A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice by Rebecca Connolly

Kate Connolly is on her way to America aboard the Titanic to start a new life. Her carefree, third-class voyage turns into a catastrophe on the night of April 14, 1912, when Titanic hits an iceberg. Several miles away, Captain Arthur Rostron of the Carpathia receives Titanic’s distress signal. Captain Rostron turns his passenger-laden ship around and goes full-steam into iceberg riddled waters to answer the call. Not knowing if they’ll arrive in time, Captain Rostron issues orders to both crew and passengers to prepare for Titanic’s survivors. Back on the Titanic, Kate escapes the sinking third-class accommodations and miraculously gets into a lifeboat. Once her lifeboat is lowered into the freezing sea, she and many others watch the Titanic disappear underwater. A few hours later, the Carpathia finally arrives at Titanic’s last coordinates. To Captain Rostron’s horror there is no sign of Titanic. All that remains are 705 of almost 2000 passengers Titanic had on board. The loss is absolutely staggering, but Captain Rostron and his crew push through their grief to immediately help those left behind, like Kate.

Connolly’s historical fiction novel brings a fresh and hopeful perspective to this well-documented tragedy. So many works based on this event only focus on the Titanic itself and their stories end at her sinking. But little is mentioned about who came to Titanic’s rescue or what happened to the survivors. Through Connolly’s narratives, readers are given a detailed story of how complete strangers came together to help those in need. Through Captain Rostron’s planning, the efforts of his faithful crew, and even the help of some Titanic survivors, all needs were met with consideration and kindness. This book shows that if it wasn’t for the heroic efforts of all aboard the Carpathia, there wouldn’t be any eyewitnesses to tell about the Titanic. One minor criticism of the book is that more photographs or maps would have been helpful to solidify both Captain Rostron and Kate Connolly’s stories. Well written and faith promoting, Connolly’s novel honors the 110^th anniversary of Titanic’s loss.