Fiction
Macmillan
April 5, 2016
336
As the Titanic and her passengers sank slowly into the Atlantic Ocean after striking an iceberg late in the evening of April 14, 1912, a nearby ship looked on. Second Officer Herbert Stone, in charge of the midnight watch on the SS Californian sitting idly a few miles north, saw the distress rockets that the Titanic fired. He alerted the captain, Stanley Lord, who was sleeping in the chartroom below, but Lord did not come to the bridge. Eight rockets were fired during the dark hours of the midnight watch, and eight rockets were ignored. The next morning, the Titanic was at the bottom of the sea and more than 1,500 people were dead. When they learned of the extent of the tragedy, Lord and Stone did everything they could to hide their role in the disaster, but pursued by newspapermen, lawyers, and political leaders in America and England, their terrible secret was eventually revealed. The Midnight Watch is a fictional telling of what may have occurred that night on the SS Californian, and the resulting desperation of Officer Stone and Captain Lord in the aftermath of their inaction. Told not only from the perspective of the SS Californian crew, but also through the eyes of a family of third-class passengers who perished in the disaster, the narrative is drawn together by Steadman, a tenacious Boston journalist who does not rest until the truth is found. David Dyer's The Midnight Watch is a powerful and dramatic debut novel--the result of many years of research in Liverpool, London, New York, and Boston, and informed by the author's own experiences as a ship's officer and a lawyer.
Review:
For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by the story of the Titanic disaster. I believe this can be said of many who grew up to become historians or develop a lifelong love of history. “The Midnight Watch” is a well-researched novel about the Californian, the ship that watched as the Titanic sank.
It’s almost inexplicable why there has been so little written about the events on the ship. The actions of her crew, or more correctly inactions, arguably changed the fate of over 1500 souls. The author has obviously spent a good amount of time researching using primary sources and piecing together a good narrative of what most likely happened. What I enjoyed the most was the actual sinking was a very minor part. The aftermath and inquiries were the main focus, and that is something also rarely focused on.
An extra layer of the story is created through the use of a fictional journalist for a Boston paper named Steadman. His pursuit of the truth provided a way to present the aftermath in a way which did not read like a dull history text. I especially appreciated the look into how journalism worked in those days, as well as the beginnings of the women’s rights movement. It was fascinating. Unfortunately, the character himself was someone I found a bit unbearable. That’s the reason for four stars as opposed to five.
The crowning jewel of “The Midnight Watch” is a short story included at the end entitled “Eight White Rockets.” There is one section for each rocket. It follows the Sage family, consisting of 9 children and their parents, during the sinking. This was a real family and details of their lives are sprinkled throughout the story. The treatment of third class passengers goes a long way toward explaining how so many children perished. The story also tells about what was happening on the Californian during the same time frame of each rocket. It gave me chills, and I still cannot stop thinking of those children and what might have been.
I highly recommend “The Midnight Watch” to anyone middle grade and up who has a fascination with the Titanic and wants a deeper understanding of what happened on that fateful night.
This review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warning:
Sexual Situations, Language, Lots of Death
