Surviving Savannah is the beautifully written novel
by Patti Callahan, which tells the story of an old prominent Southern family
who are onboard an ill-fated passenger steamboat, a present-day art historian
researching the ship’s sinking, and the City of Savannah. In this tale of
survival, we meet 3 young women. All of whom are facing distinct challenges of
life.
First, there's Everly Winthrop. Everly is an Art
History professor, who has been asked to curate an exhibit of artifacts from The
Pulaski, which sank off the coast of North Carolina in 1838. While working
on this project, Everly must confront her own past as she is haunted by the untimely
death of her best friend, Moira. She searches for meaning in both tragedies.
She will take a dangerous risk to find answers that leads her on a spiritual
journey.
Lilly Forsyth is a passenger on The Pulaski along
with her husband, daughter, their nursemaid and the rest of Lilly’s family. She
is in a horrible marriage with an abusive, controlling husband with no way to
escape. However, The Pulaski’s disaster and its frantic evacuation may
be a way out for Lilly.
Also onboard is Lilly’s young aunt, Augusta
Longstreet. At the age of 22, Augusta has seen heartache as she has lost her fiancé
weeks before their wedding. She is hoping to find love again with Henry
McMillan, another passenger on The Pulaski.
As strange as it may sound, my favorite parts of the
book were the evacuation and the hours after when Lilly and Augusta were adrift
in the Atlantic. The events described were based on actual accounts from those
who survived The Pulaski’s sinking. Even though these chapters were terrifying,
there was something thrilling about them that held my attention.
Moreover, I wanted to see what came next for Lilly
and Augusta if they survived the catastrophe. Would they have brighter, happier
futures? Their will to live would have to prevail. Although these 2 characters
are fictional, they were inspired by real people who were on The Pulaski the
night it sank.
Another fascinating aspect was the narrative of
Charles Longstreet. Based on a real-life survivor, Charles at 14-years-old was
known as the “Noble Boy” because of the kindness he showed to other survivors
while they were waiting to be rescued. Unfortunately, in later years, Charles
would become a notorious slave trader who earned the nickname the “Red Devil”. Why
did Charles’ life take such an evil turn? I think there are no easy answers to
that question.
Also, the inhumanity of slavery, class privilege, coming
to terms with the past and what happens to survivors after a tragedy are all
important themes in this novel. It is truly a book of substance.
If I have one criticism, it would be the way Everly’s
story ended. Not wanting to give away too much here - so, I’ll just say it was
a bit too cliché for me. I kind of wish the author would have gone in another
direction. However, this shouldn’t dissuade anyone from delving into this
novel.
I'm so glad I chose Surviving Savannah to be the
topic of my second blog post. I picked it without knowing anything about the
book or its author, but its description sounded wonderful. Often, when a book
seems like it would be promising, I am left feeling disappointed. This definitely
wasn’t the case with Surviving Savannah. I look forward to reading more books
by Patti Callahan.
E-mail: mariabookbanter@gmail.com
