The cover was the first thing that attracted me to this novel. Then, to find out it was historical fiction set just prior to WW II on an ocean liner, the SS Manhattan, sealed the deal for me. The reader follows many characters some famous, Rose Kennedy and three of her children, Toscanini, and Igor Stravinsky. We also follow cousins Masha and Rachel Morgenstern. Lots of the 1,500 passengers are escaping conditions in Europe in 1939. In addition, the reader knows that there is a German submarine under the water looking for ships. I enjoyed all of the stories of all of the characters. I did feel at times that the stories could have been tighter. I also enjoyed that the author wrote about their future lives after they arrived in New York. This book is perfect for a rainy day, being snowbound, or relaxing in a hammock on vacation.

It's not long ago that I read THE DESIGNER by Marius Gabriel, a book that I came to enjoy quite a lot. So, when I saw this book for the first time, I was intrigued, especially since there was no attached blurb at the moment. All I knew is that I wanted to read it. And, I'm happy to say that THE OCEAN LINER is just as good as THE DESIGNER.

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It took me quite a lot of time to get through this book. It was slow. When I saw the book offered on NetGalley, it appealed to me with the cover and the title. And it started out perfectly. I loved the activity on the liner and the characters there. But it failed once they arrived in New York. The story unraveled for me from that time until close to the end. Great premise, though.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

Well written, engrossing, highly recommended. I love stories built around WWII. And this book kept me engrossed, it didn’t have lag time it just flowed and I feel lucky to get to read it before it came out!

I was disappointed in this book and quickly lost interest. The characters did not grab me and the story didn't either.

This is the fourth novel I’ve read by Marius Gabriel and I have enjoyed all of them. In this story, he takes us on a journey across the ocean on the luxury liner, the SS Manhattan, on its way to America with an interesting cast of characters who are both real and imagined. We meet cousins Masha and Rachel, escaping Nazi Germany, hoping for a better life. There is also a famous conductor, a renowned composer, Rose Kennedy and her children, including young Ted, and an aging film star, plus so many more. They each have a story, and Gabriel manages to weave each character’s tale into one magnificent novel.

Intriguing and beautifully written. You will not want to put this story down.

Marius Gabriel brings us another excellent historical novel, peopled with a handful of history's most memorial personages and more folks we also would have liked to have known. These pages bring to life the build up to war in Europe in 1939 with all it's angst and sense of impending doom, as travelers rush to reach home, wherever it might be, by whatever means possible.

These characters, whether 'famous' or fiction, all reflect the humanity and humility that is the best of us, and the basic need in all of us to reach that safe port called home. This was a wonderful trip through time and space, a book I could not put down. It is a book I will want to read again in the long, loosely woven days of winter.

I received a free electronic copy of this historical novel from Netgalley, Marius Gabriel, and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

A beautiful historical novel that captured this reader from page one.
Maurius Gabriel writes with depth and beauty. I love his novels.
This book was received as a ARC and the review is my own opinion.
The Ocean Liner is a Historical Fiction novel set during WW2, and the people who board are fleeing from Hitler's tyranny.. There are many Jewish people on board whose family have been taken to concentration camps. There are over 1500 people which makes it very overcrowded and stressful to all the passengers. The characters are rich with people like Igor Stravinsky, Mr. Toscanini, a maestro, and Rose Kennedy who is bringing 3 children over, including her daughter Rosemary.
These people know the risk they take boarding the ship, but they do not know is that there is a German U Boat following them. The excitement builds as the U boat gains on the ship and the passengers grow uneasy crowded together on the ship as personalities differ. I loved the richly drawn characters , the description of the ocean crossing and the way the author builds the tension . This is a thrilling read for everyone that enjoys historical fiction.

Great book I was hooked from the start and read in a few days.

A historical novel set on a voyage across the Atlantic.

In September 1939 the SS Manhattan – a United States Lines ship – left Europe for New York. The passengers provided a motley crew of characters, ranging from refugees fleeing the Nazi regime, to the rich and famous which included Toscanini, Stravinsky and members of the Kennedy family.

