Anna Lee Huber's new novel, Sisters of Fortune, is based on the true story of the upper class, Canadian, Fortune family who were amongst the passengers who boarded the Titanic for its tragic maiden voyage in 1912. Huber does a great job of merging interesting historical facts about the three sisters and other notable passengers such as one of the sister's receiving a warning about going out to sea by an Egyptian fortuneteller, with a thrilling storyline including family drama. A fictional romance, based on the lives of two real tennis champ who were also on the Titanic, will have fans of the James Cameron Titanic movie hooked. The ship is discussed in such depth it felt as if it were a character in and of itself. If you enjoy Sisters of Fortune and historic fiction, you can also find other books by Huber including those in her Verity Kent historic mystery series, which is set in 1919 and 1920.

Like so many others endlessly fascinated with the Titanic, I was eager to experience the story through the eyes of a Fortune sisters, viewpoints I hadn't seen before. The novel may have a bit of a slow start, but Huber's great historical writing creates a thrilling and satisfying ending that's worth the read.

Sisters of Fortune fictionalizes the life of a family of survivors of the Titanic disaster. Most of the first 2/3 of the book is a description of the life of a Golden Age family. Each of the Fortune sisters has reason to be discontented. One wants to study at university, another wants to travel, and the third realizes that her impending marriage will be loveless and unfulfilling. They set sail on the Titanic, at the end of a Grand Tour vacation with their parents.

We all know the story of the sinking of the "unsinkable" Titanic, and it was hard not to rush through the first part of the book waiting for the inevitable. The romances, discontents, and aspirations of the sisters were all well written, but always overshadowed by what the reader knows is coming.

Despite the ever-present sense of doom, I enjoyed getting to know the Fortune family, and the glimpse into the life of the extremely wealthy first class passengers.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have read all of Anna Lee Huber’s other work and have loved them! Huber is one of my instant buy authors, so when I saw she was writing a book on the Titanic and nearly fell out of my seat. I am so grateful to NetGalley for gifting me a copy of her newest book because it was everything I could have hoped for!

What can you expect from an Anna Lee Huber book? Great historical writing that has clearly been researched, fascinating characters that you’ll never forget and hope you never have to quit reading about, and a plot that is as nail biting as it is beautifully thought out. If you love historical fiction and strong female characters then please do yourself a favor and read her books

One of the challenges of writing about a famous event is maintaining tension throughout the book. How do you keep people turning the pages if they know what's going to happen? I'm happy to say that Anne Lee Huber meets the challenge and succeeds.

Sisters of Fortune tells the real-life story of the three Fortune sisters who set sail on the Titanic. Huber wisely gives each sister a story beyond being in a shipwreck. Long before the Titanic strikes its iceberg, the women find themselves challenging familial and societal expectations. Choices about education and marriage will be questioned, scandal will be courted, and threats will be made.

Then there is the disaster itself. Sisters of Fortune is at its best when describing the sinking and its aftermath. Huber does a very good job of capturing the passengers' fear and heartbreak.

Rounding out the story is a very large cast of characters. Most are based on true Titanic survivors, and like history itself, not all of them survive.

Titanic fans will love the details regarding the ship, especially the descriptions of the ship's interior. .

It is evident that Huber did her research. She goes into great detail when describing the interior of the Titanic, the garments worn and the meals served. Most of the characters included are based of real people. Anyone fascinated by the “unsinkable” ship will love the attention to detail. I found the storylines of the Fortune sisters much more interesting. I enjoyed following each sister around the ship and hearing their perspectives. This was a slow but enjoyable read for me.

This is the story of the Fortunes, a real Canadian family who sailed first class on the Titanic. The book follows sisters Flora, Alice and Mabel as they travel home on the Titanic, but use their time aboard the ship to grapple with their futures once they are back in Canada. Of course, we all know what happens to the Titanic, and sometimes this can feel repetitive or predictable. However, I didn’t know the fate of the Fortune family and that ensured my interest was kept throughout. Additionally, the level of detail in Huber’s description of the ship as she shows us around allows the reader to feel immersed and really brings the Titanic to life. The pace picks up with the sinking and the author handled this really well, it felt vivid and the characters’ emotions were well expressed. The author strays from history by creating a new character as a love interest for Flora - to me, this felt a little too similar to Titanic the movie, but I still enjoyed it, particularly as through this character we get another perspective of events during and after the sinking (based on real survivors). I love a good historical fiction and this was a fresh story about a well-known topic.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington books for the eARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

I love to read books written about the Titanic. Book was well written and held my intrest.

