The Lifeboat

Charlotte Rogan

From Shelf: Debut books written by authors over the age of 50

A daring and adventurous novel set just before the First World War. It begins in a courtroom, where an enigmatic young woman named Grace Winter is on trial; in flashback, we learn why . . .

I was to stand trial for my life. I was twenty-two years old. I had been married for ten weeks and a widow for six.It is 1914 and Europe is on the brink of war. When a magnificent ocean liner suffers a mysterious explosion en route to New York City, Henry Winter manages to secure a place in a lifeboat for his new wife Grace. But the survivors quickly realize the boat is over capacity and could sink at any moment. For any to live, some must die.Over the course of three perilous weeks, the passengers on the lifeboat plot, scheme, gossip and console one another while sitting inches apart. Their deepest beliefs are tested to the limit as they begin to discover what they will do in order to survive.