The Lifeboat

A Novel

By: Charlotte Rogan

Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel

Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Grace Winter, 22, is both a newlywed and a widow. She is also on trial for her life.

In the summer of 1914, the elegant ocean liner carrying her and her husband, Henry, across the Atlantic suffers a mysterious explosion. Setting aside his own safety, Henry secures Grace a place in a lifeboat, which the survivors quickly realize is over capacity. For any to live, some must die.

As the castaways battle the elements, and each other, Grace recollects the unorthodox way she and Henry met, and the new life of privilege she thought she'd found. Will she pay any price to keep it?

The Lifeboat is a pause-resistant novel of hard choices and survival, narrated by a woman as unforgettable and complex as the events she describes.

©2012 Charlotte Rogan (P)2012 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

" The Lifeboat traps the reader in a story that is exciting at the literal level and brutally moving at the existential: I read it in one go." (Emma Donoghue, author of Room)

"What a splendid book.... I can't imagine any reader who looks at the opening pages wanting to put the book down.... It's so refreshing to read a book that is ambitious and yet not tricksy, where the author seems to be in command of her material and really on top of her game. It's beautifully controlled and totally believable." (Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall)

" The Lifeboat is a spellbinding and beautifully written novel, one that will keep readers turning pages late into the night. This is storytelling at its best, and I was completely absorbed from beginning to end." (Tim O'Brien, author of The Things They Carried, In the Lake of the Woods, July, July)

EXCELLENT

Where does The Lifeboat rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This was an excellent audio book. prior reviews did not do it justice. Very good mystery with suspense. Unique. Highly recommend.

Any additional comments?

more than worth the credit!!!

boring and slow

Would you try another book from Charlotte Rogan and/or Rebecca Gibel?

The narration was fine but the story was boring and slow and i stopped listening about halfway through.

Has The Lifeboat turned you off from other books in this genre?

I don't know what you mean by "this genre." Historical fiction? Lifeboat stories?

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The performance was fine.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Boredom

Boring people in a lifeboat

There are better books to read with this subject matter. Don't waste your time on this one. The characters are boring and I never felt a connection with any of them. Grace, the main character rambles on and on. It doesn't help that the performance is dull as well (but, that may be a result of the content). It raises a couple of interesting discussion questions for a book club, but again there are better books to spend your time on.

It was just too much.

The storyline was interesting, but the author explains everything within an inch of its life. I saw it through to the end, but it was just too much.

Not so impressed with story...

I started the book with expectations, these were not met. Not sure what the book was supposed to be about. A character, Grace, a group of survivors, or ??? It was never clear and it jumped about during the telling of the ??? Performer was clear and interesting but the story I felt was obscure.

Staying Power

I can’t get this book out of my head, and it’s not because I L-O-V-E-D it. I thought it was impressive and momentous, but I can’t say I loved it. It was too horrific to love.

Some background: this is the story of a woman who survived a Titanic-like event by spending 21 days in an overcrowded lifeboat. It’s clear from the beginning that not everyone makes it, but that the heroine does because as the book opens she’s standing trial for murder for events that happened on the lifeboat. These aren’t spoilers – this is simply premise. So you begin the book with a certain set of facts and you work your way through, trying to make sense of the experience along with the characters.

This is where Charlotte Rogan is the cleverest. As you realize that not everyone is going to survive, you start to detach yourself from the characters. You build up a wall to protect yourself from the feeling of devastation when someone goes. You become an impassioned observer and you allow the edges of right and wrong to blur. In other words – you do exactly what the heroine does, and you start to understand her perspective.

After finishing I also realized – and this is what has been sticking with me the last few days – that this is a feminist work in disguise. Grace, the protagonist, has made her way successfully through life and beaten the odds that were pitched against her, in large part because she plays the game in a man’s world, without questioning it. You start to understand – but only near the end of this book – that gender politics are central to the plot, and the way this revelation unfolds is remarkably subtle and powerful.

Very Predictable

Is there anything you would change about this book?

This book was underdeveloped and very predictable. Lots of opportunities for characters to develop and events to take a different direction but they weren't explored. The story is a quick read which is good for the summer, and I don't regret reading it, just buying it! I should have just borrowed it from the library!

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes

Major disappointment

This book was so unfocused and unsatisfying. Not a thriller, it seemed to be trying to be a character study, yet none of the characters ever came alive for me.

Kind of "sunk"

I was really looking forward to this book as I had read several reviews that gave it high praises. Sadly, I don't think it lived up to the high praises. It was okay. Grace, the main character, started off interesting but then she and the story fell flat. It felt like the story was leading up to a big reveal - the mysteries of why the boat sank, the cargo & the crew. But it just kind of ended - no deep or exciting revelations.
The narrator did do a good job, which is one reason I kept listening. Had she not been good, I would have lost interest about half way through.

FELL FLAT

What did you like best about The Lifeboat? What did you like least?

The critics' reviews intrigued me to listen to this book. I almost never get a book until I have read some reader reviews, but something about this one made me want to get. It seemed like it was such a great premise it had to be good. I was very disappointed. I felt no connection to any character in the book whatsoever. It was only 7 hours yet I had a really tough time finishing it. I found it puzzling that what should be such a "tense" storyline was so "flat."

Would you be willing to try another book from Charlotte Rogan? Why or why not?

I would never say never after just reading one book.

What didn’t you like about Rebecca Gibel’s performance?

Her voice didn't seem to fit the period or the mood. I did not think she was a bad narrator, I just thought this book was not a good fit for her. Hard to tell whether she did not bring any life to the book or the book had no life to bring.

Do you think The Lifeboat needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

no

Any additional comments?

I thought this book was a great idea and could have explored t so many human emotions/actions, yet, as I stated, I was hard-pressed to even finish it and there was no sense of connection with anybody.