Distant Waves: A Novel of the Titanic
By Suzanne Weyn Book Review by Miranda Fraser ISBN: 978-0-545-20045-5 First things first, if you’re pursuing this book in hopes that the whole story will be taking place ON the Titanic you will be mistaken. HOWEVER, if you are looking for one hell of a story that is full of intrigue, mystery, romance, and building anticipation then you will love this story. Ever since I was eight I’ve had a fascination with the Titanic and its mysterious sinking. So I would be lying if I said that “A Novel of the Titanic” didn’t influence my decision to buy this book. But despite being surprised that the story line was simply leading up to what happens on the Titanic I found myself hooked from the very beginning. Now, the story focuses around five sisters, their mother, a scientific genius, and a world split between spirituality and science. Jane, is our narrator, and the second oldest sister. In the order best described the sisters are: Mimi, Jane, Emma and Amelia (twins), and finally Blythe. At the beginning of the story we find that their mother believes she has a gift with contacting ghosts. Throughout the story the concept of psychics and the ability to contact those who have passed on is extremely important. I’ll get back to that later as this represents the spiritual part I brought up earlier. Now one of the really cool things that Suzanne manages to incorporate into this story are characters who actually existed during this time period. For instance, a recurring character is Tesla. Yes, the scientific genius Tesla! Our narrator met him at a young age and he becomes a sort of center point in her life. Being that the story focuses on five sisters it goes without saying that genetics play an interesting role in this. If their mother has a gift, or believes she has a gift, it could be possible that some of, if not all, of the sisters show potential. The twins are particularly interesting, in fact, they are a focus of great interest as you get further into the story! Are any of the girls predicting futures or events, or are they simply acting things out in their heads. Are there any real psychics? And what of the world of science, why is Tesla so important? We hear so little about him in reality, so what story did the author weave to give him such importance to a “Titanic” story? Believe me, it’s actually really interesting! Going back to the “split world” I mentioned earlier, the wonderful part of these two worlds, spiritual and scientific, melding together is that it creates a beautiful foreshadowing. After all psychics try to predict the future, right? *wink* But it also lends to the constant human search for answers of the possibility of life after death. Should you live a life for religion or science? Perhaps, why not both? And given the time period of the Titanic, tension over skin color is still prevalent and Suzanne does a wonderful job bringing this to light. Between her clever foreshadowing and the brilliant hooks that keeps you flipping the pages this story is wonderfully addicting. With every page flip you find yourself being drug further and further in. By the last fifty pages you will be unable to focus on anything but finding out how this ends. And if you're like me, spend the last ten emotionally wrecked bawling your eyes out. [But then again, I get emotional over amazing stories.]
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