The never-before-told true story of a brave young nurse who was the only Australian survivor of the sinking of the Titanic.
Evelyn Marsden was a young girl with big dreams. Born in the dusty backblocks of South Australia, she was an accomplished horsewoman and a champion rower who, during family holidays by the Murray River, would challenge herself by rowing against the tide.
But Evelyn wanted more than was expected for women of her time. Training in Adelaide as a nurse was her first step in expanding her horizons, but then an opportunity to travel as a stewardess on ocean liners came along, and she grabbed it. Europe, Jamaica, Africa, the Mediterranean, New York ... Evelyn immersed herself in it all, seeing wonders she'd only ever read about. And then, in her late twenties, she met a handsome ship's doctor, Dr William James. They fell in love, became engaged soon afterwards, and felt blessed a short time later when they were both promised positions on RMS Titanic's maiden voyage. However, scheduling complications meant Evelyn, alongside 2240 passengers and crew, boarded the world's largest and most luxurious ship alone.
Then, just before midnight on 14 April 1912, the supposedly 'unsinkable' Titanic struck an iceberg and, as panic took hold, the best and worst of humanity revealed itself. Evelyn calmly helped distressed passengers until she was finally ordered into a lifeboat, where she took the oars and helped row against the pull of the sinking ship. While saving herself and others, she was also desperately hoping she would find a way back to her beloved William.
Through exhaustive research and evocative storytelling, Lisa Wilkinson reveals the drama onboard the Titanic, the tyranny of human errors that sealed the ship's fate, and Evelyn Marsden's own extraordinary story. It's a tale that will ensure readers fall in love with this heroic young Australian woman.
'Deeply researched . . . Wilkinson is particularly adept at putting the reader on the spot, especially in the often surreal mayhem of the evacuation . . . Thoroughly engaging' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
'Immersive . . . The thoroughly researched story puts you right on the Titanic, in the first-class staterooms alongside the celebrities and powerbrokers of the day and in the lifeboats, a witness to the ship's final hour' COURIER-MAIL
'Wilkinson's turn of phrase is buoyant [and it] is quite the service she's done, putting Evelyn back into our history . . . I was so moved' WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
'Evocative' WHO WEEKLY
