He’s a man. Most men think they are God.
If you’re a man who ends up on Lifeboat 14 adrift in the Atlantic Ocean, you’d better play your cards right.
The women tend to fare better.
On this particular lifeboat, being a traditional male authority figure of the time (1914) will take you only so far. Whereas, if you get along with people, if you’re nurturing and supportive, if you’re a rock of strength and give people what they need, even though you’re a woman you can then manipulate them just a little to get them to do what you want…..
Charlotte Rogan’s The Lifeboat is the PERFECT book for reading groups and book clubs, especially those with both men and women, because you’re going to have great discussions about gender, the battle of the sexes, how men and women use each other…..the whole ball of wax when it comes to male/female relations.
And that’s just scratching the surface of this confounding book.
The Lifeboat is about morality – the difficult, impossible choices we make to survive, and how we justify those choices after the fact.
It’s the kind of book I want my family and friends to read so they can help me sort out who is right and who is wrong, which characters have the moral high ground and which ones don’t.
On page 16, at the end of the chapter entitled “Day One,” the narrator, Grace Winter, makes a statement I found morally repugnant. I don’t like this woman, I thought. In her place, I’d make a very different decision.
Or would I?
If you’re reading or have read The Lifeboat, what do you think it says about men and women? Are there particular incidents from the book you can’t get out of your mind? Does it leave you feeling morally confused? Please comment below. I’d love to hear from men and women!
Quote is from The Lifeboat, Charlotte Rogan, Little, Brown and Company, New York, 2012
Books Can Save A Life 
haven’t read this yet , but you are so encouraging … now it is on my list !
Thanks, Bonnie. By the way, I’m looking forward to Nia!
Looking forward to reading this, have it waiting on kindle. Great review, and does sound like an interesting and topical discussion.
I found that I really couldn’t put it down, and it doesn’t take long to read. I’m having to read it twice, especially to compare versions of incidents given by the various characters, filtered through Grace. Probably won’t ever really figure it all out! Thank you for visiting and commenting, Claire!
That’s great, I’m looking forward to reading it and have a couple of books picked up from a visit to the Titanic Belfast museum which could be a good follow on.