel as much sympathy for the MC as I’d have liked. At 19, one could argue her simply naive but I think some of the annoyance from that was down to the sheer obviousness of the plot points - as a reader you know what’s happening chapters before her and I’d have liked a little more subtlety in the reveals and discovered things in real time, with her.

The second half was much more enjoyable for me. I fell in love with Elinor’s new life and with Molly’s family. I was rooting for her to come out the other side and thrive in her new environment. The ending was lovely and heartwarming.

I’d recommend this to lovers of the author’s previous works, as well as anyone with a fascination with the Titanic, along with historical fiction fans.

Huge thanks to the publisher for allowing me early access to the book. I’ll definitely be picking up a copy upon publication and I’m obsessed with the cover!

Possible spoilers

An enjoyable tale, that takes a story most of us already know, but doesn't make it the main focus.
Our main character goes from meek and mild , to coming into her own and fighting for what's right for her.
It had some good characters, I especially liked Elinors father, but some great acceptance from Mollys family.
Enjoyable

when the titanic sinks to it's watery grave Elinor Coombes sees this as a way of escaping.. she has a troubled marriage and with her son Teddy she embarks on a new life.

I adored this read. It is a tale of love and fresh starts but has equal amouts of drama and tension.

The writing is beautiful and the plot is just divine. I loved how it unfolded.

This is a book that I will recommend and re read. It would be a brilliant book club choice and jusy perfect to cosy up with.. I wished it never ended..

Absolutely beautiful brilliant book! Perfect for fans of the Titanic! Loved every minute Perfect for book club

As someone who adores all things Titanic the is sorry of starting over and embracing a new life is so inspiring to me and I’m sure many other readers. I love the protective mother instinct and was on pins and needles over whether her secret could be kept. Absolutely fantastic! One of my favorite books of the year