The Lifeboat
by Charlotte Rogan
- Percentage of approved critics who have given this book a positive review.
Critic Rating
71%
Critic Reviews: 45
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- User rating from iDreamBooks & iTunes
Reader Rating
69%
Reader Ratings: 657
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Synopsis
The sinking of an ocean liner leaves a newly married woman battling for survival in this powerful and unforgettable debut novel.Grace Winter, 22, is both a newlywed and a widow. She is also on trial for her life. In the summer of 1914, the elegant ocean liner carrying her and her husband Henry across the Atlantic suffers a mysterious explosion. Setting aside his own safety, Henry secures Grace a place in a lifeboat, which the survivors quickly realize is over... more
About Charlotte Rogan
- All Critics: 45
- Positive: 35
- Negative: 10
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The New York Times | 4 May 2012
Rogan writes viscerally about the desperate condition of the castaway...But it’s her portrait of Grace, who is by turns astute, conniving, comic and affecting, that drives the book.
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San Francisco Chronicle | 22 Apr 2012
...an engrossing and impressive achievement.
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The Independent | 22 Apr 2012
This portrait of natural, or possibly divine, selection makes The Lifeboat a giddily gripping read.
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USA Today | 22 Apr 2012
Charlotte Rogan's beautifully constructed first novel is...a harrowing, suspenseful tale of survival...
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Kirkus Reviews | 20 Feb 2012
a compelling... microcosm of a dangerous larger world in which only the strong survive.
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The Washington Post | 13 Apr 2012
Charlotte Rogan manages to distill this drama about what’s right and wrong when the answer means life or death into a gripping, confident first novel.
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The Guardian | 30 Mar 2012
...this is, in many ways, a dark, brutal novel...But it is also vividly exciting, beautifully paced and surprisingly funny; in Grace, Rogan has found a voice that is both fresh and mysterious.
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BC Books | 1 Apr 2012
As Rogan’s rich debut novel, The Lifeboat interlaces many layers of petty jealousies, shrouded motives, moral dilemmas, and psychological complexities
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Read, React, Review | 7 Apr 2012
The pace of The Lifeboat slows to a crawl in the last quarter of the book, once Grace is rescued.
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The Telegraph | 5 Apr 2012
These aims cancel each other out: the novel asks you to care about a character whose life it would for the purpose of mystery conceal...Grace is often hard to believe, implausible as well as unreliable.
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Iris on Books | 14 Apr 2012
As a reader, you constantly need to readjust your image of Grace...All of it makes that reading The Lifeboat is a fascinating experience, but also a little creepy at times.
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The Globe and Mail | 13 Apr 2012
At once deceptively simple and technically accomplished, a straightforward thriller and a tale of moral complexity, The Lifeboat is a remarkable debut.
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Star Tribune | 14 Apr 2012
Charlotte Rogan delivers a subtle and very persuasive analysis of the circumstances in which decent people can devolve into primal creatures.
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Boston.com | 15 Apr 2012
The veil remains; only hints come through; enough to leave the reader — intrigued, yes, and also frustrated — in doubt somewhere short of certainty.
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Los Angeles Times | 28 Apr 2012
The most remarkable achievement within Charlotte Rogan's debut novel, "The Lifeboat," is how neatly it exceeds, and defies, expectations.
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National Post | 20 Apr 2012
It is a gripping tale, a study of human emotions under extreme duress. Among other things, the author has constructed a microcosm of our contemporary world...
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Cleveland.com | 30 Apr 2012
The inventive structure she gives "The Lifeboat" is one of its best features. From a dry fragment of case law, she has launched a formidable, ethically harrowing tale.
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Entertainment Weekly | 3 Apr 2012
But her biggest achievement in The Lifeboat is the disarmingly demure yet fiercely shrewd Grace, a narrator as fascinating and unreliable as they come.
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NY Daily News | 8 Apr 2012
It’s impossible to say, but that won’t stop a reader from returning to the pages again and again, searching for an answer that lies in Grace’s mind, which is ultimately as unfathomable as the ocean.
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BookPage
Charlotte Rogan's gripping debut won't let you turn out the light until the last page is turned, and will have you mulling over the questions of survival, sacrifice and responsibility it raises long after that.
