In a Nutshell: Intriguing concept, detached implementation. Add to this a reader with zero philosophical understanding and the result is utter confusion.

Story:

Nine people (unrelated to each other) are struggling for survival on a life raft after the yacht they were cruising in exploded. Three days later, they see a man floating on the waves and they drag him in. When asked his identity, he replies, “I am the Lord.” Is he actually the Lord answering their prayers or has he just gone kooky after three days in the water? That’s for you to find out.

(Confession: I try to avoid philosophical or spiritual content because it mostly goes over my head. This one, I read only because of the author.)

While Albom has never been a firm favourite of mine as such, there is still something in his writing that keeps me reading his books and liking them enough. (This is based on the four books of his I have read: two fiction and two nonfiction.) He has an ability to make one think about a common occurrence from a different angle. I guess I was looking for the same to happen with this latest work too. But all I ended up thinking about was: what is the point he is trying to make? Maybe I am too dense because the story didn’t make much sense to me at all.

The structure of the story was fantastic. It comes in three broad timelines with interesting titles:

1. Sea: This is the perspective of the yacht survivors from the raft. Revealed through the notebook scribbles of one of the survivors named Benji.

2. Land: This timeline is about a year after the explosion. Inspector LeFleur on the island of Montserrat gets information that an empty raft from the sunken yacht has been found. While investigating this, he finds Benji’s notebook.

3. News: This covers the entire timeline, beginning from the departure of the yacht on its journey and continuing through the investigation of its accident and the detection of the yacht in Montserrat. This perspective also provides us with the background information of the passengers in the “Sea’ timeline.

I liked this unique way of patterning the story. Some readers might not enjoy the constant shifts in time and perspectives but I am an avid reader of historical fiction, so I am used to this kind of narrative style and even fond of it. But that’s about all I enjoyed in this book: the story structure.

If you are looking for the Mitch Albom of ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’ or ‘The Five People You Meet in Heaven’, that’s not gonna happen here. The man has changed and this deeper religious turn is showing heavily in his writing. It’s almost evangelical in its essence, and that’s a direction I never enjoy, though I am a practising Christian. If I understood neither the context nor the concept of the “Lord” in this story, I wonder how readers of other faiths will fare. The short length is a minor saving grace.

I wanted to like this book for the author (because he is a nice person. Truly.) But that’s never a good way to evaluate a book, right? The book must stand on its own strengths, and that doesn’t happen here. The “Sea” part of the story had strong vibes of “Life of Pi” (declaration based on the movie; I haven’t read the book.) The theme was very intriguing but there were so many things left unexplained that I didn’t have enough patience to dig deeper. The book tries its best to raise metaphysical questions but fails miserably in providing their answers. After turning over the last page, I was probably even more confused than at the start. The story was simply too weird, too disconnected, too stilted.

(Minor complaint: The name of the Indian character, Latha Laghari, is odd. The character is supposed to come from Bengal but neither the name nor the surname are Bengali in origin. The first name is Hindu, the last name is Muslim. I wish authors would research their character names better. I appreciate the idea of inclusivity and diverse representation, but this shouldn’t come at the cost of authenticity.)


In short, Mitch Albom is a wonderful human being. Read his earlier works to support him. Donate to his charities. But you can safely stay away from this book. I can’t advocate this one to anyone except maybe to readers with a highly philosophical bent of mind.

My thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK, Sphere, and NetGalley for the ARC of “The Stranger in the Lifeboat”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.


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3.5 for me on this one. I like Mitch Albom books in general and I liked this one too; I just didn’t love it. It felt a bit forced and cliché to me. As a good friend described it…meh. ( )

A story of relationships, a boat crash, discrimination between the rich and those who work for them, and God.

I have been a fan of Mitch Albom since his first book Tuesdays with Morrie, which was published in 1997. That’s an impressive writing career, in my opinion. I like how his stories are thought provoking, emotional, and have a powerful message.

The Stranger in the Lifeboat tells the story of 10 people in a raft awaiting rescue following a ship explosion. Shortly after the survivors convene into the lifeboat, they find another man floating in the ocean. The survivors pull him into the lifeboat, relieved they found him. As the book description states, the survivors exclaim to the man, “Thank the Lord we found you” and the man replies, “I am the Lord.”

The story unfolds through the protagonist, Benjamin, a survivor who keeps a journal of what happens to each of his fellow passengers. More information about the ship explosion is learned from the news reporters. A third, and quite fascinating perspective, is told from a police officer on the island where the lifeboat washes up.

The story is intriguing and suspenseful. I really enjoyed how the characters pulled at my heart strings. I appreciate the message Mitch leaves the reader with at the conclusion. As expected from the book description, there is a significant God presence in the book as the survivors in the lifeboat debate their beliefs in God. I’m not a religious person as I prefer Eastern philosophy, Buddhism, and Hinduism, and my belief system did not hinder my ability to become fully engrossed in the story.

I purchased a signed first edition of The Stranger in the Lifeboat from Barnes and Noble. Mitch Albom narrates the audiobook, if you’re interested in listening to the book instead of reading a physical copy or ebook.

I have photos and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog ( )

What would happen if you cried out to God for help and someone claiiming to be God actually appeared before us? In Mitch Albom's profound new novel, a group of shipwrecked passengers must face that challenge when a strange man they pull from the water says he can save them all. But only if they believe in him.