An engaging and unsettling addition to the Titanic-themed fiction category.
Two sisters survive the sinking of the Titanic but face further danger when they return to England in this historical melodrama/mystery that poses the possibility of a nefarious reason for the grand ship’s rapid descent.
Poppy and Daisy Melville paid for their passage on the Titanic by securing positions as first-class stewardesses. They are the eldest of the four daughters of the Earl of Riddlesdown, an objectionable man ruled by his passion to produce a male heir. The two sisters have fled his home and are headed for California, where the impulsive 18-year-old Daisy is determined to become a Hollywood movie star. Nobody in Riddlesdown knows they have set sail for America. Both young women are rescued by Cunard Line’s Carpathia. But the reckless Daisy committed one final impetuous act while onboard the Titanic that will put her life in jeopardy when the surviving crew is forced to return to England. Meanwhile, back in London, Harry Hazelton, a former regimental officer and spy—injured in India after being attacked by a wild boar—is hired by the sisters’ uncle, the Bishop of Fordingbridge, to investigate the disappearance of his nieces. Add in two additional survivors—Ernie Sullivan, an Australian working as a Titanic fireman, and Alvin Towson, an American gambler—each with secret objectives, and there is plenty of material in the interactions among these characters for an intriguing drama. Hodgetts seamlessly weaves together records of survivor testimony and conclusions drawn by the British inquiry into the disaster with both her fictional characters and historical figures. The novel’s most riveting pages are the vivid opening scenes on the water, where Poppy sits in Lifeboat 14 watching the ship go down bow first and listening to the screams of the passengers pleading for help in the frigid Atlantic (“The starlight, cold and merciless, shone down on the people struggling in the water, and their desperate flailing produced a maelstrom of white phosphorescence”). But the story of the aftermath and coverups by the White Star Line and the British government are equally stunning and disturbing. It is a compelling backdrop to an engrossing tale that is at heart a traditional drama about life and love.
An engaging and unsettling addition to the Titanic-themed fiction category.Pub Date: May 25, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73760-703-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Emerge Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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