It’s 1856.  One hundred passengers—mostly Irish immigrants–have boarded a small ship sailing from Liverpool to New York. Only one will survive: Crewman Thomas W. Nye of Fairhaven. This is his story. It’s also the story of the thirteen other souls who made it into the lifeboat with him when an iceberg tore the ship asunder and set them adrift in the icy Atlantic four hundred miles off the coast of Newfoundland. They had no supplies, just a few blankets, some water, some biscuits. Over the next nine days, all but one died–some from exposure, others from madness and panic. In the end, only Nye and the ship’s log survived. Author Brian Murphy uses Nye’s firsthand descriptions, newspaper accounts, ship’s logs, assorted diaries and family archives to chronicle this chilling tale of suffering and survival.

 

Eight Cousins Books, our co-host, will have copies of this book at the talk. The book will also be available in the store at 189 Main Street in