A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice

By: Rebecca Connolly

Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins, Antony Ferguson

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Based on the remarkable true story of the Carpathia—the only ship and her legendary captain who answered the distress call of the sinking Titanic.

Just after midnight on April 15, 1912, the passenger steamship Carpathia receives a distress signal from the largest passenger liner ever built, RMS Titanic, which is on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York.

Captain Arthur Rostron is awakened to an enormous maritime emergency with little information to guide his actions in answering the call for help. Is the dire threat to the unsinkable Titanic accurate? His ship is more than four hours away; will Carpathia hold together if pushed to never-before-tested speeds? What if his ship also strikes an iceberg? How many of Titanic’s 2,200 passengers will the Carpathia be able to accommodate? And with the freezing temperatures, will there be any survivors by the time the Carpathia arrives?

Kate Connolly is excited to join her sister in America and proud to be traveling on the grand Titanic, which was built in her Irish homeland. As a passenger in third-class accommodations, she is among the last to receive instruction and help after Titanic hits an iceberg. Among the chaos of abandoning ship, the chances of her securing a spot in a lifeboat appear grim. With the help of several men, also from Ireland, Kate finally reaches the upper decks and feels lucky to board Lifeboat 13, although no one knows if or when a rescue ship will come. She fears the icy water and wonders if they’ll all freeze to death. After seeing their magnificent ship submerge into the abyss, and hearing the cries of hundreds of fellow passengers drowning, it is almost too much to bear, and Kate fleetingly thinks succumbing to her ordeal is the easiest escape.

Told in alternating chapters from the perspective of Captain Rostron on the Carpathia and Kate Connolly on the Titanic, this historical novel is a compelling, heart-pounding account of two eyewitnesses to an epic disaster. Rostron’s heroic and compassionate leadership, his methodical preparations for rescue, and his grit and determination to act honorably and selflessly to save lives and care for the survivors, sets the course for this awe-inspiring story.

©2022 by Rebecca Connolly (P)2022 by Blackstone Publishing

Brilliant Historical Fiction!

Wow! This book was incredible! The detail and story were heart wrenching. I was brought to tears many times while reading. Whether it was in the Titanic’s point of view, or the Carpathia’s, I felt like I was there with them. Freezing on a life boat or struggling to get to the survivors. So wonderfully told and I will definitely be telling everyone I know to read it!

Very good

So nice to hear the story of the events of the Titanic told from a different perspective. This story was very well written and preformed.

Historical fiction that’s more history than fiction.

I was excited for this book because I love historical fiction. However, it read more like history with a little bit of description added rather than fiction. The characters are incredibly one dimensional, there is no theme or arc other than to simply follow the events of the sinking of the Titanic and the subsequent rescue. Which is all really interesting stuff. And honestly, if it were just a non-fiction book about that, I might not have picked it up. But, because it was billed us historical fiction, I was interested. If you go into this book thinking you’re going to read a lot of details about the rescue of the passengers on the titanic, thinly veiled with some point of view characters, you’ll be fine.

Interesting history!

Nice learning of history I didn’t know about. Average story, but nicely written and narrated.

History presented at it's best

the author sites all her research in notes at the end. These notes validated my emotion, dismay and tears as I listened to this well narrated story... History not to be forgotten.

There is still hope for us humans…

Congratulations Mrs Rebecca Connolly!!! Precisely in the present days when the world is facing wars, and people whose values have changed so much in such short time. A historical novel that extracts from a terrible catastrophe, the best of human nature.
It is so good for the heart and mind to hear this type of facts that really happened not so long time ago.

Interesting and Enjoyable

This was a very interesting and enjoyable story the narration was outstanding although sometimes the volume is a little low. While it is a fiction novel, it is based on a lot of historical facts.

An old fashioned book- for better or worse

if you read the other reviews of this book you will find it to be a referendum on old-fashioned values and writing style. The all of the major characters in the book are devout christians (of various stripes) and the book devotes several chapters exclusively to religious services in which they participated. The book also has an almost Victorian sentimentality that those who prefer a more modern style may find mawkish. Readers not put off by the book's religiosity and it's turn of the twentieth century sentimentality will enjoy a fresh retelling of the Titanic's sinking from a different viewpoint. The book is very well researched and very lightly fictionalized. It might have been more exciting if she had invented more characters to provide drama; Almost everyone in the story behaves very well in a trying situation and none of the major characters have demons against which to struggle.
As to the performances, the book contains several hymns that run to several verses on the text and the female narrator has a fine voice and did very creditable Acapella renditions.

A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice

Plot. The sinking of the Titanic, told primarily from the viewpoint of a 3rd class female survivor. Focus is on the Captain and crew of the Carpathia, the ship that responded to Titanic's distress calls and raced to assist in rescue. The book does not address technical details of the sinking, but rather human tragedy, heroism, and loss of life. Although the fundamental history is known by most, you'll learn a bit. For instance, the Carpathia navigated dozens of icebergs hundreds of feet tall to reach lifeboats. There was also an immediate blame-game furor by many, including the United States Senate.

Liked: It's a good recounting of events, some fiction, but most is a well-researched history.

Not so hot: Gratuitously maudlin in areas, especially with regard to religious aspects - the narrator sings hymns.

Written by Rebecca Connolly, narrated by Alana Kerr Collins and Antony Ferguson, just over eight hours of listening in unabridged format, released in April 2022 by Shadow Mountain.

Very moving story of the Carpathia

This book was well written and well performed. It had me in tears very often and I could not put it down, so to speak.