Everyone knows what happened to the Titanic. We’ve all seen
Leornardo DiCaprio dancing with Kate Winslet, just as we’ve seen the
documentaries about the lost treasures that may or may not lie at the
bottom of the North Atlantic. We all know that the pride of the White
Star Line sailed into an iceberg on her maiden voyage to New York; we
all know that she carried only half the number of lifeboats she needed
to accommodate all the passengers. We think we all know why it happened -
the lookout saw the iceberg too late for the ship to avoid it. What
Dan James’ novel, ‘Unsinkable’, asks is - what if something else
distracted that lookout’s attention?
The story begins in London. Special Branch policeman Arthur
Beck survives two disastrous attempts to capture a gang of anarchists
who have already committed cold-blooded murders in the capital. Beck’s
fellow officers lie dead, shot by a notorious Latvian terrorist, Peter
Piatkow. Recovered from his own physical injuries but racked with guilt,
Beck returns to work only to make a wrong decision that costs more
innocent lives. Beck can take no more; he decides to leave the UK and
start a new life in America. He buys himself a first class ticket on
the Titanic.
Martha Heaton, an American journalist, also boards the ship.
She has been sent by her paper to report on the rich and famous amongst
the passengers, but she is desperate to prove herself a serious writer -
she needs a big story to impress her editor.
James’ third character is Sten-Ake Gustafson, an old Swedish
sailor travelling to the US to see his grandchildren before his cancer
kills him.
Beck, Martha and Sten-Ake have little in common, but they are
brought together when Beck spots a man who could be Piatkow boarding the
ship at Cherbourg. Martha wants the story; Beck wants Piatkow;
Gustafson just wants a quiet life, but they will all be drawn into
Piatkow’s attempts to escape justice.
Dan James has written a novel that manages seamlessly to
combine fact and fiction. The well-known details of the ship’s voyage -
her departure from Southampton, the arrogant pride of her owners, the
riches of the wealthy, the hope of the emigrants in steerage - are all
here, but interspersed are little gems of information that bring the
story to life - the Jesuit trainee priest who takes photos of the ship
before he disembarks at Queenstown (Father Francis Browne’s photos
provide some of the last surviving records of Titanic), the novelty of
the Marconigrams that allow passengers to send messages to family and
friends. The characters of J Bruce Ismay, Managing Director of the
White Star Line, and his captain, Edward Smith - the former
self-confident and ultimately self-serving, the latter serious and hard
working - are as well drawn as those of Martha and Beck - she reckless,
determined, an independent woman
making her way in a new age, he equally determined but past caring
about his own survival, a man embittered by his past and the loss of his
colleagues. James’ writing makes it as easy for us to identify with
Martha’s joie de vivre as with Beck’s cynicism; we find ourselves
rooting for both of them.
As the ship sails into dangerous waters, Gustafson, the old
sailor, opens a porthole; experience tells him that ice is all around,
so why is Titanic gaining speed? Meanwhile Beck finally tracks Piatkow
down - but will he be able to apprehend him? It is late at night on
14th April 1912; Beck chases his prey onto the bridge. What follows
next may or may not have changed the course of history.
‘Unsinkable’ is an exciting, well-told, story that never
drags. James (the pseudonym of Dan Waddell) is an experienced
journalist and writer, who knows how to keep us turning the pages. He
has done his research, and the details of life on board the most opulent
liner in the world, and her disastrous end, are fascinating - but there
are never too many; unlike some novels, Unsinkable avoids reading like a
history lesson. The Houndsditch Murders and the Siege of Sidney Street
did, of course, really happen, but I for one knew little about them
before reading this novel. The only thing I didn’t like about this book
was the cover, which reminded my daughter of ‘20,000 Leagues Under The
Sea’ and me of Jacques Cousteau.
An excellent read, and one that brings the events of that ‘night to remember’ alive for a new generation.
Reviewed by Rosemary Kaye
