Oh how I love this author!

I chose to save this for my recent trip to Savannah and it was so fascinating to read while being immersed in the Deep South landscape of Savannah, Georgia.

From the back history and research into the “Titanic of the South” I was immersed into the story and loved this book!

I always love when I learn about a time and place in history, and this was the case once again with Surviving Savannah.

*many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

Thanks to the publisher and netGalley for the ARC. I really enjoyed this historical fiction book. Between learning about Savannah and the tragedy of the Pulaski, I was kept interested through the entire book. Good character development, well paced, based on a lot of research, this book is a keeper and worthy of recommendation to readers.

The complexity in this book is well-wrought and intriguing. The author weaves several stories together, taking place between the 1800s and modern day, and she does it deftly and unflinchingly.
Lily Forsyth is an upper middle class young mother aboard the doomed steamship, Pulaski. When a boiler explosion causes the passengers to abandon ship, Lily faces multiple life-altering decisions. Decades later her story becomes interwoven with that of Everly Winthrop, a history professor hired to curate the recently-discovered Pulaski remains.
Surviving Savannah is about resilience, love, preservation, and tragedy, and contains intersecting themes about slavery and friendship. It was an enjoyable, propelling read, and taught me about the real-life history of the Pulaski, and the early history of our nation at the time.

Historical Fiction at its best: when I read about a historical event I had no idea occurred. And LEARN!!

The event covered in this book is the explosion of the SB Pulaski on June 14, 1838. It was taking 37 crew and 150-160 passengers from Savannah to Baltimore Maryland. 58 of that number survived. Only four life boats, two of which were so dried out from the sun that they were useless. The other two carried 21 of the survivors to shore.

The rest of the survivors clung to large pieces of the wreckage until they were rescued, some being in the water up to four days.

Callahan expertly weaves this story with a present day narrative: Everly Winthrop, is asked to curate an exhibit of recovered articles from the disaster.

I purchased the audible to listen along while reading and it was an excellent addition.

My only problem was keeping track of the myriad passengers on board and their relations to each other.

Highly recommend.

4.5 stars

I went into “Surviving Savannah” expecting to love this book as historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and the premise of this book sounded fascinating. Unfortunately, I found the book just fair - a bit underwhelming. I liked the parallels and the intersections of the two story lines - 1838 and current day. I especially enjoyed learning more about historic Savannah, the USS Pulaski shipwreck, and the impact on the survivors. Where the book fell a bit flat for me was in the pace. The story, especially the modern day sections, felt too slow and drawn out. As a result, the book didn’t hold my attention and I kept setting it aside.

This is a fascinating read about something in American history about which I knew nothing! The writing kept me interested throughout the book. I enjoyed the book.

From the first lines I was mesmerized. I love historical fiction, Savannah, the early 19th Century, tales of shipwrecks and miracles of survival, the alternating time frames, triumph over tragedy and loss. This story has it all. And Ms. Callahan tells it beautifully.
To discover that the Pulaski was a real steamship that sank and that some of the characters are loosely based on real people made it all the more intriguing. Now, I’m starting to research the real story based upon first person accounts.
One of the best books I’ve read in a long time.

Loved this book!! Very well written, I enjoy books where it goes from present day to past. It really gives a great visual as to what has happened/happening in the story. First time reading from this author. She gives a great deal of history in this novel. Loved seeing all the research at the end, liked the time she spent researching to ensure that she had the facts correct. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

This book spans over 180 years and is powerfully driven by history and numerous life traumas whose actions shape generations. Powerful, impactful and amazing. Patti Callahan leaves her best work on the mat. Riveting.

Watch my Amazon live with Patti: https://amazon.com/live/broadcast/c990629c-e3d2-4014-bce5-6bccc791d832?tag=erinmbransco-20&linkCode=ilv&ref_=social

I loved the book "Surviving Savannah"! It held my interest and was hard for me to put down, when I needed to get something else done. I liked the way the author went back and forth between the time periods. Both time periods were written about in such an interesting way. It was dramatic and held my attention. And it was also very touching and impactful. I have already told a friend about how much I enjoyed this book!

Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan

This book is about the sinking and discovery of the wooden steamship Pulaski and it's aftermath. This tragedy occurred in the 19th century when boats in Savannah were the fastest means of travel. The Pulaski was considered a state- of-the-art steamship and had only been in service a short time before the disaster

The protagonist in the story is Dr. Everly Winthrop a professor of history at Savannah College of Art and Design. She tells the story in the first person and leads off describing the accident through her grandfather who entertained her and her siblings by thorough descriptive oral stories, particularly the blowing up of the Pulaski's boiler and its ultimate sinking.

This story is filled with mystery, love, and redemptive events. It switches back and forth to the present day being told by Everly and the exploding, sinking and aftermath of those individuals who survived the catastrophe.