The story is set against a backdrop of the outbreak of the war, with Hitler’s armies rampaging across Europe. The first half of the book deals with the voyage itself, with the constant fear from U boats, one of which is shadowing the Manhattan and threatens to torpedo the boat. Strong, and somewhat strange relationships, are built up during the voyage and these are maintained in the second half of the book which follows the lives of the various characters in the years after the war has ended. The most interesting of these is poor Rosemary Kennedy, the least known of that famous clan, whose fate was both sad and distressing. The theme right through the book is ‘love’, in all its many different guises and some of the situations are very moving.

The Ocean Liner is a very readable novel. The dialogue is excellent and the tension and intrigue around the various characters hold to the very end. My one quibble is that using real and famous people among the fictional ones produces two problems. The first is that some of the tension of the Atlantic crossing is lost because we know the liner can’t be torpedoed as the famous characters on board SS Manhattan all survived to live their lives out in the States. The second problem is that it is difficult to know where fact ends and fiction takes over. The famous characters and many of the events are real, but the author tells us the work should be regarded as fiction. It is difficult for the reader to know where the reality ends and fiction begins.

But this is an enjoyable outing into recent history and I recommend it.

Jane

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy the book to review.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union for letting me read this book.

Although I do not usually like books set on ships, this one was very good. Set in 1939 during WW2 many escaping the Nazi’s. It was a very emotional book and one you won’t want to put down. I read this one pretty fast and learned a few things along the way too. It’s a great book, sad, happy all the emotions are there. A very good read that will hold your attention to the very end.

Make no mistake, this is a good book. But I almost have a love/hate relationship with it. Rachel and Masha are among those fleeing Europe on the last ocean liner going to the United States right ahead of the Great War. The story is about some of their fellow passengers. I guess, since Rachel and Masha opened the book, the story would be more about them. There are some rather famous people on this ocean liner and sometimes the story gets so involved telling their story, I forgot about the two cousins. The last third or so of the book, it tries wrapping up a lot of these characters lives. I felt it was a little rushed on some of them but went on and on on others. Personally, I felt a little frustrated when I finished the book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy for my honest review.

I was sucked right into this book from the very beginning. It included such a great cast of characters with great scenes. I really felt like I was riding on that boat and that the people were real.

The name dropping was off the charts in this book. From a composer to a conductor to a child wanna be actress and even a future president's family. It had everything: romance, adventure, action, all set during a world war voyage across the Atlantic. The mutiny on the German sub was especially tense.

For me, the author did a great job making the characters and the story come to life.

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I received this from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Cousins Masha and Rachel Morgenstern and many others, some well known, board the luxury liner the SS Manhattan bound for New York. America offers a safe haven, but to reach it they must survive a hazardous Atlantic crossing.

Overall, it was interesting but there were so many different stories crammed into the timeline, the story moved slow.

3☆

I loved the setting of this novel. The luxury ocean liner, the USS Manhattan was headed to New York and was packed with 1,500 passengers, including some famous ones (Rose Kennedy and her daughter).

It is 1939 and cousins Masha and Rachel Morgenstern were among the passengers who were desperate to escape the concentration camps that their families were forced into to. Thomas is a young Nazi boy who is also traveling with them and his secrets will be revealed along the way.

While I enjoyed this story, it was too slow for me. It was emotional and I was nervous and wanted the passenI loved the setting of this novel. The luxury ocean liner, the USS Manhattan was headed to New York and was packed with 1,500 passengers, including some famous ones (Rose Kennedy and her daughter).

It is 1939 and cousins Masha and Rachel Morgenstern were among the passengers who were desperate to escape the concentration camps that their families were forced into to. Thomas is a young Nazi boy who is also traveling with them and his secrets will be revealed along the way.

While I enjoyed this story, it was too slow for me. It was emotional and I was nervous and wanted the passengers to survive the trip. My favorite story was the two cousins and had compassion for them. The pace just did not progress and seemed to stall too many times. I would lose interest and just want to get to the parts that interested me.
gers to survive the trip. My favorite story was the two cousins and had compassion for them. The pace just did not progress and seemed to stall too many times. I would lose interest and just want to get to the parts that interested me.

