The Titanic Survivors Book Club
Even more than a hundred years later, the Titanic often remains an active part of pop culture. Whether it’s for billionaires dying to reach the wreck, the James Cameron classic movie (which I’ve still never seen), or even as one of the inciting events in the Downton Abbey TV show, people remain enamored with stories related to it. I’m definitely a person to judge a book by its cover, and as soon as I saw the title, The Titanic Survivors Book Club and the accompanying cover art featuring the Eiffel Tower I made up my mind to read the book.
Let me get this out of the way early, though: the title and presumed premise of the novel are mostly lies, but it doesn’t mean that it’s still not a good book, it just wasn’t exactly what it purported to be. TThe story centers on Yorick, a young man who managed the second-class library on the Titanic, but just before its ill-fated voyage, he was fired, so he didn’t sail on it. After leaving the White Star company, he buys a bookstore in Paris. The two other protagonists Haze, an itinerant photographer, and Zinna, a Japanese candy company heiress, as well as all the other eventual members of the book club, had similar stories in which something caused them to miss out on the trip, such that none of the characters were actually on the ship when it went down. The book club itself also isn’t hugely relevant to the story except as an occasional meeting place.
The true gist of the novel is that after all of the “survivors” in Paris are brought for a meet up, Yorick becomes enamored with Haze, who himself is enamored with Zinna. This love triangle is the central plot of the book and well worth the subterfuge of the title. Because of the social taboo at the time, Yorick won’t express his true feelings for Haze. Haze however, enlists Yorick to help him woo Zinna through a series of letters accompanying specially chosen books from his bookshop. This obviously allows Yorick to say all the things he wants to say to Haze through the letters he writes on his behalf. As is often the case in situations like this, the ruse can’t last forever and things fall apart in pretty predictable ways.
While I really enjoyed the book, I certainly wouldn’t categorize it as a feel-good piece. Between the starting conceit of the Titanic tragedy, the unrequited and lost loves, and the story all being told on the precipice of and then during World War I, I think the story has a very melancholic feel. I think this could pair nicely with an upcoming rainy autumn day when you want to sit inside under a blanket and read something that makes you feel just a little bit sad.
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