by Kim Izzo
Alfred Vanderbilt and Charles Frohman were perhaps two of the most famous passengers to perish during the sinking. I hope I did them honour.
Back on land the men of Room 40 were based on several written accounts including the official memoir of Alastair Denniston. The work of Room 40 continued after the war and evolved into Bletchley Park, which came to dominate espionage during World War II. At the end of World War I, Alastair Denniston went on to run Bletchley and did marry Dorothy, who worked alongside him.
Walter and Alice Dawson with two-year-old Muriel, circa 1915, before Walter set off to fight on the Western Front. Muriel’s retelling of her father’s story about the Lusitania inspired her granddaughter, the author.
Winston Churchill’s failed campaigns in the Dardanelles and Gallipoli did irreparable damage to his reputation and he resigned from government in November 1915 to take up arms with a regiment in France. He would return to politics as the prime minister of Great Britain on May 10, 1940, and lead the Allies to victory against Nazi Germany.
My research extended beyond the selected bibliography printed here and included many British government and other history-based websites. I also sailed on a transatlantic voyage aboard the Queen Mary 2 from New York to Southampton in the fall of 2013. I wanted to know first-hand what eight days on the North Atlantic felt like. Interestingly, the Queen Mary 2 is owned by Cunard, the same shipping company that built the Lusitania.
The Runciman letter and all the telegrams and messages I included are accurate and taken from historical record.
As for the ship itself, Robert “Bob” Ballard, famous for discovering the wreck of the Titanic, made similar dives to the site of the Lusitania in 1993. Unfortunately the Royal Navy had set off depth charges several years after the sinking so Ballard was unable to do proper forensic analysis.
In this century the prevailing theory for the second explosion is as expressed by Captain Turner: that it was caused by the rupture of the main steam line.
While the conspiracy theory lives on and several official records remain sealed, the Lusitania remains an enduring mystery.
AFTERWORD
The morning of May 7, 2015, a group of friends set sail off the coast of Ireland. Their mission was to pay their respects to their relatives who had sailed on the Lusitania’s fatal voyage, one hundred years earlier. Later that day, thousands joined in to take part in memorials in Cobh, Liverpool and New York City. Like 9/11 and the destruction of the Twin Towers, the torpedoing of the luxury liner Lusitania was a terrorist act that altered the lives of many and changed history. One hundred years later, the families still grieve for the lost and celebrate the survival of others. One hundred years later, mysteries still surround the Lusitania’s final days and rapid sinking. To piece together such a large puzzle, we depend on the accounts of the survivors, which keep surfacing as researchers and relatives dig deeper like archaeologists. As in any event in history, there are false flags such as conspiracy theories, or some author inventions passed off as fact. We will most likely never know the whole story, but as long as relatives like Kim Izzo keep the memory alive, history will never forget the Lusitania.
—Mike Poirier, co-author of Into the Danger Zone: Sea Crossings of the First World War
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In the writing of this novel I owe a great amount of debt to three men whose passion for the Lusitania provided me with a wonderful resource. Whether it was to double-check facts or toss around plausible fictional scenarios based on the layout of the ship, these gentlemen were gracious and obliging and each experts in the field. To them, a huge thank you. They are Eric Sauder, who has spent four decades researching ocean liners and was the historian for Dr. Robert Ballard’s exploration of the wreckage of the Lusitania and dived in a submersible to the site; J. Kent Layton, who has spent twenty-plus years researching ocean liners, with a focus on the Lusitania; and last but not least, Mike Poirier, historian and author (and now friend) who was indispensable to me during the writing process, reading early drafts and correcting what I’d muddled up. Historical facts aside, Mike also demonstrated a keen eye for romantic fiction and there too his suggestions were welcome and inspired. He has devoted over twenty years to researching the “Lusy” and has become a go-to pundit for the media, particularly during the hundredth anniversary of the torpedo strike in May 2015. Mike also created the Facebook group RMS Lusitania Association of Relatives and Researchers, which has brought hundreds of people together in their shared passion for the ship and its passengers.
Of course I couldn’t have completed this novel without the continued support of my friends and family. A special thank you to Karen Ashbee, Suzanne Boyd, Derick Chetty, Mike Crisolago, Louisa McCormack, Athena McKenzie, Ceri Marsh, Diane Phillipson, Kaye Pollock, Vivian Vassos, Meredyth Young, my mother Carolynne and sister Jackie, and my colleagues at Zoomer Magazine.
I also wish to thank my agents, Diana Beaumont and Grainne Fox, who guided me throughout. My editor at HarperCollins, Jennifer Lambert, who managed to “steer the ship” whenever I had doubts—I couldn’t have done it without you. I also want to thank the entire HarperCollins Canada team—from copy editor to production to art department to publicity (that’s you, Rob Firing)—whose professionalism and support were immeasurable.
And finally, a big shout-out to author, editor and publisher—and acclaimed Titanic expert—Hugh Brewster, who inspired me to write this novel in the first place.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Beesly, Patrick. Room 40: British Naval Intelligence 1914–1918. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982.
Churchill, Winston S. The World Crisis 1911–1918. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1931.
Denniston, Robin. Thirty Secret Years: A. G. Denniston’s Work in Signals Intelligence 1914–1944. United Kingdom: Polperro Heritage Press, 2007.
Fitch, Tad, and Michael Poirer. Into the Danger Zone: Sea Crossings of the First World War. United Kingdom: The History Press, 2014.
Gannon, Paul. Inside Room 40: The Codebreakers of World War 1. United Kingdom: Ian Allan Publishing, 2010.
Larson, Erik. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania. New York: Crown, 2015.
Layton, J. Kent. Lusitania: An Illustrated Biography. United Kingdom: Amberley Publishing, 2010.
Preston, Diana. Wilful Murder: The Sinking of the Lusitania. New York: Doubleday, 2002.
Sauder, Eric. The Unseen Lusitania: The Ship in Rare Illustrations. United Kingdom: The History Press, 2015.
Singer, Barry. Churchill Style: The Art of Being Winston Churchill. New York: Abrams, 2012.
About the Author
KIM IZZO is an author, screenwriter and journalist. She is a 2016 winner of the prestigious Humanitas Prize: New Voices and the 2016 Telefilm Canada New Voices Award. Izzo is the author of two romantic comedy novels, the bestselling The Jane Austen Marriage Manual, which has been optioned for film, and My Life in Black and White. She is also the co-author of two etiquette books, the international bestseller The Fabulous Girl’s Guide to Decorum and its sequel, The Fabulous Girl’s Guide to Grace Under Pressure. As an etiquette expert, Izzo has made numerous television appearances, including on The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Today Show. She has been a magazine editor and journalist for more than fifteen years. Seven Days in May is her third novel.
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ALSO BY
My Life in Black and White
The Jane Austen Marriage Manual
The Fabulous Girl’s Guide to Grace Under Pressure
The Fabulous Girl’s Guide to Decorum
COPYRIGHT
Seven Days in May
Copyright © 2017 by Scarlett Ink Incorporated.
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EPub Edition: April 2017 EPub ISBN: 9781443422512
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