I couldn't stop reading this book, had to know what happened to Grace Winter. She was such a piece of work I found myself on her side while hoping I never meet anyone like her. Great summer read.
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An easy book to read -- the story rarely bogs down, the descriptions are efficient, the characters are interesting. This story could have gotten bogged down with extraneous information, but that does not happen. The reader gets enough back story, slowly revealed, to create a picture, but not too much so that the interest stays piqued and curiousity pulls the reader along.

The story is framed by the "present" court case which again, reveals enough but never too much.

This would make an excellent book club read, or a comparative read with [b:Life of Pi|4214|Life of Pi|Yann Martel|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320562005s/4214.jpg|1392700] because both books ask questions about life/death, religion or worldview, and how people deal with very challenging circumstances.

Here's what I wrote about this book in 2012: "Another lost-at-sea adventure, set during WWI and featuring and opportunistic and adaptable heroine. Earned postive critical reviews.". Here in 2023, however, I have no memory of reading it. ( )

Book on CD narrated by Rebecca Gibbel
3.5***

In the summer of 1914, newly married Grace Winter and her husband Henry, set sail from London back to America. But after an explosion aboard ship, Grace is hurried aboard a lifeboat that is over capacity. As days go by with no sign of rescue it becomes clear that not all (if any) will survive. It comes down to a battle for leadership between the only able seaman aboard and a strong-willed matron skilled at persuasion.

Grace is not a completely reliable narrator. The majority of the story is told in flashback, as Grace is on trial for murder. At the suggestion of her attorneys, she recalls her experiences in the lifeboat, but she also reflects on how she met and married Henry.

Her observations about her fellow passengers are limited to a handful, mostly those of her class, save for the seaman, Mr Hardie. As their situation grows more dire, the survivors in the lifeboat are faced with decisions they never imagined having to make. There are times when I felt Grace was a weak woman content to let the wind blow her where it will. And other times when I felt she was manipulative and scheming. But then again, we have only Grace’s word for what happened. One thing is certain, though, Grace is a survivor.

Rebecca Gibbel does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. She sets a good pace and distinguishes the characters sufficiently to avoid confusion about who is speaking. ( )

The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan is a book that falls neatly into my wheelhouse, it is a tale of survival, it has a leading character who is not always to be believed, and it certainly takes the reader to the dark side. The story of a group of people adrift on the Atlantic Ocean with little food or water, deprived of all creature comforts and fearing for their lives strips them of their humanity and exposes their raw inner natures.

The book opens with Grace Winter on trial with two other women for an undisclosed crime after they had been rescued from a lifeboat. We learn Graces’ version of the time spent on the lifeboat as she puts together a diary at the request of her lawyers but ultimately the book raises more questions than it answers. Grace’s account is spine-chilling, tense, and frightening as she details how power and control were being sought and alliances formed among the 39 people on the lifeboat.. Exposure and deprivation only added to the unreliability of the story.

I was totally caught up in this story with it’s morally suspect characters, harsh environment and it’s dark mystery. Is Grace manipulative and selfish or is she yet another victim who is being blamed for being a woman who survives. The Lifeboat is an excellent story and one that makes you wonder how you would fair in the same situation. ( )