The Ocean Liner is a Historical Fiction novel set during WW2, and the people who board this ship are fleeing from Hitler's rule. There are many Jewish people on board whose family have been taken to concentration camps.

There are over 1500 people on the ship which makes it very overcrowded and many are forced to share their lodgings. The cast of characters is rich with people like Igor Stravinsky, Mr. Toscanini, a maestro, and Rose Kennedy who is bringing 3 children over, including her daughter Rosemary, who is a wayward young woman. There is a lot of angst among the passengers, which includes Rachel hating a man, Mr. Toscanini dressed as a Nazi who likes her sister Masha. These two young girls are German.

A lot of ships have been blown up by the Germans, and these people know the risk they take trying to get to New York, but what they do not know is that there is a German U Boat following them.

I really loved this book, but o not want to give the plot away! Read it is is a great historical romance and I gave it 5 stars!

Le Havre - 1939

Masha (20) and Rachel (23) Morgenstern are German cousins and are aboard the American ship, The Manhattan, headed to the U.S. They realize that the composer, Igor Stravinsky, is boarding the ship, being helped along by Katharine Wolff, an American. Many of the passengers are Jews fleeing the Nazis. Also onboard the ship is Mr. Toscanini, a maestro who has conducted orchestras playing Stravinsky’s works. As the ship is having to accept more than its capacity. many passengers discover that they will have to share their cabins with others. Stravinsky has been paired with a young German man, Thomas Konig, dressed in a Nazi uniform.


Southampton

The Manhattan is taking aboard some members of the American Kennedy family. The father, Joe Kennedy, is the U.S. Ambassador to England and Jack Kennedy has come to talk to and comfort the families of The Athenia, a ship that went down after being torpedoed by a German submarine. Jack’s sister, Rosemary (20) adores her brother and looks to him to protect her from their mother’s constant criticism. Rosemary has spent many years in special schools. She cannot grasp math and has been diagnosed as retarded. The family fears that someone will take advantage of her.

As the ship slowly finishes taking on all the passengers that it possibly can, the voyage to the U.S. begins. We follow Stravinsky who is suffering from tuberculosis but is determined to write more music. Masha and Rachel have both seen their families taken by the Nazis and have also left behind their loves. Thomas is a kind person who is quite taken with Masha but Rachel hates him because he is a Nazi.

The story also focuses on Rosemary Kennedy and a man named Cubby Hubbard with whom she has fallen in love. Her mother is intent that they stay apart because Rosemary is a bit promiscuous and she doesn’t want her to get pregnant.

Oh my what a fabulous book! This is what a historical novel is supposed to be. Real people in history are part of this story and we learn many things about them. The nail-biting encounters with German submarines made me hold my breath to see what would happen. I cannot say enough good things about this book. I loved it and hope many people will read it.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Happy #pubday to The Ocean Liner! 🎉 I finished it over the weekend, I am loving the historical fiction genre lately! This book mentions Elizabeth Taylor, Walt Disney, and the Kennedys. I loved the spin on the characters and how it brought them together with these big names from the time period. The Ocean Liner takes place on the ship Manhattan as it sails from Europe to New York. With a ship load of people attempting to escape WWII, this book did not disappoint in story lines. There is a German submarine following them also, intent to blow up anything they come across. There are many storylines happening at one time but it did not get confusing. My only complaint is that I would be getting into a character and their story, then it was time to switch to another storyline. I wanted to keep going with that character, although it did leave me hungry for more and continuing to read. The Rosemary Kennedy saga has always intrigued me so I was delighted to read the authors take on it. This book is out today, March 20th. Thank you @amazonpublishing for this advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

This book was just not in my lit of 'ooh, you have to read this.

As a reader of historical fiction, WWII is probably my least favorite to read, I think just because it's not really that long ago. Every once in awhile though, books during this time period sound good. This was one that sounds interesting and was a good read as well. I enjoyed most of the characters and their interactions. and I think they were well developed. I always enjoy when there's a historical note by the author, detailing what the "real" story behind the book was. Very good read!