BOOK REVIEW: Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan @berkleypub #survivingsavannah #berkleybuddyreads #berkleywritesstrongwomen

Absolutely captivating! Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan explores the will of the human spirit to survive, regardless of what life throws at you. Weaving together the past and the present, that feel synchronous in a city like Savannah, where history seems not so far gone and where mysteries still lurk, waiting to be uncovered.

Based on the real shipwreck of the steamship Pulaski which is often considered the Titanic of the south, Surviving Savannah reads like the best sort of unputdownable fiction, made all the more impressive because so much of the foundation for the story is tied to truth.

About the Book

It was called “The Titanic of the South.” The luxury steamship sank in 1838 with Savannah’s elite on board; through time, their fates were forgotten–until the wreck was found, and now their story is finally being told in this breathtaking novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis.

When Savannah history professor Everly Winthrop is asked to guest-curate a new museum collection focusing on artifacts recovered from the steamship Pulaski, she’s shocked. The ship sank after a boiler explosion in 1838, and the wreckage was just discovered, 180 years later. Everly can’t resist the opportunity to try to solve some of the mysteries and myths surrounding the devastating night of its sinking.

Everly’s research leads her to the astounding history of a family of eleven who boarded the Pulaski together, and the extraordinary stories of two women from this family: a known survivor, Augusta Longstreet, and her niece, Lilly Forsyth, who was never found, along with her child. These aristocratic women were part of Savannah’s society, but when the ship exploded, each was faced with difficult and heartbreaking decisions. This is a moving and powerful exploration of what women will do to endure in the face of tragedy, the role fate plays, and the myriad ways we survive the surviving.

Reflection

The opening to the book drew me right in. Picture an old historic Savannah home, where a grandfather sits with his two granddaughters spinning a tale of a ship depicted in a stately oil painting hung above a crackling fire. Amidst the deep wooden panels that line his library, the two girls hear about the shipwreck that devastated Savannah, and the woman whose statue still stands in city center whose story remains a mystery—Lilly Forsyth.

Lilly was a society woman, recently married and mother to a new baby. But what happened to Lilly after boarding that ship? She is rumored to have survived the wreck and days at sea, and yet her whereabouts are unknown. Did she truly survive, or is her secret lost to the sea?

Years later, one of those girls Everly is a history professor who has suffered her own tragedy she struggled to move on from—the death of her best friend Mora. But when Mora’s husband arrives with an offer to consult on an exhibit about the recently discovered wreckage of the Pulaski—and the history that goes along with it—Everly can’t refuse.

Everly has always been fascinated with Lilly Forsyth, and she becomes engrossed in the mystery of Lilly and her cousin Augusta Longstreet, as well as Augusta’s brother, wife, and eight kids who boarded the ill-fated Pulaski. And so the story weaves back in time to June 13, 1838 when the Longstreet and Forsyth families boarded the ship, looking to escape the Georgia heat and head north for the summer. Many aboard the ship brought much of their wealth onboard. The luxury ship was supposed to be safe. Until it wasn’t…

Both stories were captivating to me, and I loved the way it felt as though neither would resolve before the other. In the past, we see an epic story of the power of the human spirit to survive. The stories in the days following the sinking of the Pulaski and the way passengers fought to survive were incredibly vivid. Meanwhile in the present time, Everly is shipwrecked in her own way, fighting to bring herself back from the grief over losing Mora. And as the mystery engages her more deeply, Everly struggles to stay present and not get sucked into the tragedy of the Pulaski.

Full of vivid scenes, emotional exploration, and stories of love, grief, loss, and survival—Surviving Savannah grabbed my attention and held on until the final page. Must-read historical fiction at its finest!

Thank you to Berkley for my copy. Opinions are my own.