The Unsinkable Ellie

Librarian Review:

This book blew me away! When I picked up this book I was unsure what to expect but from the opening sentence I was immediately intrigued and couldn't put the book down, I read it all in one sitting and there were several moments of tears on my behalf toward the plot and characters.

This is a beautifully written book based on actual events of the sinking of The Empress of Ireland. Ellie is our main character who is forced to work as a stewardess on the ship by her Great Aunt. Ellie is an unusual character who at first I did not like and kept reading to see her get her comeuppance; only to find out that she is a very guarded and emotionally damaged young woman. On the ship Ellie meets a young man nicknamed "Lucky" and they begin a platonic romance. However, during the sinking of the ship it is most likely that Lucky has perished and that Ellie is on her own.

The twist of the story is that a journalist really wants Ellie's story and he finds Lucky's journal and blackmails Ellie for a trade – her story for Lucky's journal. At this point in the book we find out the myriad secrets that Ellie has which go beyond being a handful of survivors from that fateful night.

This book is sublime – sophisticated, elegant, beautifully written and the plot and characters kept me gripped and interested. I highly recommend this read!

Youth Review:

Unspeakable. The title suggests a tragedy, something too painful for words. Personally, I think this book is too good for words. It's got those details, those little quirks about each character, it's got those nouns that act as adjectives so that the images you paint in your mind aren't forced but very real (need an example? At one point the author writes, "iceberg eyes" instead of "cold and blue" and I might have shed a small tear), that I don't want to tell you about this story because I want you to read it and see the people yourselves. Ellen Hardy, an eighteen-year-old girl who boards a ship to work as a maid to the upper class – much to her disgruntlement – shares her tragedy in this beautifully written novel by Caroline Pignat, Governor General's Award-winning author of Greener Grass. When it is not transporting readers to flashbacks on the ship, the Empress of Ireland, the story is set in Rimouski, a town in Quebec, and I've got to say, I feel very proud to be reviewing a book by a Canadian author who both has the heart to research about her country's history and who has the talent to create a story as rich as the one this book contains.

          In the same way layers make a chocolate cake better, layers create a good story. It gives it dimension and depth and flavour. (Like cake.) Good art is being able to collect these multiple layers to create a singular masterpiece, and somehow, in 311 pages, Pignat is able to do just that. Ellen Hardy at the beginning of the book did not have me rooting for her. Ellen Hardy was spoiled and selfish and I wanted her to learn a lesson. But as the story wears on and I see Ellen surviving a sinking ship, losing people she loves (by choice and by fate), and the way she is able to love the people who matter to her, I see that Ellen was not a bratty little girl – she was just young. She was a girl becoming a woman. Simply put, Ellen Hardy grew up. A good book has an "ah" moment for the readers that makes people remember it. Pignant makes Unspeakable a great book by giving numerous "oh", "ah", and "I wish I didn't have to actually get up to use the bathroom so I could have more time to read" moments each time Ellen matures and grows. Yes, every author seems to be writing a coming-of-age book nowadays, but this one is different. It doesn't feature a strange, eccentric, wild, colourful character that goes on adventures. It has a quiet strength in the main character that is developed and discovered as the book goes on, and through all of its characters, proves that every person lives an adventure. It has truth. Unspeakable is a story about a girl who lived one hundred years ago, on a ship that no longer can be found, but this girl feels real, and her story resonates with honesty.

          One last thing I enjoyed about Unspeakable: it is evident that Pignat did her research and did it well. The Empress of Ireland really was a ship that sunk in 1914, right before the First World War, and the mechanical descriptions of the boat (although I have not verified them) seem authentic and effectively add to the storyline. There is nothing I appreciate more than a thoroughly-researched, well-written book and Caroline Pignat definitely delivers.

          Unspeakable can be found on shelves under the Young Adult Fiction section, but I can assure you that adults young and old, as well as children of an advanced reading level (as long as paren'ts are willing to explain a few adult concepts), will be able to enjoy Ellen's story of love, growth, and deep-rooted hope.

-Sophia