A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice

“We have done something heroic. We’ve done something miraculous. There is too much providence in it to be anything less. We have done what was right, I concede your point there, but that does not mean there was not something glorious in it. Even if it falls by the wayside on the pages of history.”

All I can say is wow! This amazing story of the Carpathia, it’s brave Captain, Arthur Rostron and crew, and those endearing Irish young women who survived the awful sinking completely captured my heart. Like the author herself, I thought I knew the story of the Titanic. I’ve seen the movie a dozen times and was fascinated as a very young woman when pieces of the wreckage were finally exhumed from the sea. This is the brilliant often show more untold story of the Carpathia and its dramatic rescue of the survivors.

Though historical fiction, the author takes great pains to recreate the inspiring true story from various points of view. History definitely comes alive as the heart stopping rescue unfolds where the Carpathia risks everything, facing those same icebergs which sunk the Titanic, to rescue the survivors. Even knowing the eventual outcome, I couldn’t help but feel that mounting tension as the Carpathia races to the rescue hoping somehow the ending will be different. The experiences of Kate Connolly and her friends brought new insight into the horror they experienced on lifeboat 13 witnessing the tragedy unfold.

Despite the tragedy, I was especially touched by the faith and conviction of Captain Rostron and how the passengers of the Carpathia opened their hearts. All worked together regardless of class to care for the survivors, giving their own clothing and rooms, helping any way they could. The various reactions of the survivors were so memorable where some were so out of touch hardly acknowledging what happened and others like Kate, the “Unsinkable” Molly Brown, and the Countess of Rothes who focused on helping others. I loved the interesting facts as well like Mary and her jar of St. Mogue’s earth she brought from Ireland for protection.

This is definitely a story that should be remembered and celebrated. Highly recommend this poignant, incredibly moving story to historical fiction fans and anyone interested in the history of the Carpathia and Titanic. I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and voluntarily given. show less

I honestly don't understand the continuing obsession with the Titanic, but I had this book on my wishlist for ages until reading a rather damning review. Deciding to clear the title off my Kindle, I gave in and for the first few chapters, thought, 'Huh, this isn't so bad!' And listen, the author's research is evident, and her praise of the rescue ship is pure if somewhat unnecessary, but the pace is slow and the writing is like a Wikipedia article translated into fiction at the last minute.

The author first learned about the Carpathia and Captain Arthur Rostron after taking in the Titanic Museum in Belfast on a tour of the British Isles (guess where she's from) and went on a 'journey' to research the ship and captain that most people who show more have seen the film or taken a pub quiz could easily name. This is the result. We get alternating perspectives of the sinking ship from Captain Rostron and an 'Oirish' passenger on the Titanic called Kate - one of many repeated names, which doesn't help the reader to empathise with or even identify the passengers, despite being based on real people. No sooner have we been introduced to all the Catherines and Martins, and an inevitable bit of diddley diddley dancing in steerage ('I daresay one or two of the Irishmen aboard will have brought their fiddles, and we don’t need more than that to dance a jig'), then the ship has hit ice and everyone is immediately clued in to their fate - perhaps from watching Titanic. 'It was supposed to be unsinkable', someone comments in the past tense, and 'I wonder how many of us have heard it tonight. How long do you think they’ll play?' another asks, on hearing the band play 'Nearer My God to Thee'. Clichés in abundance, original interpretation sadly lacking.

The writing is also very repetitive, presumably to pad out the pages. 'The forms were still and unmoving', and 'The water reflected the brilliance of the stars in the sky with almost eerie clarity' followed in the same paragraph by 'The sky was perfectly clear, and there was no moon, lending all possible brightness to the stars alone.' My head was starting to ache from all the hammering home.

Sermons and hymns also took up far too much time and space, which I skipped over in the most offending chapters - let the passengers recite the Lord's Prayer and move on! I was intrigued by Rostron's attempts to defy the typically brash and merciless press intrusion on board his ship, which is the part of the Titanic's history that rarely gets covered, but had to laugh when the American author had Rostron toadying to the Americans: 'He would write to the president personally when this inquiry was over to apologize and to assure him that the slight was unintentional.' (Her lower case president, not mine.) As if missing a personal message from Taft was top of Rostron's concerns at that point.

