Surviving Savannah

The Titanic of the South

Hi Readers,

I arrive home from Southern California tomorrow. I hope I will have finished a couple of books while I was vacationing. I have several I’ve started; I just can’t stick with one long enough to finish it.

After writing contemporary fiction for many years, author Patti Callahan switched to historical fiction with her debut novel, Becoming Mrs. Lewis: The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis. Her sophomore historical fiction book, Surviving Savannah, published in March 2021, tells the story of the explosion and ultimate sinking of the steamship Pulaski and what happened to the almost 200 passengers and crew over the next several days and weeks.

At the risk of sounding like a school girl crushing on her first boyfriend, I loved, loved, Surviving Savannah. I follow Patti Callahan on several forms of social media. I have participated in several virtual book discussions related to this book. I’ve heard her speak of the history of the Pulaski, her research, and how she brings it all together in this remarkable historical fiction book. Even though I knew the Longstreet family was her imagined family based on the real Lamar family, I was so drawn into the story that when I got to the end and read the author’s note and the resources and facts, I was surprised that the Longstreet family wasn’t the real family. I was totally caught up in and captivated by the story.

This book is told in two timelines, and I found myself invested in each equally as they alternated back and forth throughout the book. I wanted more of the timeline I had just finished when I finished one chapter and moved on to the next. The author’s ability to give equal treatment to each timeline and leaving me wanting more is something that I rarely find in dual timeline books. I’m usually far more invested in one of the timelines more than the other.

The writing in describing the ship blowing up and its sinking, how the survivors managed and worked together to save themselves and get to land, was fascinating and made me feel like part of the story.

I wish this book had been longer as I wanted to know more about a few different aspects of the story barely touched on. I wanted to know more about the 20 years between the sinking and when Augusta wrote her account of what happened. I’d like to know more about the Red Devil and how the tragedy and trying to survive changed him from what he was to what he became. But most especially, I’d love to read the letters between Augusta and Lilly for the 20 years after she, her daughter, and nursemaid left the area and started new lives for themselves.

This was a book that I didn’t want to put down, and when I was forced to because of life, I couldn’t wait to get back to it to read more. This is also a book you definitely want to read the author’s note, all the facts, and resources at the back of the book.

If you’ve read Surviving Savannah, I’d love to hear what you thought about it in the comments below. Happy Reading!

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Patti Callahan is a contributor to Reunion Beach: Stories Inspired by Dorthea Benton Frank. Her next book, Once Upon A Wardrobe, publishes on October 19, 2021. She also writes Women’s and Contemporary fiction as Patti Callahan Henry.