Kelsey Tate comes from sturdy stock. Her great-grandmother Adele endured the sinking of Titanic and made it safely to America, where she not only survived but thrived. Generations later, Kelsey works for the firm Adele founded nearly 100 years ago.
Now facing a hostile takeover, the firm’s origins are challenged when new facts emerge about Adele’s actions on the night Titanic sank. Kelsey tries to defend the company and the great-grandmother she has long admired, but the stakes are raised when Kelsey’s boss is murdered and her own life threatened. Forced to seek help from Cole Thornton, a man Kelsey once loved—and lost, thanks to her success-at-all-costs mentality—she pursues mysteries both past and present. Aided by Cole and strengthened by the faith she’d all but forgotten in her climb up the corporate ladder, Kelsey races the clock to defend her family legacy, her livelihood, and ultimately her life.
With April 2012 being the 100th anniversary of the Titanic tragedy, we’re going to see a lot of books published about and involving the supposedly unsinkable ship. Last week, I wrote about a novel set around the time of the event. Echoes of Titanic is different; while part of it is set during the ill-fated voyage, most of the action takes place in the present day as main character Kelsey attempts to unravel the truth about her family.
To be honest, the majority of the 1912 chapters didn’t thrill me. In 2012, Adele’s very identity is being challenged. As the reader it was easy for me to see what Kelsey probably couldn’t, therefore I was far more interested in the present day events. I didn’t suspect who the major player was in the murder and hostile takeover so I was surprised when that person was revealed. Having said all that, the final moments on board Titanic brought tears to my eyes, and I unashamedly sniffled my way to the end of the book. As I tweeted, “You know you’ve read a powerful novel when there are tears in your eyes when you finish it.”
Are there any lessons to be learned in all of this? Besides not listening when someone says a ship is unsinkable? Don’t hold onto bitterness. The events in Echoes of Titanic were caused by people who were bitter because something didn’t go their way. That bitterness grew until it became a monster, tearing into the lives of everyone it met along its way.
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
Publication Date: 01 March 2012
Page Count: 400
I downloaded my free copy of Echoes of Titanic from Harvest House Publishers on the NetGalley website. I was under no obligation to write a review.
Proverbial Reads 