I'm not sure what this take on the Titanic and the Carpathia was supposed to add to the fleet of fact and fiction already in existence, apart from making sure history hasn't forgotten the rescuer (it hasn't), but I think the Captain's own biography, quoted at the start of his chapters, might serve the purpose better. show less

I have read many books centered on the Titanic. Some mention the Carpathia but none really focus on this ship and just how important its role was in rescuing so many people that fatal night. Thus I really liked this book as it provided a different point of view of this tragic event.

I would say I can't imagine what the crew of the Carpathia must have been thinking and feeling when they heard the distress call about the Titanic but I can in a way imagine as author, Rebecca Connolly did give me a very insightful vantage point with this book. If it had not been for Captain Arthur Rostron and his crew there would have been many more lives lost that night.

Also, the other point of view of Kate, third-class passenger was nice. I could feel show more her fear as she tried to figure out what was happening to the realization moment of just what was happening. As I was reading this book, it was like I was there. I could feel the bitter icy, cold air and hear the screams.

Readers may have read many Titanic books but this is one that they will want to pick up and add to their list to read. show less

In "A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice," Rebecca Connolly presents her account of the heroic actions of the "steady, calm, and sure" Captain Arthur Rostron and the men he capably commanded on the RMS Carpathia. On April 14, 1912, the Titanic, a supposedly unsinkable luxury liner, was on its maiden voyage in the frigid North Atlantic when she hit an iceberg. Within a remarkably short time, the Titanic began to take on water and approximately three hours later, she sank. Amidst the chaos, the Titanic's crew ushered mostly women and children, but also a limited number of men, into the available lifeboats. Many of the survivors would forever be haunted by the screams of their fellow passengers who died of drowning and exposure.

Captain show more Rostron, an experienced seaman and man of faith, did not hesitate to turn the Carpathia around and sail as quickly as possible to the site of the catastrophe. It took enormous skill and courage to navigate the ice-filled waters, but the Carpathia arrived at its destination safely and the captain and his men rescued seven hundred and five men, women, and children. Sadly, over fifteen-hundred souls were lost.

It is moving to read about the kindness, not just of the captain and his crew, but also of the Carpathia's passengers, who welcomed the distraught and exhausted survivors with open arms . Connolly combines fact and fiction skillfully, and she humanizes this heartrending tale by focusing on specific characters, such as Kate Connolly from County Cavan, Ireland. "A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice" emphasizes such qualities as decency, competence, and dedication, all of which Captain Rostron and his crew demonstrated when they assisted these strangers in distress. This engrossing and well-researched novel includes quotes from eyewitnesses, a fascinating afterword, an author's note, and a selected bibliography. show less

This has so many consistently high reviews that I was expecting it to be excellent and it was not that for me. This was a wildly interesting potential story and it fell so flat. We have the Titanic sinking on one side of the story and the Captain of the Carpathia on the other desperately rushing to get there in time. Somehow, it was all tell and took a right turn into super religious.

A gripping story of the events surrounding the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912, but told from a perspective you may never have read before--that of the Carpathia, the ship that strained every limit to reach the sinking ship but simply could not make it in time. The Carpathia did, however, rescue all of the survivors in the lifeboats.
I had not been terribly interested in reading a Titanic book at this point in my life; after all, when one has read Walter Lord's 1955 novel, and seen the occasional movie or documentary, one's threshold for Titanic mania may seem to have been reached. It's an emotionally exhausting event to contemplate.
But this book, involving a much lesser known perspective, and following a Titanic survivor who has no show more lost loved ones to lament, struck a balance of being sobering but still bearable to read.

The characters in this novel are all based on their real-life counterparts. The characterizations aren't particularly memorable, but I can see how difficult it would be to make this story character-driven, when in reality it is 100% event-driven.

It held my interest the entire way through.

Thanks to NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for the digital review copy! This book is on sale as of today. show less

We all know of the fateful journey of the Titanic, and how many lives were lost.
This is actually a story of survival, the author has us embark on the ship that is full of opulence and splendor. We meet some of the passengers, mostly those in third class, and put faces and names on them.
Sadly, we become informed of the ships that were in the area, and could have come to the rescue, but we are with the one that did the Carpathia. Will we ever know why those other ships never helped?
We meet Arthur Rostron, a real hero, he was the Captain of the rescue ship, we see through the eyes of the author, his compassion, and how he strategizes even the docking of his ship in NY to try and comfort and protect the passengers from the Titanic.
I loved show more the Afterword, and the Author's notes, she even included actual pictures of the Captain and Kate Connolly.
I received this book through the Publisher Shadow Mountain, and was not required to give a positive review. show less