Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Liverpool 1940. Alice King stands on the deck of SS Carlisle, waiting to escort a group of children to Canada as overseas evacuees. She is finally doing her bit for the war.
In London, as the Blitz bombs rain down and the threat of German invasion looms, Lily Nicholls anxiously counts the days for news of her son and daughter’s safe arrival.
But when disaster strikes in the Atlantic, Alice and Lily – one at sea, the other on land – will quickly become one another’s very best hope. The events of one night, and the eight unimaginable days that follow, will bind the two women together in unforgettable ways.
Many thanks to Harper Collins UK via NetGalley for my copy of The Last Lifeboat to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
It’s been three years since the publication of Hazel Gaynor’s last book, The Bird in the Bamboo Cage, which was a phenomenal book that has stayed with me for a long time. So to say I was eager to read something new from Hazel would be an understatement. Finally The Last Lifeboat is due to be published and my god when I think she can’t top her previous book she goes and does just that. I read this story in one sitting as quite frankly, I was completed consumed by it right from the brief prologue which took us straight to the heart of the action. I barely glanced up from the words as my finger kept tapping through the pages on my Kindle and before I knew it, I was over halfway through this enthralling story which will stir up many emotions within you. This is a story inspired by true events based around the sinking of a British ship transporting young evacuees to Canada which was torpedoed by a German u-boat whilst crossing the Atlantic. The fact that children are at the centre of it really make the themes and events hit home even more and alongside these brave young children are two women Alice and Lily.
The story moves between the two very different experiences of the women. Alice is the woman escorting the children who they come to call Auntie and Lily is the mother of a boy and a girl who makes a courageous decision to send her children away for their own safety. The story is told from Alice’s perspective as she drifts in a lifeboat in the Atlantic with several fellow passengers and six children following the incident. We learn of Lily’s viewpoint from her home in London when she hears the news that the ship has been struck. The plot effortlessly and seamlessly moves back and forth between the two women interspersed with short snippets from a mass observation diary. At first, I was trying to think were these excerpts from Alice or Lily’s point of view but then I quickly came to the conclusion that they were general observations of the war from the perspective of ordinary citizens. I was intrigued to learn in the end notes that this was a project carried out at the time where anyone could keep a diary of the time and it was then published. I had never heard of this before but I felt it worked very well in the context of this book as it provided an alternative viewpoint that of Alice and Lily and it was as if those people were on the outside looking in giving their feelings and opinions.
Split into four distinct parts, each section has their own distinct voice which in turn come together exceedingly well to create an intense, heart-breaking and astonishing read. Alice lives with her mother in Kent and is seen as the sensible one of the family. Someone reluctant to step outside of the familiar. She used to be full of wild plans for great journeys but with the outbreak of war she has become a shadow of her former self and has been consumed by fear of the threat of invasion from the Germans. The school she worked in as a teacher has been closed with the students evacuated and now she volunteers in a local library which she loves as her love for books knows no bounds. I loved the way Alice’s love of books was used in such a clever way throughout the story. Her retelling of Moby Dick at a time when people needed an escape more than ever and to take their mind off things even if only for a brief period well that was marvellous. I thought this quote summed up exactly how Alice is feeling when we first meet her. ’She wished she could put herself in safekeeping in the library until the war was over, burrow between shelves of books whose endings were long imprinted on her. Yes, books were safe and certain’.
Alice longs for the war to be over but little does she know that they are only on the cusp of things. Her sister Kitty is away working in an office in London and she seems to have it all and is enjoying a vibrant life in the city. Walter, her brother, has been sent to work on a farm as he is a conscientious objector but Alice feels as if she is just drifting along waiting for the end that seems like it will never appear whilst also wishing that her beloved father was still with them. Alice’s mother seemed very standoffish and as if she had no solid and connective relationship with her children. Rather she puts constant pressure on Alice to do something worthwhile rather than volunteering in a library. Alice herself is contented in her narrow life as it is safe, familiar and comfortable but Kitty urges her to do something different, to break free, to be reckless, unexpected and brave.
When Alice sees an advert from CORP -the Children’s Overseas Reception Board - seeking volunteer escorts to accompany children to different countries she feels as if this is what she has been waiting for. ’No matter how afraid we are, or how impossible it may seem if there’s a chance to save someone, or help them, even in some small way we should always try’. This sums up Alice’s determination, courage, bravery and strength throughout the story. She carries these words with her through the darkest of times and clings to them as she battles to see her duties through to the bitter end. No matter the obstacles she has to go through to see their conclusion. Alice is interviewed and accepted and from this point on I became even more consumed by the story as I knew what was coming yet at the same time I wondered was I really ready for what was to come?
Lily has two young children, Georgina and Arthur, She is still steeped in grief following the death of her husband Peter but is determined to do her best for her children. The way Lily’s story was written I had my suspicions about Peter and I was right with regard to some aspects. Lily works in the home of an upper class member of society and she detests it but needs must as she has to have some source of income. With the war intensifying and nightly air raids and bombings occurring Lily is scared that the worst will befall her young family. When she sees the CORB advertisement she wrestles back and forth with her conscience. On the one hand she would love to keep her children close by her side to physically feel them in her arms as they seek refuge in an underground shelter. But on the other she questions whether they would be safer overseas with another family far away from the threat of bombs and the German invasion. She wonders what would Peter have done if he was still here. It’s not as easy decision for Lily to make and she doesn’t make it rashly. It was fascinating to read of her thought process. She was faced with an unimaginable decision and so many what if’s and there really was no clear cut, right or wrong answer. Women who sent their children away were generally considered cowardly and unpatriotic by those who’d kept their children at home. So for Lily to choose to send her two precious children away in my mind deserves nothing but admiration and respect.
Hazel Gaynor writes with such vivid, realistic detail that you feel as if you are there with both Alice and Lily as they navigate their different journeys once the ship has been hit. Lily is told her children have been lost at sea alongside Alice who was their escort. What follows are at times harrowing chapters but yet there are moments of hope and deep reflection too. Alice feels ‘Before the torpedo strike, she’d taken life for granted. Now she knows it is a gift to be cherished’. As the lifeboat with Alice and the others drifts on the sea with the hopes that they will be rescued or land will be sighted you feel every ounce of the characters frustrations, fear, torment and desperation. There were so many powerful scenes set during this part of the story. ’Like the delicate parts of a clock, each needs the others to function, every one of them necessary to the survival of the group. Alice is terrified that if one of them cracks, they will all fail.’ There is a sense that they are all in this together but as conditions deteriorate and the days pass by they wonder should they just give up with no rescue in sight? Alice’s journey is a powerful read and you have your fingers crossed that a rescue will occur. Meanwhile, we see how Lily is coping with the loss of her two children. She can’t believe that they are gone. The contrast shown between Lily and Alice was marked but perfectly drawn by the author and you feel every bit of pain and aguish that they are both experiencing and also the regrets and guilt that Lily feels.
The Last Lifeboat is a fantastic, memorable read from Hazel Gaynor and it was certainly worth the long wait. It provides an insight into an aspect of the war that I knew scant details about but I feel my eyes have been opened to the tragedy that unfolded and how the incident had such an effect on the families involved. The two main characters are expertly written and the story as a whole was gripping from beginning to end. This is another triumph of a read from Hazel and I hope she is already hard at work on her next book because as with this one I always enjoy everything that she writes.
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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