Madeleine Astor ~ a tragedy within a tragedy

In my novel Sheltering Angel, based on a true story of the Titanic disaster, my characters Florence and Bradley Cumings spend time with John Jacob Astor and his young wife Madeleine. In many accounts of the maritime tragedy, Madeleine’s story ends in that spring of 1912—but her tale grows even more tragic as time passes.…

Read More

Meet the most famous passenger aboard Titanic

Arguably the most esteemed passenger on the Titanic and one of the characters in my book Sheltering Angel: A Novel Based on a True Story of the Titanic was William Thomas Stead. According to the W.T. Stead website, he was “a newspaper revolutionary and one of the most controversial figures of his age.” Newsman, pacifist…

Read More

Meet a fiery Titanic stewardess

In my novel Sheltering Angel, you’ll get to know Titanic second-class steward Violet Jessop. Here is a closer look at this sizzling beauty. During the Irish potato famine of the mid-nineteenth century, hordes of Irish left their country for Canada, the U.S., and especially Argentina where they hoped the pampas would provide more fertile land…

Read More