Sheltering Angel: A Novel Based on a True Story of the Titanic

Florence Cumings is a progressive woman building a family and carving out a niche for herself in New England society. Andrew Cunningham is a Scotsman working as a steward on the White Star line of ships. Both live in the early 1900s, and both will meet on the fateful voyage of the Titanic.

Books about the Titanic are difficult to do well, in my opinion, because it’s such a large part of our cultural knowledge. Make it the main event, and it can be difficult to find enough to say. Make it the beginning, and everything afterward might feel anticlimactic. Bryant chooses to put the Titanic at the end to show the build-up of years and how her characters came to be on the ship, allowing readers to grow attached to Florence and Andrew and feel the tension building.

The execution does not quite live up to what it should. While Florence and Andrew are charming, the side characters feel flat, particularly the historical figures. I spent the voyage of the Titanic expecting the iceberg to come rather than enjoying the story. As a novel, it’s perfectly fine, but it’s nothing special.