Books & Java

The Girl Who Came Home: A Novel of the Titanic

by Hazel Gaynor 

Synopsis:

 

A voyage across the ocean becomes the odyssey of a lifetime for a young Irish woman. 

Ireland, 1912 . . .

Fourteen members of a small village set sail on RMS Titanic, hoping to find a better life in America. For seventeen-year-old Maggie Murphy, the journey is bittersweet. Though her future lies in an unknown new place, her heart remains in Ireland with Séamus, the sweetheart she left behind. When disaster strikes, Maggie is one of the few passengers in steerage to survive. Waking up alone in a New York hospital, she vows never to speak of the terror and panic of that fateful night again.


Chicago, 1982 . . .

Adrift after the death of her father, Grace Butler struggles to decide what comes next. When her great-grandmother Maggie shares the painful secret about Titanic that she's harbored for almost a lifetime, the revelation gives Grace new direction—and leads both her and Maggie to unexpected reunions with those they thought lost long ago.


Inspired by true events, The Girl Who Came Home poignantly blends fact and fiction to explore the Titanic tragedy's impact and its lasting repercussions on survivors and their descendants.

My Review:

This was a very enjoyable read. I've read a few reviews that criticize the writer for not adding anything new to the story about the ill-fated Titanic. I'm not sure that is a fair criticism as there hasn't been anything new to add to the tragic story of Titanic and its passengers since technology and modern forensics cleared up most of the mysteries behind Titanic many years ago. There were enough survivors that historians have been able to piece together the events of April 14, 1912. With that said, I have to commend Hazel Gaynor for writing a beautiful story of one girl and her experience as a young immigrant on one of the most famous ships of all-time. 

As historical fiction, and a good one at that, I learned some things I never knew about Titanic. I was born almost 60 years after the sinking of the Titanic and although I've always been familiar with and fascinated by the course of events, I found Gaynor's telling delightful. By the way, in the book post-script notes, we find out that the story of the Ballysheen 14 is based on the true accounts of the Addergoole 14. The only part of the story that was not to my liking was the side story of Grace, the main character's great-granddaughter, taking place in 1982. 

I found myself skimming through some of the sections about her and her boyfriend Jimmy - I found these sections boring compared to the rest of the story. I don't think the storyline really needed it. Jimmy's character was superfluous and added nothing to the otherwise interesting story of Maggie and her journey on the Titanic.