A Bit Bookish

The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book revisits the sinking of the Titanic by telling the other side of the Titanic tragedy: the aftermath of what happened to the survivors. They had to endure the U.S. Senate hearings – from which the painful fact emerged that only one lifeboat went back to pick up additional survivors. Many of them were probably haunted by unanswerable questions: had they done the right thing in those last frightful moments? Who was brave, who was cowardly? Where ultimately, did the blame for such a disaster lie? Kate Alcott is the pen name for Patricia O'Brien and the Dressmaker tells the story of Tess Collins, a maid who aspires to be a dressmaker and Lady Lucile Duff Gordon, a renowned dress designer of the era. Tess meets Lady Gordon on the pier of the Titanic and begs to come along. On the ship Tess meets two very different love interests and she and Lady Duff Gordon manage to survive the sinking--but there is some question about what happened in Lady Duff Gordon's lifeboat. The author seems to navigate the waters of trust, loyalty, and ambition quite well and was an enjoyable historical fiction read.


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