The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott

Tess Collins is a servant who runs away and tries to get hired on to work on the Titanic. All positions are filled, but she is noticed by a famous dressmaker and is hired on as her maid. No spoiler here--we all know the Titanic went down. Tess and her new boss are rescued, and most of the story takes place in New York City during the few weeks immediately following their rescue. There were public hearings trying to find out what actually happened on the ship and during the rescue period following the sinking.

I liked the book, yet I had mixed feelings about it. I was drawn into it right away, and usually had a hard time putting it down. So the story was engaging. I liked the characters, and felt they were adequately drawn, but I wanted to know them better.

I guess that describes how I felt about the book. I liked it, but wished parts of it delved deeper. The book was 300 pages long. Perhaps to really dive into the story and flesh it out more would have required too much.

The book does make me wonder: what would I have done in that situation? Give up my life for someone else, or do anything possible to survive?