I fully recommend this book and my only complaint is the overuse of similes, particularly in the first few chapters.



Carolyn Leaman

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This will be one of my favorite books of all time. Excellent stories, great characters, and a great plot that kept you turning pages.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2022 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2022/01/readers-advisory-announce-2022-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

Becoming Mrs. Lewis is still my favorite by Patti Callahan, but I enjoyed this! I love historical fiction that showcases events and people that you don't learn about in school and this is exactly that. Like Becoming Mrs. Lewis, I felt this could have been a little shorter, but I still overall enjoyed the story and atmosphere of the book. I am looking forward to Callahan's next book.

Having recently finished the previously published “Surviving Savannah” by Patti Callahan, I am happy to have had the chance for the e-copy; thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group!

"We are our most true selves when life and death walk hand in hand. When crisis comes, and tragedy explodes, our true character comes to the fore."

This story was one I read more slowly than most. It was so well written and had me immersed in each characters lives as their stories, and crisis' were told. I had my trusty pointer finger highlighting passages as I read, to save... and remember.

At one time or other we all have our own crisis to face. The feeling of being a part of this world as events unfolded is something that I will continue to hold close when strength and perseverance are needed. Thank you for the gift of this story Ms. Callahan.

"I will hold on for you."

This was a very interesting book about the steamship, the Pulaski. It was dubbed the "Titanic of the South" and sunk in 1838. Everly is a history professor and is tasked with curating a museum exhibit with artifacts from the wreckage. As she works through her research, she discovers some things about some of the passengers that is quite shocking. As an avid reader of historical fiction, I found this to be engrossing book about an event in history that I had never heard about.

The Pulaski sank off the coast of North Carolina after a boiler explosion in 1838. Little was known about the sinking and the wreckage wasn't found until 2018. Patti Callahan imagines the lives of those on board that fateful night. I loved it!

The Price of Survival
Surviving Savannah is a sweeping tale about the guilt of surviving a disaster, and the grief of wondering if it should have been you that died. It is also a story about what we value in life, and how to give into love even when we feel least worthy of it’s embrace. Many historical fiction books are told by flip flopping between the past and present, but Callahan puts a unique twist on this by advancing the historical plot through the alternating view points of Lily Forsyth and Augusta Longstreet, who survive the disaster in very different ways. Meanwhile the present is told through the eyes of the historian trying to piece together what really happened on the night of the disaster. The historian, Everly Winthrop, is dealing with survivor’s remorse after witnessing the murder of her best friend in a DUI fueled hit-and-run accident, which is juxtaposed skillfully with the guilt experienced by Lily and Augusta following the sinking of the Pulaski. As it turns out, survivor’s guilt following a major disaster is not very different THOMAS NAST 1863 THE EMANCIPATION THE PAST AND THE FUTURE HARPER'S WEEKLY | eBayfrom survivor’s guilt following a much more personal tragedy.

Callahan does an excellent job of reminding us of the hard topics of the antebellum era, addressing spousal abuse, lack of women’s rights, and the view of slavery as “wrong but necessary” for preserving a certain standard of living among the Southern elites. I don’t like to give spoilers, but I will say in this instance, that Lily and Augusta redeem themselves by realizing the evils of slavery through the survival ordeals that they experience alongside enslaved people. By telling the present day events through the eyes of a historian, she further advances the condemnation of slavery as an institution, and acknowledges how far society still has to travel towards equity and equality. Additionally, the status of women as not much more than property is explored by looking at things like the ship manifest and the obstacles faced by women who desired to leave abuse relationships. Finally, the various ways in which trauma can affect the future development, and choices, of its victims is handled well; although most of the storylines have some version of a happily-ever-after, there are also gritty and dark outcomes, as would be expected following a major disaster.

“Tragedy– it can come from anywhere at any time. How do we go through life knowing that? How did we ever not know it? And yet we pretend we’re safe. It’s absurd.” — Everly Winthrop

See the source imageThe destruction of the Pulaski, and the stories of its survivors, are based on fact, and in my opinion Callahan did an excellent job of honoring the time period and the real victims and survivors with this book. The research into the disaster and how trauma would affect people seems to have been exhaustive, creating a thought provoking and engrossing narrative. If historical fiction is your genre of choice, I highly recommend Surviving Savannah.

3.4 - enjoyable, but I never felt fully invested in any of the characters (either timeline) - but an interesting history of steamboat disasters

The steamship Pulaski (the “Titanic of the South”) sank in 1838 following a boiler explosion, and 180 years later the ship’s ruins have just been discovered. Everly Winthrop, a Savannah history professor, is asked to help curate a new museum exhibit containing the artifacts recovered from the old ship, and she is thrilled to participate as well as curious to learn more about the night the ship went down. Alternating between the past and present, Callahan brings the story of the real-life sinking of the Pulaski to life in this novel while exploring the various ways humans respond when confronting tragedy.