Anna Lee Huber thank you for bringing the Fortune sisters, Flora, Alice, and Mabel to life for me. So loved their family and it’s dynamics as they boarded the Titanic and throughout the timeline of this book. I so appreciate your extensive research into their lives as well as your ability to fill in the blanks making them so very fascinating.
As I read it was a reminder of how much life has changed since that fateful sinking - especially society’s expectations of young women. The addition of the fortune teller’s warning has actually been alluded to many times in other information I have read previously about the Titanic. So many familiar names also appeared throughout these pages and definitely helped set the tone. The beautiful ship, in my mind, became a character given the frequent descriptions. The clothing worn by the women, as well as the men, was enjoyable as well. So much of the book’s story was familiar based on other readings, but I so appreciate Anna Lee Hubert’s ability to tell the story through the eyes of the Fortune sisters who were actual passengers on the ship. I so loved the relationship between Flora and Chess which added so much to this text.
The photograph of the boy with the top has been in so much of my previous readings so I was thrilled to have a bit of an introduction to the photographer who took it. I loved the addition of the mama cat and kittens as well as the bulldog running free. This read captured my heart immediately and I felt as if I was right there with them throughout their experiences on the Titanic and the Carpathia, smiling and crying, making me care about this family.
Many many thanks to the remarkable talented Anna Lee Huber, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for affording me the absolute pleasure of reading an arc of this recently released gem. Five stars!

Mr. and Mrs. Fortune are on a grand tour of Europe and the Mediterranean during the winter of 1912. Along with them are their 3 daughters, Flora, Alice, and Mabel, as well as their young son, Charlie. Mr. Fortune made his fortune when he discovered gold.

Flora is engaged to Crawford Campbell but theirs is not a true love. She dreads returning to Vancouver to marry him.

Alice is engaged to Holden Allen. While in Cairo Egypt, a soothsayer read her palm and told her that she is in danger when she travels on the sea.

Mabel is enamored by a musician named Harrison Driscoll but her parents disapprove of him.

As they are returning to Vancouver in April, they will be traveling on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. Onboard, they are amazed as the size and opulence of the ship. But Alice cannot help but be nervous after the soothsayer’s prediction.

On the ship, Flora meets a man who intrigues her and is intrigued by her. However, she is still hanging on to her promise to marry Crawford no matter how much she dreads it. Alice seeks out women who agree with her that education is good. Mabel is also searching for things she wants to know.

The descriptions of the food, clothes, jewels, and name dropping are big in this story. Knowing that the inevitable is about to happen is rather nerve-wracking. However, I felt the book is overly long to a great extent which a pet peeve of mine. But it was well-researched and the storyline intriguing. Like many others, I have read numerous books on the Titanic which will always be a huge fascination for readers for a long time to come. Enjoy.

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

Having always been fascinated with the story surrounding the Titanic, I was excited to get the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately I found the Fortune family boring and not very likable. Not really sure how you tell a good tale about the ship as we all pretty much know what happens but this version fell flat and I can't recommend it. I do want to thank the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley for review. All opinions are my own.

Sisters of Fortune is a riveting tale both fact and fiction woven together to take you aboard the Titanic and keep you strolling through the entire time. You will get lost in the details of the ship and its companions and be rooting for the passengers as they make their way across the Atlantic. The Fortune Family, especially the sisters, come to life with their personalities making you truly feel like these were moments in their lives. You will only be slowed in your progress to check out the details, the photos and some of the headlines from the actual sinking of the Titanic. Engrossing and wonderful!

Much has been written about the Titanic, especially about survivors. This one is similar but it a spectacularly good read. We follow the Fortune family from Winnipeg- the father a self made millionaire, having the grand tour with his family. Two daughters affianced, so this could be their last trip together. Another younger daughter and a teenage son. Very united, close knit family.

We follow their journey minutely, even the foretelling of a disaster, a watery one, by an Egyptian soothsayer. The girls who are engaged have now doubts about their future, particularly the eldest who is fighting her feelings for the dashing Mr Kinsey. The second is in the throes of a flirtation only but is restless at the cloistered future that awaits on her return, and the youngest is facing a losing battle against her wishes and dreams of a university education and fighting the suffragist cause.

The Titanic’s epic death is detailed and descriptive. From the accounts of the girls the effort that everyone put in to survive, the salvation of so many souls who may have otherwise been lost, the crassness of some rich women even whilst being rescued, and mainly the utter futility of the many lives lost for so many reasons. Over confidence, the braggadocio displayed by builders and owners, the insufficient number of lifeboats all contributed to its demise.

This was a feet curling, edge of the seat read.

Three and a half stars.

A story based on the three Fortune sisters, daughters of a self-made Canadian real estate millionaire. Having spent a month travelling, the family board the Titanic at Southampton for the journey back to New York. Flora, the eldest at twenty-eight is engaged to a Canadian banker called Crawford, although her sisters have noted that she has only received one letter from him the entire time they have been away. Now this is where I got confused because I just didn't feel any real distinction between the sisters, but I think the next daughter is Alice, aged twenty-four she was very sickly as a child and so now she is coddled and wrapped in cotton wool. Engaged to a man called Holden, she loves him dearly but feels stifled by his letters which talk of a quiet life in Winnipeg, rather that the life of travel and adventure she craves. The youngest daughter Mabel at twenty-three has been associating with a Jazz musician back home, although its not serious on her side she has played up the romance, hoping it will soften her father to her real wish, which is to attend university. Accompanying them on their journey are their parents and youngest brother Charlie, their older brother and sister are married and chose not to travel.

The trouble with stories about the Titanic is that everyone knows what happened and this proved true with this book. All the time I was reading it I was just waiting for the sinking. Also, because this was based on a real family there was a temptation to google, particularly for pictures of what the girls looked like.

