The Titanic Survivors Book Club

The Titanic Survivors Book Club by Timothy Schaffert 320 pages

 

Don’t be like me! If you want to read anything about the Titanic, this novel is going to be a major league disappointment.

 

The survivors are not Titanic survivors at all. They are people who were supposed to be on the doomed liner and at the last minute were not able to board. Okay, I can go along with this. Fascinating plot. The survivors, eleven in total, were mostly men, surprisingly. However, the novel focuses on three main characters:  Yorick (who was supposed to be the ship’s Second-Class Librarian), Zinnia (of Japanese descent and a candy-making heiress) and Haze (a photographer who takes shelter anywhere he can). The toymaker, designer of souvenir toys for the liner, brings these survivors together in Yorick’s Paris bookshop.

 

In a book that was supposed to be about books, only a small fraction is about books. The plot mostly centers around Yorick who is in love with Haze who is in love with Zinnia and Yorick who is in love with both men. It should be complicated, but Schaffert does a remarkable job in keeping the three separates while creating a convoluted tale.

 

I must admit that although my hopes were high for an intriguing story, I was bored. The three seem to only scheme how to get their hearts’ desires and constantly try to thwart the other two.

 

The Titanic Survivors Book Club receives 1 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.