Luck of the Titanic

Stacey Lee’s „Luck of the Titanic“ is an amazing novel about not only a historic tragedy, but also what it meant to be Chinese in Western civilization in the early 20th century. Valora Luck has always had big dreams for herself and her twin brother Jamie. Ever since she was a little girl she wanted to be an acrobat, but the English don’t exactly welcome the Chinese with open arms. So, when the opportunity arises, she books passage on the grandest ship of her time, the HMS Titanic, to go and try her luck in America. The fate of the Titanic has fascinated people for more than a century now, but somehow nobody ever talks about the eight Chinese people who were aboard the ship at the time of its sinking. For this novel, Stacey Lee has brought to life exactly as many fictional Cantonese characters and lets us see through a pair of their eyes how they witness one of the greatest maritime disasters of all time. I love how we, as readers, get to see the glamorous side of this voyage as well as the dire one. I enjoyed Valora as a main character, liked her determination and resourcefulness, as well as her selflessness. The interactions between all of the characters (fictional and non-fictional) are great and they really do grow on you. You just can’t help hoping for all of them to survive, however improbable it might be. Even though, I knew what was bound to happen in the end, the book’s conclusion took be by surprise, which I appreciate. If you enjoy novels about historic events and maybe want to read about them from an underrepresented point of view, I definitely recommend this book to you. „Luck of the Titanic“ is a great read for teens and adults alike.