“The whole family thought that I was lucky to be ‘marrying up,’ and that life as the next Lady Storton had plenty to recommend it. And my father had thought that too. None of us realized we were reading two different stories.“


Cindy Burnett, from The Thoughts From A Page Podcast, recommends The Lost Passenger “for fans of engaging historical fiction” and she hits the nail on the head once again. This new novel features a heroine who does not tip toe around patrician tradition, and then realizes she’s entered a fight with the landed gentry that she can’t win.

In the opening chapters Elinor Hayward, daughter of a self made successful textile entrepreneur, is tricked into marrying Frederick Storton. Her 1910 English wedding sets the stage for a life very different from the one she imagined in her classic novels.

A leisure cruise aboard an ocean liner deemed unsinkable proves to be devastating but may just provide an opportunity for a new beginning. As the Titanic survivors come ashore in New York harbor Elinor discovers that her most pressing challenges may just lie ahead.

This had a similar feel and cadence to one of my favorite novels, The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner, and although it would not be considered a true comparable read, I enjoyed it similarly.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballentine for the early copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Net Galley and Ballantine Books for an Advanced Reader Copy. As sometimes happens, the blurb on Goodreads covers 2/3 of the book. That would have mattered less if the characters weren’t stereotypically one dimensional. The characters and plot in the last third of the book changed my mind about the rating I would have given (up from a 2 to a 3) and my interest in reading more by this author (I’ll be looking for Quinn’s books in the future).

Interesting story.

For a long time, people have used tragedy to escape from their lives, and this is one of those stories. Elinor is unhappy, trapped in a loveless marriage and denied the opportunity to be a real mother to her son. In fairness, her husband and his family are acting exactly as was “the way” in the day for their class of people.

When Elinor sees a chance to escape that life, she takes it. Assuming the identity of a ladies maid, she becomes Molly. Elinor never has had to fend for herself, but in order to fit in as Molly, she learns. I appreciate the strength and determination it took to rebuild her and her son’s life, but I did feel bad about her lying to Molly’s family for so long.

This was a decent story, well-written. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

This is a very informative and touching story. Elinor starts off as the very loved and well taken care of daughter of “the cotton king”. She marries the future Lord of Winterton and soon learns it is not a love match on his part but planned for her money and to have an heir. She realizes how little women are respected and the isn’t happy with the role she is expected to play. When her father sends tickets for her, her husband Frederick, their son Teddy and two servants to join him on the Titanic she is able to convince Frederick to go. When the tragedy strikes she is able to disappear with a false identity. How long can she remain missing? Is anyone looking for her?
I enjoyed this story and found it to be a page turner. Elinor is quite resourceful and uses her skills to help herself and others. She is also adaptable and Kearns new skills quickly when she needs them. I found the ending to be very satisfying. A life one person is content living does not mean everyone else would be happy in the same circumstances.
I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

If you are a fan of historical fiction, pick up this book as soon as it becomes available!

Elinor was raised with "new money" her father earned in the English cotton manufacturing industry. She is a lover of literature and happy endings. Believing she found her own happily ever after, she marries into "old money" but soon realizes she has been tricked. Her husband is in love with another, and her purpose has always been to lend her father's money to their aging estate and give birth to an heir. After giving birth, things decline further as she is not permitted to be an involved mother in her new son's life. Elinor's father keeps a promise and sends her tickets for her and her family to join him on the Titanic's ill-fated maiden voyage. Elinor has to think quick; she has a terrible choice to make.

This is a story of a mother who is willing to do whatever it takes to make a life for herself and her son. I enjoyed the characters, especially Elinor. The novel was perfectly paced with the right amount of before the Titanic, during the event, and the repercussions that came afterward.

Thanks go to Ballentine Books and Netgalley for this incredible ARC.

This was my first ever book by Frances Quinn. I am OBSESSED with the movie Titanic so I was really excited to receive this ARC! I flew through the first 50% of this book. I was like "wow, this book is so easy to read!" I am not sure what changed after that, but I found the second half a little repetitive. I did still enjoy it and I loved all the new characters that got introduced in the second half of the book, so I just can't put my finger on why the second half was a little slower than the first half. I really appreciated the ending and felt like everything got wrapped up nicely.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinions.

The Lost Passenger is an intriguing historical fiction novel about a young English woman who attempts to run from her previous life after surviving the sinking of the Titanic. Elinor is the 19-year old daughter of a self-made millionaire. She unknowingly enters a loveless marriage with the titled Frederick, who is in need of her money. Elinor is later thrilled by the opportunity to escape her in-laws expectations for a short time when her father treats her, Frederick and their 2-year old son to the maiden voyage on the Titanic. After surviving the horror of the ship’s sinking, Elinor assumes the identity of a working class victim and attempts to make a new life for herself and her son in New York with the other woman’s family.
I preferred the content and pacing of the second half of the novel, especially Elinor’s determination and resourcefulness, and the theme of found family. “This place that I’d found so strange at first was my home now, and I didn’t want to leave it, or the life we’d built here.” I found the ending satisfying, when Elinor realizes “that there’s more than one kind of happy ending”. 4/5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are my own. Pub date: 2/25/25

