From the acclaimed and award-winning author of The Hunger comes an eerie, psychological twist on one of the world’s most renowned tragedies, the sinking of the Titanic and the ill-fated sail of its sister ship, the Britannic.Someone, or something, is haunting the ship. Between mysterious disappearances and sudden deaths, the guests of the Titanic have found themselves suspended in an eerie, … Titanic have found themselves suspended in an eerie, unsettling twilight zone from the moment they set sail. Several of them, including maid Annie Hebley, guest Mark Fletcher, and millionaires Madeleine Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim, are convinced there’s something sinister–almost otherwordly–afoot. But before they can locate the source of the danger, as the world knows, disaster strikes.
Years later, Annie, having survived that fateful night, has attempted to put her life back together. Working as a nurse on the sixth voyage of the Titanic’s sister ship, the Britannic, newly refitted as a hospital ship, she happens across an unconscious Mark, now a soldier fighting in World War I. At first, Annie is thrilled and relieved to learn that he too survived the sinking, but soon, Mark’s presence awakens deep-buried feelings and secrets, forcing her to reckon with the demons of her past–as they both discover that the terror may not yet be over.
Brilliantly combining the supernatural with the height of historical disaster, The Deep is an exploration of love and destiny, desire and innocence, and, above all, a quest to understand how our choices can lead us inexorably toward our doom.
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Here’s an incredibly ambitious setting, prose as ornate as the boat, mood as ghostly as gothic, and what must have been enough research to build a ship of her own. Yet, The Deep is thrilling, rich, frightening, unsettling, and, best of all, told from the heart. I’m going to have to read it again, because I’m not sure how she did it… The Deep is divine. I hear bugles blaring; the announcement of the arrival of a brilliant author.
THE DEEP takes us back to the final days of the Titanic, her sister ship the Britannic, and the mysterious woman who links them both. In a haunting story of love and revenge, Alma Katsu blends paranormal and historical fiction as only she can—a spellbinding tale where desire knows no bounds and death is only a beginning. Another fantastic story from the author of THE HUNGER. On sale 3/10/2020.
A tale so superbly woven it casts a spell, drawing readers back through time, putting them on Titanic where you feel the ocean beneath you, smell the ballrooms, the cigars of the elite, the perfumed lives of aristocrats, the toil of everyday people and the desperation of dreamers, all while something other-worldly seals their fate.
Alma Katsu is a fantastic writer, with a unique ability to blur the lines of history, horror, humanity, and tragedy. Think Diana Gabaldon by way of Charlaine Harris. As with her exceptional novel, The Hunger, in The Deep Katsu takes on an infamous tragedy and adds her own haunting twists. A marvelous new addition to Katsu’s already impressive body of work.
Alma Katsu returns with another masterly supernatural reimagining of a historical tragedy: the sinking of the Titanic and her sister ship, the Britannic. Eerie, haunting, and filled with suspense, The Deep is a whirlpool of a novel that pulls you in and doesn’t let go.
The Deep deftly mashes up spellbinding historical fiction, adroit commentary on class and gender, and a classic yet surprising ghost story. Annie’s tale is truly haunting.
“The Deep” by Alma Katsu blends a paranormal, psychological story with historic fiction. Did a ghost influence the tragedy aboard the HMS Titanic and its sister ship, the HMHS Britannic? Was there an irresistible siren song that lead both boats astray? Katsu weaves an intriguing tale using the claustrophobic isolation of the sea, the spiritualism popular amongst many of the turn of the last century’s wealthy passengers, and a tragic love story. Ghosts on the ships, you scoff (as did some of the passengers). Why, the Titanic was on its maiden voyage. How could there be ghosts when nobody had died aboard? And gypsy curses? Palmistry and seances? Set on the lush backdrop of the Titanic or during WWI on the doomed hospital ship Britannic. Ms. Katsu handles the ghostly aspects with an even and credible hand. Her evocative prose sends waves of beauty which makes for a rich reading experience.
