The Lifeboat (2012) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters/People edit see section history

• Grace Winter: The twenty-one year old newlywed and narrator of the novel.
• Henry Winter: Grace's husband.
• Mr. Reichmann: Lead lawyer on Grace Winter's case. He requests Grace commit her experience to writing and provides her the notebooks in order to do so.
• Mr. Glover: The nicest of Grace's three lawyers hired to defend her; Mr. Reichmann's assistant.
• Mr. Ligget: One of Grace's three attorneys hired by her mother-in-law to defend her.
• John Hardie: Able-bodied seaman and only crew member on board lifeboat 14 who immediately takes charge.
• Mrs. Ursula Grant: Strongest and most vocal female passenger aboard lifeboat 14. Also on trial for murder.
• Mrs. Flemming: A female passenger aboard lifeboat 14 who suffers from a broken wrist.
• Maria: A Spanish governess who was heading to America on the Empress Alexandra to work for a family on Beacon Hill when the ship sank. She is speaks no English and is nearly always hysterical.
• Mr. Hoffman: A male passenger aboard lifeboat 14.
• Michael Turner: An older gentleman passenger in lifeboat 14.
• Charles: Anya Robeson's young son aboard lifeboat 14.
• Mr. Nilsson: A male passenger on lifeboat 14 who previously worked for a shipping company and grew up in Stockholm.
• Colonel Marsh: A large, distinguished widower aboard lifeboat 14.
• Mrs. Forester: A passenger on board lifeboat 14.
• The Deacon: A passenger on board lifeboat 14.
• Mrs. McCain: A passenger aboard lifeboat 14 whose sister survived the sinking of the Titanic two years before.
• Anya Robeson: A steerage passenger and Charles' mother.
• Mary Ann: A passenger on board lifeboat 14.
• Greta Witkoppen: A german girl aboard lifeboat 14.
• Mr. Sinclair: A wheelchair bound male passenger in lifeboat 14.
• Mr. Preston: An accountant and passenger on lifeboat 14. He is an earnest, round-faced man who seems perpetually out of breath.
• Penelope Cumberland: A female passenger aboard one of the other lifeboats.
• Brian Blake: Empress Alexandra's second officer. He is in charge on another adrift lifeboat and even pushed two people out of his boat. According to Mr. Hardie, he is the "meanest mongrel that ever passed for a man."
• Isabelle Harris: A serious and religious woman aboard lifeboat 14 who had been traveling on the Empress Alexendra with her ailing mother.
• Emmy Flemming: Mrs. Flemming's daughter.
• Gordon Flemming: Mrs. Flemming's husband.
• Mr. Worthington Smith: According to Mrs. Grant, he was last seen sitting on a deck chair smoking a cigarette with his wife saying. "Save the women and children first."
• Mrs. Worthington Smith: According to Mrs. Grant, she was last seen sitting on a deck chair smoking a cigarette with her husband saying, "I've never gone off in a boat without Worthy, and I'm certainly not about to start now."
• Mrs. Hewitt: A hotel proprietess who is on board lifeboat 14.
• Lisette: A French maid aboard lifeboat 14.
• Hannah West: A passenger on board lifeboat 14. Also on trial for murder.
• Mrs. Cook: A passenger on board lifeboat 14.
• Captain Sutter: Captain of the Empress Alexandra.
• Miranda: Grace's governess sister.
• Felicity Close: The woman Grace's husband, Henry, was engaged to before breaking the engagement to marry Grace.
• Rebecca Frost: An employee of the Empress Alexandra who managed to secure a spot on board lifeboat 14. In a swell, she is swept overboard, but Mr. Hardie is able to rescue her.
• Collin Forester: Mrs. Forester's seemingly abusive husband who is believed to be lost in the sinking.
• Joan: Mrs. Forester's attendsnt for the past twenty years; a passenger in lifeboat 14.
• Florence: An imprisioned woman who is in jail for smothering her three young girls to death rather than let them live with a father who beat them.
• Dr. Cole: The psychiatirst who is hired by Grace's lawyers to assess her mental state.
• Doris: Add a description of this character.
• Robert: Mary Ann's fiance
• Mrs. Fleming: A woman on the life boat
• William Smith
• Mr. Cumberland: A man on the lifeboat
• Judge Potter: the Judge over Grace's trial
• Nicholas
• Doris: The source of Mr. Preston's strength; perhaps his wife though he does not say.

Quotes edit see section history

• “There might have been webs of influence and deceit in the lifeboat from the very start.”

  Grace Winter

• “I wondered if all a person could hope for was illusion and luck, for I was forced to conclude that the world was fundamentally and appallingly dangerous. It is a lesson I will never forget.”

  Grace Winter

• “IIt was not the sea that was cruel, but the people. Why should any of us be surprised by that?”

  Grace Winter

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Lifeboat 14
• Empress Alexandra
• America
• London
• New York
• Europe

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• The Sea: The sea itself is symbolic, presented both as a traditional symbol and a motif throughout the novel. While it is the sea that seemingly threatens their survival, Grace acknowledges in various points that it the humanity within the vessel that ultimately destroys their hopes, not the turbulent waters surrounding them.
• theme: If *Lord of the Flies* were set on a lifeboat with a mixture of adult men and women, this would be the result. Ultimately, Grace leaves the reader with the message that we kill our saviors in our desire to claw our way to the top of the heirarchy of any system - even one entirely contained within a lifeboat - and that our highest ideals, whether religion or philosophy, disappear in the search for survival.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Charlotte Rogan (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3618.O436 L54 2012
• Dewey: 813

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary

Books Cited by This Book edit see section history