It's now been 112 years since the Titanic sailed out into the Atlantic Ocean. The people on board have no idea that, in just two days time, an iceberg will loom from the darkness and change the course of history. I've always been fascinated by the story of this ship and her passengers, and I do like trying to find something to read or do that relates at this time of year. Fortunately, I had just the thing on my TBR pile... the story of Eva Hart, who survived the sinking at 7 years old.

It is a little dated, particularly when discussing the failure of the 'Californian' to aid the stricken ship - it makes me wonder if modern theories about why they didn't come to help might have convinced her or been accepted - but nevertheless I think it's incredibly important to treasure the recollections we now have, as the chance to obtain first-hand accounts has passed on. I am torn between acceptance of the fact that she was only a child and so her recollections are probably not complete, and frustration that there is relatively little detail or emotional engagement. Part of me wonders if the fact this is being relayed through a third party might have given it that feeling of being one step removed, but equally Eva seems like quite a sensible, level headed woman and so perhaps she became used to speaking about the tragedy with a dispassionate voice.

I have to say I do love the tales of bad omens, premonitions and so on that come up surrounding the Titanic, and Eva has a particularly interesting one regarding her mother. The times she talks about her parents are the only times I 'felt' her story though. And there is one moment she mentions which has me convinced she and her family are portrayed in the 'Titanic' film, which helped a little to letting me see things through her eyes.

Of course, the sailing and sinking of the Titanic was only 4.5 days (ish) out of a lifetime, so of course it only takes up a small amount of the book. The majority deals with her life afterwards;  her travels abroad, her working life and her passion for welfare projects. But really, her life outside the Titanic was relatively ordinary, so while it is interested to hear about her engagement with the local community, it's not really the sort of life that requires a biography. She refers to the fact that she started talking more about her experience in later life, and does give a few examples, but again the description makes it feel like a footnote to her life, rather than the 'thing' which has given her and the writer a reason to publish a biography in the first place. As it's there in the title, I had hoped for more.

That being said, there is one thing that gives me chills. My copy is signed by both the biographer, and Eva herself. And my brain still can't quite process that the person who wielded the pen to mark something that I now own was actually there that night in 1912.