Voyage on the Great Titanic

Part of the Dear America series of historical fiction novels for young readers, this book is presented as the diary of Margaret Ann Brady, a thirteen-year-old orphan at St. Abernathy's Orphanage for Girls in Whitechapel, London, in the spring of 1912. Margaret begins writing at the suggestion of Sister Catherine, a nun who serves as her mentor and closest confidante.

On March 28, Margaret is called to the head nun's office and offered the chance to become a "companion" to a wealthy woman. That afternoon, Sister Catherine takes her to Claridge's, a fine hotel in Mayfair, to meet Mrs. Frederick Carstairs, a middle-aged American. Margaret charms Mrs. Carstairs's terrier, Florence, and Mrs. Carstairs invites her to come to America. Margaret accepts at once. They are to sail on the Titanic, the world's largest ocean liner, on its maiden voyage. Mrs. Carstairs's husband cannot make the crossing, so she has sought a travel companion.

Margaret writes to her older brother, William, who works as a bricklayer in Boston and has been saving to bring her to America. Her diary reveals a painful past: Her father, an Irish immigrant, was killed at the London Docks when crates fell on him. Her mother, who had tuberculosis, died of fever soon after, leaving the children alone. They lived on the streets, scavenging for food. One freezing December night, Margaret fell gravely ill. William helped her walk to St. Abernathy's, though she refused to be carried, and left her on the steps with a piece of toffee, both of them crying. The nuns took her in. Margaret dreads leaving behind Nora, a five-year-old orphan who follows her everywhere.

On her last night, Margaret packs her few possessions, including her father's wool coat, his copy of Hamlet, and her mother's silver locket. She gives Nora a china cat figurine as a keepsake and presents Sister Catherine with her father's book of sonnets. Sister Catherine walks Margaret to the bus, gives her money she has saved, and they exchange a quiet farewell.

Margaret and Mrs. Carstairs travel by train to Southampton, Margaret's first time leaving London. That evening, she sees the Titanic for the first time: a ship so enormous it takes her breath away, with four funnels and the smell of fresh paint. She reflects with pride that it was built in Ireland by men like her father.

On Sailing Day, April 10, they board through a first-class gangway and meet their bedroom steward, Robert Merton, a young man from Liverpool with whom Margaret feels an immediate kinship. They develop a warm friendship; she learns this is his first assignment and that he supports his family back home. Thomas Andrews, the ship's designer, helps Margaret draw a picture for Nora. As they pass Ireland, Margaret watches the coast of Cork, her father's birthplace, with tears in her eyes. She notes that locked gates keep steerage passengers, those in the ship's lowest-class accommodations, segregated from the upper classes.

On Sunday evening, April 14, passengers dress in their finest for a spectacular dinner. Late that night, past eleven-thirty, Margaret feels a jolt that sloshes her hot chocolate and hears people mentioning the word "iceberg." Then the engines stop.

After midnight, Robert knocks urgently, telling her to dress warmly and bring her life belt to the Boat Deck. He calls her "Miss Brady" instead of "Margaret," which alarms her. Margaret dresses in her warmest clothes, tucking her diary and Hamlet into her father's coat pockets and confirming her mother's locket is around her neck. On the Boat Deck, officers call for women and children, but most passengers refuse to leave the warm, brightly lit ship for the dark ocean. Distress rockets explode overhead, and the ship's band begins playing.

Mr. Hollings, a protective acquaintance from the voyage, urges Mrs. Carstairs to board Lifeboat 8. Margaret snaps at Mrs. Carstairs to get in. Halfway aboard, Mrs. Carstairs insists on having Florence, and Margaret hands over the dog. Mrs. Carstairs then tells Margaret to wait for other first-class ladies. Stung by this reminder of her station and wanting to find Robert, Margaret lets the boat go.

She finds Robert on C Deck, sitting against a wall, staring blankly. He tells her there are no other lifeboats on the ship, and Margaret grasps that more than a thousand people cannot escape. She forces him to put on his life belt, and they return to the Boat Deck, where Robert says he must find his crewmates. He gives Margaret a sealed letter for his mother and asks to kiss her. The first attempt is awkward, her first kiss. He smiles and tries again; the second is warm and tender. He hugs her, tells her not to worry, and disappears.

All the boats appear gone. Margaret sinks into a deck chair and takes out Hamlet. Mr. Prescott, a fellow passenger, finds her and rushes her to Boat 4, the last lifeboat. Colonel Astor, one of the wealthiest men in the world, helps his pregnant wife aboard, asks to join her, is refused, and accepts gracefully; his dog Kitty stays at his side. Margaret half-falls into the boat.

From the lifeboat, Margaret watches the Titanic sink. The bow vanishes, the front funnel crashes into the water, and the stern rises vertically. Through the chaos, she hears the distant sound of violins still being played aboard. The lights flicker out, and the stern slips beneath the surface. Hundreds of screams fill the freezing dark. The boat rows back and pulls several half-frozen men from the water, none of them Robert. Margaret gives her coat to the nearest freezing man. The screams gradually fade.

Around five in the morning, they spot the rescue ship Carpathia. At dawn, Margaret sees they are surrounded by enormous icebergs. She climbs aboard around eight o'clock and searches for familiar faces among the roughly seven hundred survivors, but Robert, Mr. Prescott, Colonel Astor, Mr. Andrews, and the ship's captain, E. J. Smith, are all gone. Over fifteen hundred people have perished. That afternoon, Mrs. Carstairs finds Margaret, and Florence greets her with a bark. Margaret declines to join them, saying Robert died. Mrs. Carstairs drags over a deck chair and sits beside her in silence.

The Carpathia reaches New York on April 18 in a thunderstorm. Mrs. Carstairs presses money and her address on Margaret before they part. Alone on the pier, Margaret finds a bench and falls asleep in the rain. William finds her there, having waited two days. They embrace, crying. The next day, they post Robert's letter and board a train to Boston. In Charlestown, Massachusetts, Margaret asks if they can get a cat. William grins and says they can get two. Margaret resolves that dwelling in grief would not honor the sacrifices made on her behalf.

An epilogue reveals that Margaret never publicly discusses the Titanic. She finishes high school, attends Wellesley College on a scholarship, and stays in touch with Sister Catherine until the nun's death. Nora later emigrates to the United States. When World War I breaks out, William volunteers and is seriously wounded; Margaret leaves college to nurse him and never returns. In 1923, she marries Stanley Ryan, a history teacher, and they have three children, the youngest named Robert after the steward. She devotes herself to volunteer work with disadvantaged youth, refuses to set foot on a boat ever again, and dies peacefully in 1994 at ninety-five.