Times were different back then and Elinor was the daughter of “Cotton King,” Robert Hayward, who built up his cotton business from the ground up and became a millionaire. They got invited to a ball, and Frederick Coombes is the son and heir of Lord Stanton, Earl of Winterton Estate, started talking to her and they had a good time. The next thing she knew, Frederick asked her to marry him, and they would get married immediately. She thought Frederick loved her, but discovered on her wedding day, that he proposed because of her wealthy father, and their estate needed a lot of work which required a lot of money. After they were married, she got pregnant and had a son, which is what he needed. Her mother-in-law told her the nanny would be taking care of her son, until he went to boarding schools. She could only see him very little, because he had to be raised right.
Her father buys tickets to go on the RMS Titanic, for her, Frederick, their son Teddy, himself and two servants., they went. When the Titanic hit an iceberg, Elinor and Teddy were the only ones from their group that made it to a lifeboat. Before they arrived in New York, Elinor had a decision to make, and she made it. She became Molly, the servant that helped her with Teddy and took on her identity. The story is fast-paced and when she got to New York she starts to rebuild a new life. She is always wondering if she will be found out, but she starts a small business and makes some friends. It was an exciting story, that kept me reading, and learning what life was like back then. Elinor, being a woman, made things harder for her, but she kept moving forward, and you will have to read the book to see how it goes. Enjoy it, I sure did.
I received an ARC from Ballantine Books through NetGalley.

This was a book I could not put down. It was excellent! I read a lot of historical fiction and this one stands out as one of the best. I was completely invested in Elinor and, despite an extremely frustrating first 30%, I never lost faith that she would triumph over her extremely restrictive marital circumstances. The sinking of the Titanic was handled very well. Not too detailed, not to minimal. The second half of the book kept my attention as well, mainly because Elinor is such an excellent main character. I would highly recommend this book to others and would love to explore others by this author.

Elinor is the teenaged daughter of England’s millionaire widower “Cotton King,” Robert Hayward, who built his cotton business from nothing. Like many young girls, Elinor dreams of marrying for love. When a young aristocrat shows an interest in her at a ball given by Lord and Lady Burnham she and her father were, surprisingly, invited to, she is quickly smitten. Frederick Coombes is the son and heir of Lord Stanton, Earl of Winterton Estate. Within weeks, Frederick negotiates with Elinor’s father for her hand in marriage. On her wedding day, however, Elinor overhears her new mother-in-law, Lady Stanton, talking to Lady Burnham and learns that the invitation to the ball as well as Frederick’s accidental meeting with Elinor had been a set up: the estate needed a lot of money to keep it running, and she was the answer. Elinor is trapped in a loveless marriage with a man who is carrying on an affair with his childhood sweetheart and when she has their first child, a son named Edward (who she calls Teddy), he is whisked away by a nanny, and she is only allowed to see him for 20 minutes a day. Moreover, she learns he will be sent to boarding school at the age of seven, just like his father, and all the male Coombes’s going back in history. In addition, she is forced to sign a document that would make Lord and Lady Stanton Teddy’s legal guardians in the event of Frederick’s death.

When Elinor’s father buys tickets on The Titanic for himself, Elinor, Frederick, Teddy, and two servants, she is thrilled to have this time away from Winterton and the opportunity for Teddy to get to know his other grandfather. When Elinor’s lady’s maid, Rose, refuses to get on the ship because of the nightmares she had been having about it, a young woman name Molly Mortimer overhears and offers her services (along with a reference letter). It’s no spoiler to say what happened to The Titanic; out of their party of six, only Elinor and Teddy make it into a lifeboat and, after not finding any of the others on the rescue ship and seeing a way that she would not have to give Teddy over to Frederick’s parents, Elinor decides to adopt Molly’s name as they arrive in New York. Accordingly, the papers report that Mr. Hayward, Frederick, Elinor, and Teddy perished. Molly had been on her to lower Manhattan to stay with her long-dead mother’s sister, Ruth, whom she had never met; Elinor, along with Teddy, simply took her place, moving in with Ruth, her husband, Per, mother-in-law Anna, and Ruth and Per’s two children.

I found there were too many coincidences, some moments of disbelief suspension, and a couple of predictable plot lines, but the story nevertheless held my interest throughout, and the period details seemed spot on. Three-and-a-half stars.

Thanks to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and Ms. Quinn for the advance reader’s copy of this historical fiction.

This was a fresh story about the Titanic and one of the survivors. I enjoyed reading it and liked the characters, especially Elinor. It was an emotional read as well. I didnt like that the synopsis tells pretty much the whole story. Other than that it was great! I highly recommend for fans of historical fiction.

