Women and Children First: Bravery, love and fate: the untold story of the doomed Titanic

Women and Children First: Bravery, love and fate: the untold story of the doomed Titanic
Gill Paul

Praise for Gill Paul: ‘A cleverly crafted novel and an enthralling story… A triumph.’ DINAH JEFFERIES ‘Gripping, romantic and evocative of its time.’ LULU TAYLOR It is 1912. Against all odds, the Titanic is sinking.As desperate hands emerge from the icy water, a few lucky row boats float in the darkness. On the boats are four survivors.Reg, a handsome young steward working in the first-class dining room; Annie, an Irishwoman travelling to America with her children; Juliet, a titled English lady who is pregnant and unmarried, and George, a troubled American millionaire.In the wake of the tragedy, each of these people must try to rebuild their lives.But how can life ever be the same again when you’ve heard over a thousand people dying in the water around you?Haunting, emotional and beautifully written, Women and Children First breathes fresh life into the most famous disaster of the 20th century. A gripping read from the bestselling author of The Secret Wife.As each of them tries to cope with the aftershock of the fatal night, they must begin to rebuild their lives. But how can life ever be the same again when you’ve heard over a thousand people dying in the water around you?

Women and Children First

They survived the Titanic, but their lives were changed forever…

Gill Paul

Copyright

The facts surrounding the sinking of the Titanic are portrayed accurately in this novel, but otherwise it is a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

AVON

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A Paperback Original 2012

Gill Paul asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST. Copyright © Gill Paul 2012. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

ISBN: 9781847563255

EPub Edition © FEBRUARY 2012 ISBN: 9780007453306

Version: 2018-06-05

Dedication

For Ana, Rhuaridh, Barnaby, Harvey and Florence

Contents

Cover (#ulink_173a4967-954f-584e-bc73-a00d15e1526a)

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Prologue

Reg’s hands were shaking so hard he couldn’t hold the…

PART ONE

Chapter One

It was one in the morning and first-class victualling steward…

Chapter Two

Lady Juliette Mason-Parker knelt on the bathroom floor, acid scorching…

Chapter Three

Annie McGeown sat on the edge of a bunk and…

Chapter Four

Reg lay awake mulling over what he’d seen on the…

Chapter Five

Next morning at breakfast, Reg couldn’t meet Mrs Grayling’s eye,…

Chapter Six

After breakfast Margaret Grayling found a deckchair on the promenade…

Chapter Seven

At luncheon, first-class passengers could choose from a set menu…

Chapter Eight

The stewards were free from the end of lunch service,…

Chapter Nine

By dinner time on Saturday evening, Juliette was restless in…

Chapter Ten

Most tables in the first-class dining saloon seated eight people.

Chapter Eleven