Just Finished Reading: The Midnight Watch by David Dyer (FP: 2016) [319pp] 

April 1912. Boston American Reporter John Steadman knew that there would be bodies. When he was called to report on events there were always bodies. His editor relied on his nose for death, for pathos and sympathy to sell newspapers. He was good at it too, reporting on fires, disasters and more common murders from the victim's point of view – even when they could no longer speak for themselves. But this was no common disaster, no common story of death even on a larger scale than he had ever dealt with, even heard of, before. This was a supposedly unsinkable ocean liner with some of the most famous and richest people in the world on board, and many of them were now dead. Titanic had struck an iceberg and foundered. Many hundreds had died. Stories of sacrifice and heroism abounded, each getting more than their fair share of column inches across the globe. But there was one story that seemed to be getting scant attention – the ship that didn’t come. Several aboard Titanic had already stated that they’d seen a ship, close to them, who failed to respond to their distress rockets. It was a ship almost close enough to touch. Steadman had a clue as to which ship that was and had be told that they’d been searching for bodies – bodies of the rich, the famous and the tragic, returning to Boston. Intrigued by the officer’s reaction to press scrutiny, Steadman asked the obvious question: where exactly was Californian the night Titanic sank? Did she see any rockets? Why wouldn’t he let the 2nd officer, the man holding the midnight watch, the officer in charge at the time Titanic sank, answer the simplest of questions? Where were the bodies? Steadman was determined to find out, even if he lost his job doing so. 

I’ve had a bit of an obsession with Titanic for as long as I can remember. That was before I discovered that I might have had distant ancestors on board – inevitably in steerage and (equally inevitably) who died that night. At least they all had my surname. I don’t have any confirmation yet, but I’ll let you know if I do. Anyway, I’m pretty familiar with the story and knew of the Californian question (or rather questions). So, it was interesting looking at those questions – at least in a fictionalised context – from the view of the captain and crew of Californian herself rather than from Titanic. I haven’t read much about either the American or British enquiry following the disaster (something I’m going to have to correct) and a good chunk of the later part of the novel relied on the evidence presented at both – especially from Captain Lord, master of Californian. If his fictional portrait is anywhere near accurate, he was a strange bird. Strange indeed! The main thrust of the novel was the question at the heart of his action, or rather inaction, on that night. Why didn’t Californian go to Titanic’s aid sooner? The novel made it out to be a psychological conundrum – revolving around the personalities of the captain and his 2nd officer and most especially the troubled relationship between the two. It was an interesting ‘take’ but, I thought, rather unsatisfying (which probably leads it at least some credence). Overall, this was a well written look at some of the less well-known aspects of the disaster and I liked the fact that the author had his main character talk to some of the relatives of the survivors in Liverpool and other places to put names and faces to the nameless hundreds who never ate in the First-Class dining room. As with all good novels it left me musing on the history of that fateful night and thinking about reading more about it. Definitely recommended, especially if you have any interest in Titanic and the issues that surrounded her demise.    

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