Everyone had bigger problems to face, no one more than Mr Ismay, who was blamed for the ship’s sinking, though most argued it was Captain Smith’s fault.
It was hard to lay blame at a dead man’s feet, especially since the man could not defend himself.
Eliana had given birth to a little girl, whom she named Lavinia Georgiana. Cecilia knew her sister had wanted to call the girl Georgiana, but she could not bear to do so; instead, she chose Lavinia, as it was the name Georgiana had once hoped to call her daughter, if she had ever had one, and used Georgiana as her middle name.
Eliana spent most of her time in confinement. She’d bought a penthouse apartment in New York City, though she scarcely left it. She’d adopted three dogs and two cats and added an entourage of servants to help her with her three children. Cecilia was surprised Eliana had found the strength to attend today’s memorial; Eliana could not always find the strength to leave her bed. She had lost so much weight she looked sickly and gaunt, and heavy bags filled her eyes. Cecilia knew that Eliana blamed herself for Georgiana’s death, and she had not yet recovered from George’s. While some of the widows had sought to remarry, Eliana had remained steadfast in her mourning period. She had yet to don anything that was not in a shade of black.
Eleonora remained with Eliana, seeking to help her daughter. While she wasn’t still dressed in black, she did not seek entertainment. The disaster had aged her dramatically; her face was wrinkled and saggy, her skin loose, and her once luscious dark hair was now streaked with grey.
Cecilia closed her eyes as they took a moment of silence with the survivors and families that surrounded her.
There wasn’t a single person that left the ship untainted, not even Eliana’s babe. The child was born into a world of death and despair, and she would be changed by it.
In Cecilia’s mind, the entire world had now changed.
It was no longer one of innocence.
Acknowledgements
*I do wish to preface this by saying that I am, in no way, stating that the coal fire was the reason for the sinking of the Titanic. I believe it was a factor, but the ship’s hull and all the ship’s engineers perished on April 15th, 1912 – there is no way for anyone to say definitively how much of an impact the fire had. However, what I have included comes directly, and mostly, from Lead Fireman Fred Barrett’s testimonies at both the US and UK Inquiries and biographies. Like with all disasters, I think there is always a catalyst of events that lead to the event; it is seldom one thing. I truly believe that if it was not the Titanic that sank, it would have been another liner, another day, with the resulting loss of life. It seems mass disaster is the only way for humanity to be shaken to change its laws and ways of thinking, and even then, history inevitably repeats itself.
While I have been obsessed with the Titanic since I learned it was the “unsinkable” ship that sank on its maiden voyage (thank you, James Cameron), I decided that I wanted to bring to life a story that had never really been told before. I wanted to share the stories of those who were very real – like Lead Fireman Fred Barrett – as well as the intricate fictional lives of those that would have sailed the Titanic.
I wanted to retell the story of the bravery of Bruce Ismay, whose image has been tainted by the fact that he survived. He wasn’t a coward, as many have named him to be; he helped passengers until the last moment, where he was ordered into a lifeboat by McElroy and Litghtoller, who informed him that if he didn’t get in, we would simply be adding his corpse to thousands of others.
More importantly, I wanted to remind you of the very real people that boarded the Titanic. Many of the descriptions are based on first-hand accounts from the survivors, as well as taken from either (or both) the British and US Inquiry into the sinking of the RMS Titanic. It is important to understand just how unfathomable the sinking of the Titanic was. It’s very easy to point at past mistakes and say “how could they not have known?” but the truth is, incidents like the Titanic repeat all the time. In 1994, due to a series of catastrophic failures, the Estonia sank in the Baltic Ocean. Out of 989 people, 852 died. The Titanic, like all parts of history, has already been repeated; except we remember it differently. That, and striking an iceberg and sinking in under three hours on one’s maiden voyage makes for a good story.
I also wanted to illustrate how important it was to understand that most people did not believe that the ship could sink. Some survivors, who managed to survive by clinging to Collapsible B, stated that they did not believe the ship could sink, even in its final moments.
While the passengers are fictionally created, all are based on aspects and attributes of real passengers’ testimonies, including their own personal thoughts and feelings. Comments and thoughts made by first-hand accounts of said survivors are brought in to merge reality and fiction. Many women really did celebrate their husbands’ deaths. Many women did confront any men who had survived; the Japanese man in Cecilia’s lifeboat, Masabumi Hosono’s family remains deeply ashamed of his behaviour to this day. I tried to counter each person’s desire for survival with reality; and the reality is that some of these people knew they were facing death, and did not want to die.
Racism was a major facet on board the Titanic, and an Asian man, who had tied himself to a door when the ship had sunk (Rose-style, but with rope), Lowe, who was the only lifeboat to return to the wreckage site to salvage victims, almost refused him because there were “better” (note: British and white) people to rescue. The other participants refused to abandon a man still alive, and as a result, the man lived. He was able to assist other passengers, due to medical knowledge and skilled rowing abilities.
There are many planted Easter Eggs within this text, as an acknowledgement of all the different sources that have helped me gather what is necessary to create such a novel. If you ever played Titanic: Adventure Out of Time, you’ll find more than one ode to the characters you met during your mission. Titanic: Adventure Out of Time was the first computer game I ever received, and remains to this day the most played.
My biggest thank you needs to go to my editor, Yolunde Stiffel, and those who willingly stepped off into the abyss to read my novel in its drafts: Annika Robinson and Rebecca Vicic. An extra-special thanks needs to extend to Ashlie Kennedy, who not only read my novel with joy, but encouraged and helped me where she could. Her messages at all hours inspired me to write more, to ensure that this novel could be told as well as possible, without your cheerleading skills. Without you, this novel would not have the soul it does. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.
A special thanks goes to Brisbane City Library at Chermside West, whose librarians helped with my extensive research. Through the library, I was able to access the following books:
Carpathia by Lay Ludowyke
Titanic – Minute By Minute – by Johnathon Mayo
Shadow of the Titanic by Andrew Wilson
Titanic Love Stories by Gill Paul
Titanic by Leo Marriott
Guide To The Crew of Titanic: The Structure of Working Aboard the Legendary Liner by Günter Bäbler
Titanic: True Stories of Her Passengers, Crew and Legacy by Nicola Pierce
On Board the Titanic by Shelley Tanaka
The Titanic by Geoff Tibballs
Draw the Titanic by Andrew Staiano
Titanic by National Geographic Society
Exploring the Titanic by Robert D Ballard
As well as this, I could not have written this information without the help of Titanic Encyclopedia. It has been one of the single greatest sources of my information, and being part of the community enabled me to cross-reference as many facts as possible.
I also relied on several games, such as StoryScape’s Titanic, as well as the aforementioned Titanic: Adventure Out of Time. I also was able to gain several visual effects to the creators of Honour and Glory.
Countless documentaries helped with invaluable information, and Inside the Titanic (2012) helped provide inspiration for both Adene and
Cecilia’s stories.
I also need to thank Taylor Swift, as I listened to every album she’d ever made on repeat while writing this novel. When I wasn’t listening to Taylor Swift, I was watching Anne With An E; these two things were my salvation while drafting and editing and drafting and editing (and more drafting and editing).
Most importantly, however, my biggest acknowledgement needs to go to my husband, for supporting and believing in me, for listening to drafts and pieces of texts and answering questions about coal production.
Scott:
Ever thine,
Ever mine,
Ever ours.
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