#BlogTour: The Luckiest Thirteen by Brian W. Lavery @brianlavery59 @BarbicanPress1 @annecater #TheLuckiestThirteen #RandomThingsTours

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Book Synopsis:

A true-life drama of an intense battle for survival on the high seas. The Luckiest Thirteen is the story of an incredible two-day battle to save the super trawler St Finbarr, and of those who tried to rescue her heroic crew in surging, frozen seas. It was also a backdrop for the powerful stories of families ashore, dumbstruck by fear and grief, as well as a love story of a teenage deckhand and his girl that ended with a heart-rending twist. From her hi-tech hold to her modern wheelhouse she was every inch the super ship the great hope for the future built to save the fleet at a record-breaking price but a heart-breaking cost. On the thirteenth trip after her maiden voyage, the St Finbarr met with catastrophe off the Newfoundland coast. On Christmas Day 1966, twenty-five families in the northern English fishing port of Hull were thrown into a dreadful suspense not knowing if their loved ones were dead or alive after the disaster that befell The Perfect Trawler. This eboook edition closes with 34 dramatic and poignant photographs from the period. By the same author as the powerful THE HEADSCARF REVOLUTIONARIES.

The Luckiest Thirteen is available in ebook and hardback now.  You can purchase your copy of both here.

My Review:

The Luckiest Thirteen is a fascinating account of a real life maritime disaster that I’d not heard about before.

The thing that makes this book is that it’s told both from the point of view of those working on the ship and their loved ones left on shore.  This helps give the reader a more rounded view of what happened and makes for some very poignant reading when things start to go wrong. It must have been horrendous for the families waiting at home for news about what happened and I found myself tearing up at some of their stories.

This book is hard to define as it is an historical book but it is also quite gripping in places, particularly when the disaster starts to unfold.  I found myself holding my breath at times hoping that everyone would get out ok and feeling devastated when they didn’t.  Some of the heroics of the men on board were incredibly brave and it’s such a shame that more people don’t know about them.

The lead up to the disaster is very well done with little bits of historical facts and information about the characters being gradually revealed.  It is a bit slow to get going but the reader is soon absorbed in the story thanks to the time the author takes to build up the readers understanding of the characters.  I really felt I got to know them well throughout the book and wanted to keep reading to find out what happens to them all.

There are some fabulous black and white photos of the disaster and the people who were involved.  These were very poignant to look at but helped add to the story as it helped the reader of imagine the story clearly.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

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Brian W Lavery was born in Glasgow’s East End in 1959, the fourth of six sons. His father William was a sheet metal worker and his mother Margaret a shop assistant.
He has been a factory worker, car valet, market trader, waiter, university dropout, VAT officer (very briefly) and latterly a journalist, university tutor and writer.
After more than twenty-five years of various senior roles in national and regional journalism he returned to higher education and gained a first in English literature and creative writing at the University of Hull. His first book, The Headscarf Revolutionaries (Barbican Press, 2015) – now optioned by a major television production company – derived from a funded PhD at that university, where he taught creative nonfiction.
His latest book, The Luckiest Thirteen (Barbican Press 2017) hit the shelves in November. In 2017, he has contributed to End Notes, a collection published by the University of Hull as part of its Crossing Over project; and Hull: Culture, History, Place (Liverpool University Press, 2017) – with a chapter about trawler safety campaigner Lillian Bilocca.
His programme for BBC Radio 4’s Four Thought series, entitled Courage and Effect, was also drawn from his doctoral research. The Oxford University National Dictionary of Biography (‘the biographer’s Bible’) commissioned him to write the entry on Mrs Bilocca, aka Big Lil.
Planet Publications (Wales) and Umber has published his short fiction over the years, and Other Poetry, About Larkin and the Larkin Press have published his poetry.
Dr Lavery has lived in Hull with his wife Kathryn for more than thirty-five years. They have two grown-up daughters, Catriona and Rose, and a border collie called Dylan.
He is an honorary research associate at the University of Hull and works as a writer, journalist and creative writing tutor. He is proud to teach with the Workers’ Educational Association.
brianwlavery.com

 

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Published by jojosovertherainbowblog

Book mad mum of three and Bookseller for Rossiter Books. Sharing the love one book at a time!

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