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By the Book @ Rogers Memorial Library | 4 May 2012
Readers who enjoy parables, tales of survival, and stories about maritime law will become completely immersed in this smart and character-centered book.
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Readings | 28 Mar 2012
...a powerful debut novel... vivid and often harrowing... insightful and raw
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Kirkus Reviews | 1 Mar 2012
The lifeboat becomes a compelling, if almost overly crafted, microcosm of a dangerous larger world in which only the strong survive.
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San Francisco Chronicle | 20 Apr 2012
...Rogan navigates the shoals of a harrowing tale with mature assurance. "The Lifeboat" remains an engrossing and impressive achievement.
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Seattle PI | 1 Apr 2012
As Rogan's rich debut novel, The Lifeboat interlaces many layers of petty jealousies, shrouded motives, moral dilemmas, and psychological complexities.
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Rhapsody in Books | 13 Apr 2012
This is one seriously creepy story... Puzzling out who Grace really is and what actually happened will keep readers turning the pages of this clever book!
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Historical Novel Review | 4 Apr 2012
The Lifeboat had scenes that were so poignant, so tragic, it gripped me from start to finish.
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The Globe and Mail | 13 Apr 2012
In fluid, straightforward, yet consistently evocative prose, Rogan convinces us of the terror of this voyage into darkness: physical, psychological, spiritual.
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Back to Books | 18 May 2012
I found the plot very predictable and kept waiting for a twist or shock to come into play...but it failed to come.
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Rea's Reading and Reviews | 5 May 2012
The way that the differences between basic human nature from one person to the next were portrayed was simply masterful.
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Dog Ear Discs | 15 Mar 2012
I still can’t believe this is Rogan’s debut, she has written a novel that many long established writers will be a little envious of.
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Beth Kephart's Books | 30 May 2012
I remain in the thrall of its intelligence. There's not a sloppy sentence in this book, nor an excess line.
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Under My Apple Tree | 12 Jun 2012
An excellent premise for a novel that never came to fruition. Did I miss the boat, pun intended, on this one?
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Read, React, Review | 17 Apr 2012
The Lifeboat is well worth reading either as an exciting, plot-driven tale of shipwreck and survival, or a slow meditation on moral psychology...
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The Aussie Zombie | 3 Apr 2012
The Lifeboat is an incredible debut for Ms. Rogan - it reads like a book written by a seasoned, experienced author.
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The Redheaded Reader | 15 Jun 2012
... it’s been a long time since I’ve been so lukewarm about a book that everyone else seems to be raving about.
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All the Books I Can Read | 21 May 2012
Charlotte Rogan does an amazing job though of slowly whittling away at the peace in the boat, raising suspicions and secrets until no one knows who they can trust...
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Adventures in Motherhood | 21 May 2012
Ms. Rogan's prose is quite lovely...Troublesomely, however, I just can't like this novel, mostly because I just don't like Grace.
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Jenn's Bookshelves | 10 Apr 2012
Rogan paints a setting so vivid and realistic, one can’t help but imagining themselves as a passenger on the lifeboat. Additionally, you’ll find yourself pondering what you would have done in their place.
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A Musing Reviews | 2 Apr 2012
The book is riveting and, at times, disturbing. Great book club book with many themes left for discussion.
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Clear Eyes, Full Shelves | 16 May 2012
Charlotte Rogan’s much-hyped debut, The Lifeboat, is one of my biggest reading disappointments of the year.
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Book Monkey | 22 Mar 2012
Sadly, now that I have read it, I am left feeling a little bewildered at the hype surrounding this book...ultimately, it fails to deliver an emotional impact...
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Book Geeks | 29 Mar 2012
The premise of the novel – that such a story can be sustained and keep the attention of the reader whilst occurring only in on one small vessel – is incredibly interesting and is certainly done justice by the author.
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Our Book Reviews Online | 14 Jun 2012
I found myself a little disappointed by the unfolding of the story and its conclusion...I found myself expecting a climax that never came.
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The Globe and Mail | 6 Sep 2012
At once deceptively simple and technically accomplished, a straightforward thriller and a tale of moral complexity, The Lifeboat is a remarkable debut.
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