Deep Sleep | Book Review

Thank you, Paula Astridge, for sending me a digital copy of Deep Sleep in exchange for my honest review.

Deep Sleep is a historical fiction centred around the Titanic and the three captains involved with that tragic event. We follow Charles Lightroller, second officer of the Titanic, Arthur Rostron, the captain who came to the aid of the victims, and Stanley Lord, the captain who failed to answer their distress call. In this very well researched book, we see how each of them came to be in their positions and how their lives were impacted because of that tragedy, up until their deaths. As much as this is historical fiction, it's incredibly close to reality, so it reads like a documentary. What really intrigued me is that I had never seen a historical fiction set in the Titanic before and my broadest knowledge of the accident was the 1997 film (so basically, how Rose left Jack to die as there was plenty of space for the both of them); therefore I was really excited to learn more about that period in history.

You follow the captains from the moment they first wanted to work in ships until their deaths, through the Titanic crash and the two World Wars, making this a very in-depth book about all of their lives and how each of them got affected by that day. From reading the synopsis I first believed this would all be about the Titanic and, as much as I feel like the book is much more interesting by intertwining all their life stories, the events surrounding the crash were still the most entertaining parts for me. The writing was beautiful and it made me feel like I was there, not once thinking if what I was reading was absolute fact or merely an inference made by the author. You know that hours of research were poured into the making of this book and the way each chapter follows one of the captains at the same moment in time was truly well done and made me want to keep reading. The characters were also great to read about and one of the best parts of this was seeing how each had a unique reaction to the crash and were all impacted in very different ways, not only by that day but also by the subsequent trial and press coverage. The pace of this did get a bit slow, particularly around the midway point, and I found myself reading it for only shorter periods of time because not much was happening or I wasn't interested enough. I think if you like ships and are interested in this period of history, you definitely should pick this book up. It's a novel-meets-documentary which makes it accurate at the same time that's enjoyable to read. I gave this book 3.25/5 ⭐️ , simply because it was a bit too historical for my personal taste and it didn't keep me intrigued enough, but I still thought it was fascinating (and it made me want to rewatch Titanic and see all the drama Hollywood added to the already dramatic event). Love, N. Xx