Jane Taylor is the second daughter of a clairvoyant. Her childhood is spent in the community of Spirit Vale where her mother talks to the dead. Her older sister, Mimi, cannot wait to leave the tiny town. Young Blythe is also anxious to leave Spirit Vale and is ready for an adventure. Younger sisters, twins Emma and Amelie, appear to be gifted mediums. Jane is also destined for a life outside Spirit Vale and hoping to become a journalist.
Fate on the Titanic
Was it their fate to sail on the Titanic? Jane and her older sister Mimi set off to New York City. Jane is hoping to interview Nikola Tesla for a journalism contest. She has followed Tesla's life since she was a young girl and met him during an "earthquake" which was actually one of his experiments. The girls' day in New York changes the course of their lives forever. Mimi is taken on as a companion to the girlfriend of the millionaire Benjamin Guggenheim. She leaves Jane and sets off on a new path without her.
Spiritualism
With Mimi gone, Jane is angry at her sister and wonders if she'll ever see Tesla's assistant, Thad again, who she met in New York and struck up a friendship. She spends the winter of 1911-1912 pining over Thad and reading Sherlock Holmes. Meanwhile her mother, Maude, has been corresponding with William Stead, a journalist involved with spiritualism. He invites Maude and her daughters to his Psychic Conference in London. The family sets off across the ocean.
Historical Fiction
Author Suzanne Weyn weaves fiction and history flawlessly. W.T. Stead was a real person and he predicted the sinking of the Titanic and his own death by ice but he bordered the ship anyway. Mimi and Blythe are headed on board the Titanic and Maude hopes to save her daughters from what she believes is certain doom. The three other sisters, Jane, Emma and Amelie try to get Mimi and Blythe off the large ship after learning of Stead's prediction. They fail and the ship sets off with all five sisters on board. The historical accuracy of Weyn's writing is thrilling with such characters as Nikola Tesla and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle jumping off the page. Other famous characters also make an appearance including famous Titanic passengers, John Jacob Astor and Molly Brown.
Flawed
Ms. Weyn's novel is flawed in some respects. She spends too much time setting up the story and not enough time on the ill-fated Titanic, which is disappointing. There are also several unbelievable twists at the end of the novel that would make most readers cringe. It is, however, interesting and effortless. It is obvious that Ms. Weyn has researched the events and her characters thoroughly.
Distant Waves: A Novel of the Titanic, Scholastic Press: 2009, ISBN 0545085721
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