First published 2012
Grace Winter sits in a courtroom, accused of murder on the high seas. Three weeks earlier, she boarded the luxury liner Empress Alexandra as a newlywed, but the ship sank in the North Atlantic. Grace found herself crammed into Lifeboat 14 with thirty-eight other survivors. The boat was built for twenty-one people. As days passed without rescue, fresh water ran low and tempers flared. The passengers split into factions. Some demanded strict rationing while others hoarded supplies. When men began dying, suspicions grew about who might be helping death along. Grace watched the group's civilized veneer crack under the pressure of survival. She made choices she never thought possible. Now, back on dry land, she must convince a jury that her actions were justified. The trial forces Grace to examine not just what happened in those desperate weeks, but who she really is when stripped of society's rules.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, crime, 21st-century
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: North Atlantic, Empress Alexandra
Period: 21st-century
Kindle Edition · Signatuur
Content warnings: death, violence