I enjoyed this, Anna Lee Huber has clearly done a lot of research, although she is at pains to point out that she has created a fictional account, particularly in relation to Flora (whose real name was Ethel Flora), but I didn't love it. Honestly, its probably because I'm not a fan of stories about the Titanic, but I requested an ARC because I have read and enjoyed other books by Ms Huber.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

When you read a book about the Titanic you expect to see the hits, kind of like listening to the oldies station. You expect to hear Stairway to Heaven, Hotel California, etc. In a novel about the Titanic you expect to see Margaret Brown, J. J. and Madeline Astor, Bruce Ismay, and Thomas Anderson. Sisters of Fortune has all those names as well as three sisters, their parents and younger brother, sailing back to Winnipeg after a grand tour. The Fortunes, a real life wealthy Canadian family met their fate aboard the doomed vessel.

The Sisters of Fortune are : Alice, Flora, and Mabel. Mabel wants to go to college, a shocking act of rebellion for the time. On board she meets two educated women - a doctor and a lawyer, who inspire Mabel to take charge of her life. Alice mentions her Worth wedding dress packed in a trunk in the ship's hold - so she is serious about marrying her fiance, or is she? Alice meets with Molly Brown and confesses she may not want the everyday tedium her life will take on after marriage. Flora, also engaged, meets a handsome playboy tennis champ who turns her head and heart away from her future plans. What does Fortune have in store for these sisters?

The novel is paced slowly at first, but that makes sense, given that sailing aboard the Titanic was meant to be a luxurious, languid experience. Huber mentions real people who sailed, and survived (and didn't,) the sinking. Writing about Titanic must be a daunting task. Yes, a plethora of information exists, but no one who was actually a board remains alive. Huber's use of a real family hits home more than a fictionalized account - these people actually lived this unique and terrifying experience. Huber says in her author notes the sisters rarely spoke of their experience in later life. The heart of the story are the sisters themselves, and their responses to being women in a restrictive age. Life can change your trajectory suddenly and sometimes the only response is to survive, which is what the Fortune Sisters did.

I found myself instantly swept away to another time,(smack dab front and center on the RMS Titanic!) Sisters of Fortune, by Anna Lee Huber pulled me into the story of the very real people on their doomed voyage in April 1912. This is a beautifully written book that had me googling some of the survivors to find out what became of them after Titanic. I look forward to reading more books by Anna Lee Huber.

Book Review: Sisters of Fortune
Stars: 4 X 5
Author: Anna Lee Huber @annaleehuber
Publisher: Kensington Books @kensingtonbooks
Thank you @netgalley for the ARC

This is a historical fiction book about three sisters who with their parents and brother board the ill fated Titanic on its doomed voyage.

The three Fortune sisters Alice, Flora and Mabel are heading home to Canada after a grand family european vacation. Flora and Alice are engaged. Mabel the youngest wants to go to university, Flora ends up flirting with Chess Kinsley an amateur tennis player. Slowly, they start to fall in love. As disaster happens the ladies come to find out what they are really made of.

The author did a wonderful job with the historical descriptions of what happened before and after the Titanic hit the iceberg. This story is based on real people . The sisters were very strong and survived. I was curious and ended up looking the Fortune Sisters up on the internet. I read a few old articles I was able to find and these three women were heroines. Thank you Ann Lee Huber for this book.

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Okay, when I started reading this book. I didn't realize that it was based on a true story. I didn't know that the Fortune sisters were real until I read elsewhere - it was right after reading the night Titanic sunk. So, of course, I Googled the sisters to see how their lives continued. I was so disappointed to read Flora's real life didn't follow the path I thought this book was taking. Until I finished the book and then understood so much more when I read the author notes. It's an incredibly well researched and written story! The descriptions are exquisite - so rich and lush, you can hear the whispers of satin in the dining room, feel the ermine, and picture the amazing starlight the night the ship sank. The Fortune sisters are all different but strong women. And the side characters were so well crafted and entertaining. While a tragedy, it was enjoyable getting to know their stories. I will be recommending this book to my reader friends and family.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

4.75 stars
Of course, pretty much everyone knows something about the fateful tragedy of the Titanic but not so much about many of the passengers. Author Anna Lee Huber, who is one of my favorite writers, takes on the task of telling the story of the real-life Fortune family from Canada, specifically the three younger sisters. Full of meticulously researched details, the novel is as lush as the ship’s first-class accommodations, and I find these details help readers feel part of the story. I enjoy all of these minutiae and do not feel they slow the pace of the tale. Huber does take some liberties creating a fictional love interest for one of the sisters, but he is based on aspects and experiences of real-life people.

I really enjoyed SISTERS OF FORTUNE. I highly recommend it to any historical fiction reader and fans of Huber’s other works.

I received an ARC of this title from the Kensington through NetGalley and voluntarily shared my thoughts here.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "Sisters of Fortune" and all opinions expressed are my own. I was looking forward to reading this story. I loved this cover but... there was so much going on. The story was really slow and there were so many characters that I was getting lost. Unfortunately, a DNF.