September 2018

If you read a book about the Lusitania, you can be pretty sure that at least one plotline is not going to have a happy ending. That said, I can imagine some very happy times when three bestselling authors --- Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White --- got together to plot and write THE GLASS OCEAN. Each wrote a section, and they are not sharing who wrote which, so it will be up to you to figure it out, should you so desire.

I like historical fiction books that span different times. THE GLASS OCEAN opens in 2013,  and we meet Sarah Blake, who wrote a bestselling book and is under a lot of pressure to write another. Frankly, she needs the money. Her mom is in an expensive care facility, and Sarah must ensure that she can stay there. Her great-grandfather died on the RMS Lusitania, and she has found some clues among his possessions that could shed lots of light on something sinister that happened aboard that ship. To do that, she needs to head to England.

Then we shoot back to 1915, and we are on the glorious ship with Caroline Telfair Hochstetter, a southern belle, who is questioning her marriage and her life. Her old friend, Robert Langford, catches her eye, and she finds herself flirting with a lot more than just him. She’s definitely not sure where her life is going to head.

Our third protagonist is Tessa Fairweather. She is playing a con game on the ship as she returns to England. Her skill set is stealing and forging, but what she is asked to work on the ship seems to be a lot dirtier than she would want it to be. Just what is she caught up in, and will she be caught doing it? Something just feels off; something about the assignment feels inauthentic. Oh, and for the record, Tessa is not her real name. I was intrigued.

THE GLASS OCEAN is well plotted, seamlessly well written, and laced with all kinds of fun period details.

Oh, and my guesses as to who wrote what? I think Lauren Willig wrote Sarah Blake’s section, Karen White wrote Caroline Tellfair Hochsetter’s, and Beatriz Williams wrote Tessa Fairweather’s. Once you read, I would be curious as to what you think.

I now want to read their first book, THE FORGOTTEN ROOM. Cue the “to-be-read list.”