I’ve heard this novel classified as horror. I believe that’s not accurate. It is, however, an interesting take on the haunted house – or the haunted person.
THE DEEP
By Alma Katsu
This book so beautifully covered had been calling out to me from the first time I ever read it’s synopsis. A supernatural retelling of the tragedies of what happened to a specific group of people going back and forth between the time periods of 1912 & 1916; the sinking of both the Titanic and its sister ship the Britannica, respectfully.
The writing and stories were so vivid and detail. Interwoven to show how the lives of the characters in the story intersected and affected another was brilliant. The descriptive prowess of the way characters and people in real life were treated based on their status level; meaning how wealthy. Aboard the Titanic people that were poor could only afford to be in Third Class where everyone was gathered together and slept like bunnies in cages. The Second Class was a room with four bed to be shared. Neither were allowed to be on the upper deck or mingle with the stately Upper Class patrons whose rooms were magnificent in size and decorated like royalty. It was also the Upper class who the life boats were only for when the boat began to sink. The rest of the classes were closed off as they were left to die. The Britannic, the sister ship who was to have been mostly identical to the Titanic for the exception, it was being used as a British Hospital Ship, transported and treated many of the wounded soldiers from WWI.
In 1912 Annie Hebbley finds herself running away from home to work aboard the newly built Titanic and serve as a Stewardess. She meets Violet Jessop, another Stewardess that becomes her friend and together they work and each wait upon a designated section of First Class. There Annie meet Caroline, Mark and baby Ondine Fletcher, some of the passengers in her care. She is drawn romantically to Mr. Fletcher and thinks he is feeling the same. Caroline, finds a use in Annie to help with being an extra Nanny for the baby. This brings them all too close for comfort and is not a wise decision in the long run.
Some of Annie’s other passengers, (who you are introduced to you and given the backstory on each one) are also millionaires, who gather one night to have a seyonce. After talking at dinner of having dark feelings or seeing things they decided to meet that night. They are cut short when the 8 year old minor in the care of Mrs. Astor, is found convulsing after his previous attempt to jump into the ocean.
As you learn about each family, you learn the light and dark that was brought aboard with each one. There are secrets uncovered during the journey you won’t see coming and truths revealed. This haunting tale of not just the sinking but everything that’s unleashed will have you up all night reading.
Annie who survived the sinking of the Titanic had moved on 2 years later to become a nurse on the sister ship, the Britannic after her friend Violet writes and encourages her. Trying to move on from events past, she thinks the ship and helping the World War I patients will keep her busy. That is until she comes upon a soldier who looks so much like Mark Fletcher, back from the days of the Titanic. The lifeboats were for women and children, it surely couldn’t be. But as she unravels the bandages, she sees that it is indeed the same Mark. Mark is so scared at the sight of her he asks to be moved from Annie’s care and to another floor. But Annie finds him and they both find out some more horrors that have come to haunt them and they see if there is a way to free themselves from the past.
I couldn’t put this one down. Atmospheric and complex in all the best ways. Katsu adds supernatural tensions to the already tense stories of the tragic sister ships Titanic and Britannic, then ups the ante with characters who hold secrets they may not even realize themselves. Recommended.
This is a story of disaster, combining the supernatural with historical reimagining, part love story, part ghost story, intertwined with suspense and tragedy! The author takes you along with Anne, Mark, and Caroline on the tragic voyage of The Titanic! The reader learns of Anne’s past, Lillian’s past and what this brings to the lives of Caroline and Mark! Years later Anne and Mark meet again on The Britannic, refitted as a hospital ship! This author touched on so much in this story, love, destiny, desire, innocence, secrets, and revenge! You need to take this journey!
Elegant and eerie. Alma Katsu really is something rather special.
Rating:
The troubled mind can never know itself.
That is the sad truth of madness.
Sinister and atmospheric drama infused with real people and facts regarding the voyage of the Titanic and the last Voyage of the Britannic. This was similar in ways to the Titanic movie in that it included some of the actual people who were on the Titanic. The story includes supporting characters such as John Jacob Astor and his young pregnant wife Madeline, Benjamin Guggenheim and a lady friend, Lucy Duff Morgan, a famous fashion designer and her husband Cosmo, as well as two boxers “Dai” Bowen and Leslie Williams.
