The Titanic and the City of Widows It Left Behind

“Harrowing and emotional . . . A tribute to the enduring power of family. The story of the disaster’s widows uplifts and devastates in equal measure.” —Gareth Russell, author of The Ship of Dreams

When the Titanic foundered in April 1912, the world’s focus was on the tragedy of the passengers who lost their lives. Ever since, in films, dramatizations, adaptations and books, the focus has mostly continued to be on the ones who died.

The Titanic and the City of Widows It Left Behind focuses on another group of people—the widows and children of the crew who perished on board.

Author Julie Cook’s great-grandfather was a stoker who died on the Titanic. Her great-grandmother had to raise five children with no breadwinner.

This book focuses on Emily and the widows like her who had to fight for survival through great hardship, while still grieving for the men they loved who’d died on the ship. Using original archive sources and with accounts from descendants of crew who also lost their lives, the book asks how these women survived through abject poverty and grief—and why their voices have been silent for so long.

“The sinking of the Titanic has produced a wealth of books, articles, films and TV documentaries, all of which have given very little thought to the dependents and friends of those who lost their lives in this ocean tragedy. A moving and involving story that corrects this neglect, told by a descendant of a Titanic widow . . . How most of them survived the grief and grinding hardship is a story worth the telling, as are the stories of those who did not survive the crushing pressures.” —Firetrench