It was a good book. ( )

This was a pretty interesting book! I liked that it was historical fiction. Based on the viewpoint from Madeline Astor, it recounts the sinking of the Titanic and the aftermath. I will definitely read more books by this author! ( )

This was such a good read - told from Mrs. Astor's perspective to her new baby boy who never got to meet his dad. I couldn't put it down. ( )

Another five star read, what goes on here? I loved this fictionalised account of Madeleine Astor, the young bride and widow of John Jacob Astor, and mother of his 'Titanic baby', born four months after she survived the tragedy and her husband did not. At first, I thought, 'Well, there's not much of a story there, apart from the Titanic', but how wrong I was.

Madeleine Force was an eighteen year old socialite, while Colonel Astor was nearly thirty years her senior, with a recent divorce to add to the scandal. The press hounded them, like modern day royals and celebrities - 'chipping away at any thought she might have had of privacy, of control of her own face or figure or destiny' - and they were engaged and married within a year of meeting (once Madeleine had turned eighteen). The Titanic was part of their honeymoon tour and Madeleine was five months pregnant. The novel covers Madeleine's sheltered youth in Bar Harbor, Maine, her first meeting with Jack at a society gathering and the sweet but sporadic courtship that followed, the private wedding ceremony and the start of Madeleine's married life in the draughty New York Astor mansion, snubbed by the 'Four Hundred'. Along with the 'unsinkable' Molly Brown - and I didn't know the two famous Titanic names were friends! - the Astors travel to Egypt, beautifully pictured by the author, and then onto the final, fateful voyage.

I found the narrative a little confusing at first - Madeleine recalls her memories of Jack and the Titanic in letters to her newborn son 'Jakey', and then the story switches to standard third person, which seemed an odd choice - but fell in love with the writing and the characters from the first chapters. Madeleine is lost in the shadow of her elder sister Katherine until she captivates the famous Colonel Astor, and I was both convinced by her love for him, and his for her eventually, while not entirely trusting his motives. I'm not one to be thrown by generation gap romances in novels, but (barely) eighteen and nearly fifty? I could easily understand his son Vincent's attitude towards his new 'stepmother'! The way Astor courted the press without respecting her wishes also put me off, reminding me of Prince Harry's memoirs - 'I have learned that you do not have to speak to the press at all. You owe them nothing', the widowed Mrs Astor finally realises. The Colonel also abandons his new bride to the gaudiness and rigidity of his New York mansion, like a scene out of Rebecca, but I had to laugh at Madeleine's judgement of his mother's horrendous decoration: Gold-leafed sconces, pilasters, cherubs, medallions. Gold-leafed tables and chairs, cabinets and commodes. There were still rooms in this hulking home that Madeleine had barely explored, but it seemed to her that Lina Astor had not spared her hand at gilding every lily she’d ever seen'. The only difference between the social strata in America is money, apparently, which does not buy taste!

Madeleine's story and Shana Abe's writing really made me emotional, from Jack's poor dog Kitty getting lost in Egypt and then staying with her master to the end, to Madeleine's deep and beautifully rendered grief. The final night on board the Titanic was also incredibly powerful, which isn't always the case (I'm going to watch A Night To Remember again, which is the best film about the infamous ship!) Madeleine's realisation that the lifeboats are surrounded by icebergs and her words to her son about his father's smile ('Oh, I hope you have his smile. I hope I get to see his smile again, through you') were two particularly poignant moments that really got to me.

Madeleine Astor went onto to marry again, twice, and had two more sons before dying relatively young in 1940. Her son with Colonel Astor, Jakey, contested the will of his elder half-brother, Vincent, claiming that he was an alcoholic when he died in 1959 and that his wife had forced him into cutting Jakey from the Astor fortune, but he only received a settlement. Would Madeleine and Jack have had a long and happy marriage had they not honeymooned on the Titanic? Did he really love his child bride, or was she a passing fancy, as Vincent claimed? I would love to believe in the romance of this novel, but reality was probably a lot less magical! ( )

All I knew about the Astor family is that they were extremely wealthy. I was not aware of the love between Madeleine Force and Jack Astor, the wealthiest man in America. I didn't know he was divorced, and nearly 30 years older than Madeleine. Madeleine was just 18 when they married, and sadly, the newlyweds were shunned by the elite class. They traveled to Europe and Egypt for an extended honeymoon, and Madeleine became pregnant. Sadly, on their return trip to America, they were on board the Titanic. Jack got his wife to a lifeboat safely, but sadly, he was not allowed on the lifeboat.
This is a tragic story. I found the last few chapters the most interesting, less so the earlier chapters. But, all in all, an interesting history of a love that was true, but cut too short. ( )