Titanic: Death on the Water
Here the familiar story is told from the point of view of dockyard boy Billy who has seen the Titanic built. He joins the crew as a bellboy, and this proves his ticket to the best seats in the show that will unfold. So there he is on the Bridge when Mr Andrews announces to Mr Ismay that ‘the damage to the hull is very serious’. Because he knows about the construction of the boat, he is also a guide to the ironies. When an officer tells a passenger not to worry, that there is ‘plenty of room for everyone’ in the lifeboats, Billy ‘knew that wasn’t true, but he didn’t think it was his place to tell the passengers’.
This is a good, clear, enjoyable novel that presents the Titanic story with a twist of heroism for the reader, and introduces many of the major characters in the saga.
