You may already have heard of Violet Jessop, the room steward who survived the sinking of the Titanic. Less known is that she also survived the sinking of the Britannic (even though her hair was caught in the ship’s propeller,) and even before Titanic, had survived a serious accident aboard the Olympic, another ship of the White Star Line. What kept her at sea?

Violet was the oldest of a large family, and her options were limited. Her father was dead, her mother nearly catatonic after losing her husband and three children in short order. The tips from wealthy passengers are what keeps Violet coming back to that job, and she’s able to keep everyone afloat (so to speak) with her pay. When she was handed a baby as she stepped onto a Titanic lifeboat, she knows just what to do.

About thirty years after the Titanic tragedy, Daphne Chaundanson, a wealthy, lonely young woman, motherless and with an uninterested father, is approached to become a Special Operations agent, her extraordinary gift for languages having been noticed. She is not a very confident person, but she will have to become so.

Jenni Walsh neatly moves each storyline along as we increasingly wonder what they have to do with each other. As is the risk in dual-timeline novels, one story is more compelling than the other. In this case I wished for an entire novel about Violet, a stand-up woman whose struggles were not uncommon for working-class women in the early 20th century. Daphne’s story seems more fictional, and she does not bring much to the cannon of female spies in France during World War II.

Audiobook rating : 4.5 stars

Very pleasant experience listening to the audiobook, it made me like the book even more. Originally rated it 4 stars now audiobook is even better so will up my rating to 4.5 stars.

<b> Disasters. War. All those moments that precede us yet can still affect us now. That we can learn from. And
when we don’t, we risk history repeating itself.”</b>

Unsinkable reminded me so much of the nightingale. Both tells us stories of women in times of war and matters more because men are the creators of war so it feels quite normal to watch movies of "Men" waging wars or read books about wars , feels typical even. It definitely makes it unique when we know about strong women who played part in ending wars.

Unsinkable is about two women, two perspectives alternating with each other. Both set around wars one around 1912 sinking of Titanic and later world war one and another during world war two. One voice is of Violet who has mountain of responsibilities weighing down on her shoulders, a sick mother and siblings. Other is of Daphne who finds herself in the middle of world war 2 and wants to do something with her life to impress her inattentive and hard to impress father.

<B>I like a woman who goes after what she wants.
I wish I could be more like that. Alas, circumstances don’t
always allow for what a person wants. Only what is necessary.</b>

I didn't know about Violet Jessops till I reached the ending of the book and read the author's note. Violet was a nurse who survived sinking of Titanic, she was actually on two other ships too which sunk down so she was called Miss Unsinkable. In history, there are too many ships, giant ones which are now resting in the deepest parts of the ocean and yet Titanic's loss hurts more than the others because of the number of lives lost. Violet survived almost sinking of Olympic and yet chose to go on Titanic. These all belonged to white star line.

Today, White Star is remembered for the innovative vessel Oceanic and for the losses of some of their best passenger liners, including the wrecking of Atlantic in 1873, the sinking of Republic in 1909, the loss of Titanic in 1912 and the wartime sinking of HMHS Britannic in 1916.


Although Violet's story is real, it is entangled with various fictional characters and occurances to give it a flow. I really enjoyed reading about Violet and Joe which is a fictional character. Also about Daphne's journey. You will know How their lives are interconnected with each other.
There are many contraversies which I came to know later because Unsinkable got me curious.

Nevertheless, Unsinkable is a good read and I was kind of expecting a sad ending but glad that it wasn't. Both women are strong and admirable. Both women have played their parts in helping during a war, a war created by men. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will definitely recommend it to everyone who likes some historical fiction.

Thank you very much Netgalley and HarperCollins Muse for the audiobook ARC in exchange of an honest review.

The narrator has an authentic accent but her voice didn’t catch my interest. It was easy for me to get distracted and lose interest while listening. Did not finish.

I really, really wanted to love this book, but sadly it just didn’t work for me. As soon as I saw that this was a book about Violet Jessop, I immediately requested it. Her life experience is so intriguing and I looked forward to delving into the emotional guts of her story.

Unfortunately, I realized that Violet’s story would have to share space in a dual timeline (not my favorite format) with Daphne. I understand the connection, but it really came across as two separate stories. As I read, I always wanted to come back to Violet’s timeline…this woman survived 3 maritime disasters and witnessed a fourth. I wanted to understand why she kept going back and how these adventures impacted her person. Oddly, the emotion wasn’t there. The sinking ships were like any other day. She was a little too stoic. The story was repetitive and exhibited too much telling/not enough showing. The bilingual piece felt disconnected and forced. And the ending was so overly contrived. I was just disappointed overall. I am sorry because I really did want to love this and really looked forward to reading it.

The narrators, however, were great, expressive, and added to the experience. I especially enjoyed Violet’s accent. I both read and listened to the book.

I received a complementary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book! The two women in the different timelines were so interesting and I loved how the stories connected. If you like historical fiction with strong female characters this book is for you! I can’t wait to read more from this author. I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

I listened to this book on Audio and I really enjoyed it.. Both main characters in this dual time book, Violet and Daphne, were interesting women. Their stories were fascinating, I didn't want either one to end.
Violet survives being on the Titanic and yet returns to the sea to help fulfill a promise she made to her father, support and take care of her mother and siblings.
Daphne struggles with her relationship with her father. He doesn't seem to want her in his life and only pays attention to her when she does something great. In a last ditch effort to get his attention, she volunteers to be part of the spy network for Britian during WWII.
Each storyline is captivating and could have been a wonderful book on its own. I kept wondering how Walsh was going to tie the stories together, how they were going to relate to each other and she does beautifully. I am not going to tell you how as it gives a major thread away. Also isn't more fun to discover this on your own?
Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy and enjoy.

I was drawn in by the promise of a historical fiction book about the Titanic but this one wasn't exactly what I was expecting. Jumping around from POV and timelines, this story features a wide cast of characters who were aboard the Titanic and their fates. Interesting and well written/researched. It was also good on audio. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!