What do readers think of Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan? Write your own review.

From the first lines I was mesmerized. I love historical fiction, Savannah, the early 19th Century, tales of shipwrecks and miracles of survival, the alternating time frames, triumph over tragedy and loss. This story has it all. And Ms. Callahan tells it beautifully.

To discover that the Pulaski was a real steamship that sank and that some of the characters are loosely based on real people made it all the more intriguing. Now, I’m starting to research the real story based upon first person accounts. One of the best books I’ve read in a long time.

Surviving Savannah is a well-written novel weaving a present day presentation of a shipwreck and the historical events of the actual sinking of the ship, The author does a nice job of intertwining the two timelines and bringing in interesting family stories from the 1700s. Enjoyed it!

A beautifully written tale alternating between the time of the shipwreck and the time of a museum exhibit being curated and opening about the wreck in the present day. There is loss being dealt with by the characters in past and present and there is the thrill of discovery as the artifacts and the facts of the wreck come up from the depths of the ocean. There is attention to the class distinctions in our country, as a house slave becomes the means of survival for her owner’s baby, and the researchers cannot identify her or other blacks by much more than first names on the manifest of the voyage. There is all of this and so much more. A strong, captivating historical novel.

What fun to do research for a sunken ship.

The Pulaski was finally found after sinking in 1838.

Everly Winthrop was given the task of finding what really happened to The Pulaski.

We also meet Lilly who was on the sunken luxury ship.

SURVIVING SAVANNAH takes us back and forth in time as we learn about Lilly Longstreet’s privileged life and then the terror of trying to save herself, her nursemaid, and her baby. Many wealthy families were on board.

We then move to present day as Everly does the research and deals with issues of her own.

Ms. Callahan included very interesting information from her amazing, thorough research along with her marvelous writing and story line.

The story line flowed well from one time period to the next.

The characters were well developed and ones you will cheer on and love.

I loved learning about Savannah and about this ship. I had never heard of this event.

SURVIVING SAVANNAH will pull you into the mystery of The Pulaski and have you wanting to know everything uncovered and everything about Savannah.

Historical fiction fans and fans of Savannah will enjoy this book.

A truly addictive read you won't want to put down. 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is about the sinking and discovery of the wooden steamship Pulaski and it's aftermath. This tragedy occurred in the 19th century when boats in Savannah were the fastest means of travel. The Pulaski was considered a state- of-the-art steamship and had only been in service a short time before the disaster

The protagonist in the story is Dr. Everly Winthrop a professor of history at Savannah College of Art and Design. She tells the story in the first person and leads off describing the accident through her grandfather who entertained her and her siblings by thorough descriptive oral stories,particularly the blowing up of the Pulaski's boiler and its ultimate sinking.

This story is filled with mystery, love, and redemptive events. It switches back and forth to the present day being told by Everly and the exploding, sinking and aftermath of those individuals who survived the catastrophe.

I fully recommend this book and my only complaint is the overuse of similes, particularly in the first few chapters.

A little slow to start and one of the early characters isn't important at all, which confused me. Otherwise, an average parallel historical/modern fiction.

I often lean toward historical fiction when looking for a good next book to read. A balanced novel of well-researched facts and talented fictional writing is pure delight.
Ms. Callahan presents both of these talents but leaves the story lacking. A good editor would have, perhaps, made the book more compelling but, instead, although filled with exclamation marks and cliff-hangers at the end of chapters, the book became tedious with repetitions of the same high-octane emotions and plot points. The novel read as a YA entry and not as a novel I found satisfying.

(No spoilers)
I went into “Surviving Savannah” expecting to love this book as historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and the premise of this book sounded fascinating. Unfortunately, I found the book just fair - a bit underwhelming. I liked the parallels and the intersections of the two story lines - 1838 and current day. I especially enjoyed learning more about historic Savannah, the USS Pulaski shipwreck, and the impact on the survivors. Where the book fell a bit flat for me was in the pace. The story, especially the modern day sections, felt too slow and drawn out. As a result, the book didn’t hold my attention and kept setting it aside.