*3.5 stars - rounding up*

Elinor Coombes thinks she has found the man of her dreams - Frederick - who sweeps her off her feet and proposes to her after a whirlwind courtship. He is heir to Winterton a large estate that is currently run by his father Lord Storton and Lady Storton. After marrying Frederick Elinor moves into Winterton and quickly finds out that all is not as wonderful as she thought - she has been tricked into the marriage for her money and life at Winterton is miserable. After giving birth to their son Teddy Elinor's life becomes even worse as she never gets to see her own child and sees a future mapped out for him that is cold and lifeless.

She is ecstatic when she has the chance to go on the maiden voyage of the Titanic with Frederick, Teddy, and her father. This is her chance to spend some time with her own child and with her father who she hasn't seen since getting married. We all know what the fate of the Titanic is and without going into detail the sinking presents Elinor with an opportunity to have a new life for herself and Teddy in New York - however this new life comes with secrets and lies. Could Elinor lose everything and have to return to Winterton?

When I first started reading this book it didn't quite grab me - I didn't find the characters too engaging and found Elinor to be a bit whiny. Of course, I loathed the Stortons who are the kind of villains of the story. I went into this book not really knowing what it was about so when I read that they were going on the Titanic I was immediately interested as I love any history regarding the Titanic. Honestly though the bit about the Titanic is really just setting up the backdrop for Elinor to start her new life. The book really picked up for me when Elinor and Teddy began their new life in New York. I really loved the new characters that were introduced - Ruth, Per, Anna. They brought some much-needed warmth and flavor to the book. This is also where I really grew to love the character of Elinor - she really came into her own - with each chapter you could see her strength and confidence growing and I loved the character development. She managed to deal with two situations that could have ruined her new life with grace and cunning - instead of totally panicking and I admired that. I won't spoil how it all turns out, but it was a nice, good read - I had never read anything by Frances Quinn before and I enjoyed this. Thank you to Ballantine Books and Net Galley for an advance copy of the book for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this book and I can;t wait to check out the audiobook version of this book

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for granting access to this book.

I truly enjoyed this story; the author covered the background of the characters perfectly, plus the Titanic sinking was done well and she had wonderful explanations of why Elinor made some of her decisions. My only con was she repeated various statements multiple times, as if the reader had forgotten what was already said previously.
Nevertheless, this book was a great read. I loved how Molly (Elinor) adapted, jumped right in and flourished in her new environment and I especially was impressed with her new family’s generosity. It was educational to hear about the carts they sold their wares from in the streets, what an enterprising way of selling.
I highly recommend to any Historical Fiction fan.
I received an ARC from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for my unbiased review – This one comes in with a high 5 stars.

I was recommended this book by a friend. I have always found any book that had the titanic mentioned in it to be a book I would love to read. This was such an intriguing book and while the titanic was brought into the story till about a third of the way thru, the build up and the character details helped mack the titanic aspect more meaningful. This was my first book by this author but i will definitely be looking up more books by her as a lover of historical fiction. Highly recommend!

Thank you to netgalley for an early copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I am such a Titanic girlie so I was really excited to receive this book. Elinor is bamboozled into a marriage with a future Lord and heir to an estate in England. She is miserable and under the control of her in laws. When she has a baby, she is told that she is mad for wanting to spend more than 20 minutes a day with him and "that's the way things are". When her father buys first class tickets on the Titanic for himself, Elinor, her husband Frederick and the baby, she jumps at the chance to escape the mansion for several days. When the Titanic sinks, her maid/nanny Molly dies on the ship. Molly was supposed to stay with family in New York, so Elinor takes the opportunity to escape her old life and start over.

I really enjoyed this book, more so the first half. The second half after she arrived in New York was a little bit slower but I still enjoyed it. It was very relatable with her having a toddler, and how hard of a worker she was.

I actually really enjoyed this book. Elinor entered into marriage under false terms and had to try and adjust to a life she didn't want. When opportunity presented itself to get away from the crazy, mixed up world she was in.
This story wasn't one that had you going crazy wondering what was next but a historical novel that is worth reading.

Tricked into a marriage by the aristocratic groom’s family, Elinor finds herself shunned by them; she is not even permitted to raise her own son. When her father buys Elinor and her son tickets on the Titanic and the ship subsequently sinks, Elinor realizes that this is the opportunity she has been looking for. The Lost Passenger is an absorbing story about starting over in a new place, charting a different course, triumphing over adversity, and finding hope in the face of loss. For fans of engaging historical fiction.

THANK YOU for this ARC
This story was amazing.

Elinor, who was lured into a fake marriage, is lucky enough (lucky isn't really the word... you'll see) to get tickets to the maiden voyage of the Titanic with her husband, son, father.

Life isn't pretty at home, so when the Titanic ship goes down, she has to chose, go home to her insufferable life, or disappear and become someone knew.

This was a very different perspective of the Titanic, one I hadn't heard before, and I LOVED it. I didn't want it to end!!

This book offers an intriguing historical drama about a young mother who fakes her and her son's deaths on the Titanic to escape her past and start anew in New York. The premise is immersive and filled with potential for tension and emotion, but while I appreciated the concept and setting, it didn’t fully captivate me. It’s a solid story with compelling moments, but it didn’t quite reach the level of unforgettable for me.