Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan – 432 pages 

ARC from Berkley and Netgalley for an honest review

Book Blurb:

It was called “The Titanic of the South.” The luxury steamship sank in 1838 with Savannah’s elite on board; through time, their fates were forgotten–until the wreck was found, and now their story is finally being told in this breathtaking novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis.
When Savannah history professor Everly Winthrop is asked to guest-curate a new museum collection focusing on acts recovered from the steamship Pulaski, she’s shocked. The ship sank after a boiler explosion in 1838, and the wreckage was just discovered, 180 years later. Everly can’t resist the opportunity to try to solve some of the mysteries and myths surrounding the devastating night of its sinking.
Everly’s research leads her to the astounding history of a family of eleven who boarded the Pulaski together, and the extraordinary stories of two women from this family: a known survivor, Augusta Longstreet, and her niece, Lilly Forsyth, who was never found, along with her child. These aristocratic women were part of Savannah’s society, but when the ship exploded, each was faced with difficult and heartbreaking decisions. 

My Review: 4.5 stars

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Surviving Savannah welcomed me to current day Savannah with open arms and then introduced me to life in the early 1800s as well. This dual timeline narrative was told from three perspectives. Two women, Lilly and Augusta, aboard the ill-fated Pulaski, and a current day historian, Everly, who was learning about these women and their fate. 

This book offered so much and read so quickly. After just an afternoon of reading, I realized I was over halfway through. Everly, our teacher and history buff, was much more complex than meets the eye. She’s struggling with survivor’s guilt and pure grief at the loss of her best friend. Because I’ve dealt with a dear friend’s sudden passing, I was able to relate to her circumstance quite well. Callahan was on point in describing the aches that come with grief and for Everly, it was starting the research into the Pulaski that drew her back to the living. 

The scenes on the boat were brought to life with striking detail. I imagined this book as a movie in my head with great clarity. It took destruction and then attempt at survival for elite folks on board to not see color or gender. Learning about who survived and who didn’t was fascinating and how one of them (no spoilers) turned from good to evil after surviving. Understanding how the rich carried not just trunks of clothing, but also carried trunks of gold bars, dishes, silver serving pieces and the like so that their stays up north would have all the comforts of home. So much was lost and thankfully, so much was learned in regards to steamship safety.

Schools in and around Chicago get Casimir Pulaski day off of school. I knew he was a Polish officer in the war. This book schooled me on who he was and his importance in American history. I relished this book and highly recommend. 

Quotes I liked:

I’d discovered that music with words posed a danger. A single lyric or verse about friendship or the aching longing of loss became as devastating to me as a punch to the solar plexus.”

“We can’t change the past, but it has the power to shape who we are today. We are who we are because of the past, not in spite of it.”

“Oliver, long ago when Papa told me the story of the Pulaski, he said, ‘Some people didn’t die and some people lived.’ I’ve that about that line so many times through the years, trying to understand all it meant. But down there I understood it. I didn’t die that day but am damn sure not living. I wanted a reason why everything happened as did. But there isn’t one and never will be.”

“How will we survive the surviving?”

“She is the metaphor of all of us. Nothing all virtuous. Nothing all wicked. This mixture that is life, that is human, this is brokenness and wholeness.”