Most of these people are more than just bit players, though the Main story revolves around a stewardess on the Titanic who later becomes a Nurse on the Britannic by the name of Annie Hebbley, and a young couple Mark and Caroline Fletcher and their Baby, Ondine. Annie leaves a sanitarium four years after surviving the sinking of the Titanic to board the Britannic as a Nurse at the request of her former cabin mate and fellow stewardess Violet. The Britannic, having been outfitted as a Hospital ship with the ability to carry thousands of men injured in the war.
The story is is told in multiple POV by Annie and the others and the reader is shown the events on the Titanic in flashbacks as Annie is working on the hospital ship and especially after she discovers Mark Fletcher as a patient on the Britannic. Annie had been taken with Mark and his Baby Ondine from the first time the met on the Titanic and she worried about the baby.
Odd occurrences plagued the voyage of the Titanic, starting with Madeline Astor’s young orphaned cabin boy, Teddy. The nine year old claims he heard singing from the sea and climbs the ships railing and nearly jumps into the sea, only to be pulled back at the last minute by the boxer, Dai. Some of the passengers decide to hold a séance that evening.
The séance happens and something eerie occurs, which may or may not have been an entity, depending on who you ask. The séance is broken up by a death on board. As the Titanic continues its’ voyage other things seem to happen and it is unclear to the reader if it is something supernatural, some sort of cabin fever where a few of the passengers and crew seem like they are either going crazy or they have very overactive imaginations.
Though the first half of the book went a bit slow for my liking, the second half made up for it. The entire book was interesting and informative. I always seem to have this issue though with a lot of fantasy novels. I don’t like the slow beginning, but then after reading the entire book, I think back and realize all the reasons for the slow beginning. In this case all the background is necessary to understand the story as a whole, but also I liked the fact that we didn’t get too many occurrences so that we weren’t really sure what was going on. Is there something supernatural happening or is it just in Annie’s mind? Even she is unsure most of the time.
”I know firsthand how easy it is for this kind of thing to happen in a confined space with few distractions. Someone gives voice to a concern and before long, it’s on everyone’s lips. Paranoia is itself a kind of contagion.”
The most interesting thing is the relationship between Annie and Mark. It is obvious she is interested in him. However, he is married and seems to be in love with his wife while they are on the Titanic. Throughout the book we learn more about Annie and her background as well as the Fletchers and how they came to be on the Titanic.
I don’t like to give away any spoilers aside from background information that occurs in the first part of the books I read. So I will just say that most of the book was unpredictable and I was constantly surprised by what was happening and especially the way it ended. I did end up really enjoying the book overall. I would give this a rating of 4.5, due to originality, historical information, great characters and wonderful world building.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
5 stars
This story is told over the period of time between 1912 with the maiden voyage of the Titanic and 1916 with the last voyage of the Titanic’s sister ship, the Britannic. Originally a luxury liner like the Titanic, the Britannic was converted into a hospital ship during WWI.
The main character in this book is Annie Hebbley. She is a young Irish woman who is running from her past. She is carrying a whole load of guilt, but the reader doesn’t know why until later in the book. Annie has problems, to put it mildly. Also important to that story are Mark and Caroline Fletcher and their daughter Ondine, Lillian (a former girlfriend of Mark’s), John Jacob and Maddie Astor, Benjamin Guggenheim, newspaperman Stead, boxers Dai and Les and many others.
There are a wide variety of people aboard the Titanic from the very wealthy first class passengers to the very poor in third class or steerage as it is called. This contrasts greatly with the hospital ship the Britannic who is carrying the wounded, dying and hopeless soldiers from the battles during war time.
Something is going wrong on the voyage of the Titanic for there are mishaps and strange occurances that keep popping up. People begin to mistrust one another just in the few days that they spend together before the sinking. There is evil aboard the ship.
