Published February 27th, 2025 by Simon & Schuster UK
Hisotrical Fiction, Saga
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
In the chaos of that terrible night, her secret went down with the Titanic. But secrets have a way of floating to the surface…
Trapped in an unhappy aristocratic marriage, Elinor Coombes sees only lonely days ahead of her. So a present from her father – tickets for the maiden voyage of a huge, luxurious new ship called the Titanic – offers a welcome escape from the cold, controlling atmosphere of her husband’s ancestral home, and some precious time with her little son, Teddy.
When the ship goes down, Elinor realises the disaster has given her a chance to take Teddy and start a new life – but only if they can disappear completely, listed as among the dead. Penniless and using another woman’s name, she has to learn to survive in a world that couldn’t be more different from her own, and keep their secret safe.
An uplifting story about grabbing your chances with both hands, and being brave enough to find out who you really are.
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MY REVIEW:
England, 1910. 19-year-old Elinor, the daughter of a wealthy Manchester mill owner known as ‘the cotton king’, marries aristocrat Frederick after a whirlwind romance. But she soon discovers that their whole relationship was carefully planned to prop up the family’s finances. Heartbroken, powerless and disillusioned, Elinor finds herself trapped in a loveless marriage and living with a cold family where she is criticised and sneered at each day. And after the birth of her dear son, Teddy, the situation only becomes bleaker. She is isolated from her son for all but a short time each day and Frederick changes his will so that if he should die it is his parents, and not Elinor, who become Teddy’s legal guardians. So, when her father gifts them tickets on the maiden voyage of the Titanic, Elinor sees it as a welcome escape and the chance to finally spend real time with Teddy.
When the iceberg hits, Elinor and Teddy make it into a lifeboat. But her father, Frederick and their maid, Molly, don’t make it out alive. Faced with the cruel conditions of Frederick’s will, Elinor seizes the chance the disaster has brought to start a new life in America. But she will have to disappear completely, take on a dead woman’s persona and learn to survive while penniless in a place that couldn’t be more different from all she is used to.
Atmospheric, heartrending, evocative and alluring, The Lost Passenger is a mesmerising piece of historical fiction. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Frances Quinn and have loved both of her previous books, and I’ve always had a fascination with the Titanic, so this book had my name written all over it. Exquisitely written and skilfully plotted, this was impossible to put down once I’d started reading. Frances’ meticulous research is evident in the smallest details on every page, especially her vivid descriptions of life on board the Titanic, adding an air of authenticity to the story that helped me lose myself in it completely. Ms. Quinn gets better with each book and this is undoubtedly her best one yet.
This is a story about taking chances, survival, courage, resilience, emancipation, starting again, and having the bravery to discover who you really are. And as it moves between early 20th century England and New York, the story explores a number of topics including the complexities of marriage, the class system, familial obligations, patriarchy, immigration and working class life. In England everything feels subdued, quiet, cold and rigid, while New York is a cacophony of street vendors, crowds and different languages. The contrast is stark and both places seem to mirror what is going on inside Elinor; in England she is isolated, silenced and alone, while in New York she’s cramped, overwhelmed and traumatised. But what I loved most was the exploration of motherhood and how far a mother is prepared to go for the sake of her child.
Elinor is a fantastic protagonist. She’s likeable, sympathetic and easy to root for at every step. I felt every emotion alongside her, breaking my heart in two many times, but also filling me with hope as Elinor bravely embarked on trying to create a new life for herself and her child. But taking on the persona of a dead woman isn’t something she did lightly. She’s haunted by guilt, fearful of discovery, and must overcome many hurdles both to create her new life and avoid her true identity being exposed. The supporting characters are equally as compelling and richly drawn. I particularly enjoyed reading Elinor’s father and Molly, but it was the New York family that I loved most of all. These were charismatic characters who radiated kindness and explored what it is that makes a true family.
Powerful, immersive and uplifting, this is one of my favourite books this year and a must-have addition to your TBR.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
Thank you to Simon & Schuster UK for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Frances Quinn grew up in London and read English at King’s College, Cambridge, realising too late that the course would require more than lying around reading novels for three years. After snatching a degree from the jaws of laziness, she became a journalist, writing for magazines including Prima, Good Housekeeping, She, Woman’s Weekly and Ideal Home, and later branched out into copywriting, producing words for everything from Waitrose pizza packaging to the EasyJet in-flight brochure.
In 2013, she won a place on the Curtis Brown Creative novel writing course, and started work on her first novel. The Smallest Man was published in 2021 by Simon & Schuster with her follow up, That Bonesetter Woman, published in 2022.
She lives in Brighton, with her husband and two Tonkinese cats.
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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxxx
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