The Lifeboat

Description

I was to stand trial for my life. I was twenty-two years old. I had been married for ten weeks and a widow for six. It is 1914 and Europe is on the brink of war. When a magnificent ocean liner suffers a mysterious explosion en route to New York City, Henry Winter manages to secure a place in a lifeboat for his new wife Grace. But the survivors quickly realize the boat is over capacity and could sink at any moment. For any to live, some must die. Over the course of three perilous weeks, the passengers on the lifeboat plot, scheme, gossip and console one another while sitting inches apart. Their deepest beliefs are tested to the limit as they begin to discover what they will do in order to survive.

Promotion info

A daring and adventurous novel set just before the First World War. It begins in a courtroom, where an enigmatic young woman named Grace Winter is on trial; in flashback, we learn why ...

Awards

Guardian First Book Award 2012.

Reviews

Almost unbearably exciting - you'll gulp it down in a single sitting -- Kate Saunders The Times You will be gripped -- Andrew Holgate Sunday Times Ingenious... An unflinching examination of the will to survive ... Vividly exciting, beautifully paced and surprisingly funny; in Grace, Rogan has found a voice that is both fresh and mysterious -- Justine Jordan Guardian Rogan's rip-roaring tale is a chilling reminder of the cost of survival -- Elena Seymenliyska Daily Telegraph A magnificently layered book ... As compelling as it is profound -- Daisy Goodwin Sunday Times

Author description

Charlotte Rogan graduated from Princeton in 1975. She taught herself to write between working at various jobs and bringing up triplets. Her childhood vacations with a family of sailors provided inspiration for The Lifeboat, her first novel. She lives in Connecticut, US.