Four long years later, having somewhat recovered from the Titanic tragedy, Annie joins the crew of the Britannic. She is very surprised to see an injured Mark Fletcher aboard. She didn’t know that he also survived.
But evil is still stalking them.
This is a very well written and plotted novel in the true tradition of Ms. Katsu. I really liked this book. The switching of timelines was well done and timed seamlessly. I appreciated what the author was trying to tell us. That the choices we make follow us no matter how hard or far we try to run. I like that Ms. Katsu is taking historical stories with which most people are familiar and turning them into exciting and interesting “what if” novels. Very well done!
I want to thank NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam/G.P. Putnam’s Sons for forwarding to me a copy of this most interesting and enthralling book for me to read, enjoy and review.
Wow!! Never have I read a novel like this! Kept me up until 3 am finishing this tale.
I always love when Titanic is the backdrop of the story!! And to add to the double pleasure of HMHS Britannic making her appearance too!
I loved the way the author could make me feel like I was aboard both ships.
How awful it must have been to be a survivor of Titanic and have to live with that the rest of your life!! I simply couldn’t imagine that!!
And the poor ship!! Imagine how she felt while dying right along with her passengers! Such a terrible death and very unnecessary but we have learned from it.
I feel like the Britannic had her own personality as well! She was originally named Gigantic but I’m so glad they changed her name!!
Not much is written in fiction with this ship as the backdrop so I was surprised and delighted. I think when the book comes out I’m going to recommend this book to my son since he loves Britannic.
The only thing I really didn’t like about it was part was told in present day tense and the other half like it was told yesterday. I’m guessing that this is called past tense which is my 2nd favorite after 1st person.
All in all kind of creepy if you ask me but I’m guessing that’s what the author has intended.
I enjoyed the certain scenes that made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.
I think this would be a good movie!!
Well written to my way of thinking!!
My thanks to Netgalley with no compensations received and all opinions are my own
P.s. I love the cover!! I’d know my ship anywhere!! If you want to know more about Titanic go to Pigeon Forge to Titanic museum. It’s amazing!!
I loved this book right from the start. I originally wanted to read it just from the beautiful cover but the story quickly drew me in. I loved the historical aspects of the Titanic and Britannic and loves the added Dubseaha, the sea witch and her role with the characters. It was eerie and haunting.
Dark, mysterious, mind-bending…
While you won’t find Jack and Rose on this version of the Titanic, you will find a compelling story of love and identity that takes place in both 1912 and 1916. The author does an amazing job weaving two storylines to build suspense and intrigue while introducing a vivid cast of characters who face the supernatural side of one of history’s most infamous tragedies.
The audiobook version was well worth it due to the narrator’s fluid transition between accents and the overall strength of her delivery. Though the novel bounces back and forth in time, the various chapters were clearly distinguished, and I never had trouble following the story. Can’t recommend this one enough.
At once both tragic and chilling, The Deep perfectly blends psychological thriller and eerie gothic ghost story to create something truly haunting, drawing you down into its dark depths before finally letting you up for air. Set in the claustrophobic confines of two doomed ships in their final days, Katsu’s excellently researched new novel establishes her as a unique voice in historical fiction. I can’t wait to see what she does next.
The way Alma Katsu weaves the true story of the Titanic and her sister ship, Britannic, with this dark, terrifying tale of possession and haunting is phenomenal. Part history, part drama, part love story, part creepy-as-heck ghost tale, with chills icier than the watery depths, The Deep is beautifully written, thoroughly absorbing, and totally terrifying.
Blending choice elements of mystery and horror into an impeccably recreated history, Alma Katsu has created a rich, haunting, irresistible novel that succeeds in rewriting the past while making it feel more ominously present than ever.
Like The Hunger, The Deep is historical reimagining laced with magic and mystery. Alma Katsu adds a sweeping love story and a ghostly tale of revenge to the sinkings of RMS Titanic and HMHS Britannic to tell a tale that is haunting, thrilling, and utterly original.