This upcoming Tuesday marks the day in 1912 when the Titanic sank. To reflect on the occasion, Byliner has unlocked Elizabeth Kaye’s NYT bestselling e-single, “Life Boat No. 8,” for Dish readers. A glimpse into the story she tells:
Every ship is supposed to have a lifeboat drill, but there had been none aboard the Titanic. Most passengers did not even know where their life belts were kept. The Countess and her cousin Gladys had to ask a steward to find theirs. “I’m sure it’s unnecessary,” he said, “to put them on.”
“No,” the Countess replied firmly, “we’ve been ordered to do so.”
The steward fetched the life belts from atop the suite’s exquisite wardrobe. Then the Countess and Gladys dressed in woolen suits. Gladys topped hers with a seal wrap; the Countess put on a full-length ermine coat, placed her small brandy flask in one pocket, and fastened around her swanlike neck a strand of three-hundred-year-old pearls, a precious heirloom that she had worn at dinner just a few hours earlier. Her other jewelry, fine pieces configured from pearls and diamonds, remained in their satinwood box.
As the two women left the suite, Gladys picked up a miniature photograph of her mother. How silly, she thought. We shall soon be back here. She placed the miniature on the dressing table and walked out the cabin door.
On the way to the deck, they passed the assistant purser, Ernest Brown. He tipped his hat as they went swiftly by. “It is quite all right,” he told them, “don’t hurry!”
Read the rest, for the next 48 hours, here. You can purchase it as a Kindle single here.
The Dish 