I am making my way through my reading list for early 2021 and can already enthusiastically recommend this new historical fiction about the city of Savannah and the “Titanic of the South”:
Surviving Savannah
by Patti Callahan
In a dual timeline, Callahan tells the story of the doomed steam ship Pulaski, which set sail from Savannah in 1838. Many of the city’s most prestigious families were on board to sail to Baltimore for the summer. But during the second night, a boiler exploded, and the ship sank. Many perished and those who did survive waited several days for rescue in the open sea or faced a harrowing journey in a lifeboat. Families were broken, assets (many took their gold, silver, china with them) were at the bottom of the ocean; this tragedy affected Savannah for years to come. But until reading this book, I knew nothing of this disaster!
The present day timeline follows Everly who is curating a museum’s exhibit on the disaster while recovering from her own personal tragedy.
The narrative (and Everly’s exhibit) focuses on a key family of Savannah as they board the ship and attempt to survive both the shipwreck and the aftermath. Because those who do survive must still “survive the surviving” and start their lives over without family members, finding new purpose or succumbing to a darker alternative.
The book addresses topics of family, race, class, the meaning of life, finding purpose after tragedy, history, family history, I could go on. There is so much in this book, and I rarely give 5 starts to historical fiction (on goodreads) because I save that rating (generally) for something that is more literary (e.g. could win a Pulitzer)…but when I started to check the “4 stars” that just didn’t seem right considering how much I enjoyed this book for the genre it is.
And thanks to this book, I am adding Savannah to my travel list.
Thanks to NetGalley I was given advance access to this book in exchange for an honest review. It doesn’t come out until March so put your pre-orders and requests in now!