Surviving Savannah

by Patti Callahan

Dakota County Library hardcover 395 plus Author's Note, References, etc.

Published: 2021

Genre: Christian historical fiction

Liked but didn't love this book. It made me curious to read online about the actual ship Pulaski that went down in 1838. The Author's Note at the end also gave me lots more info about the ship.

Alternating between modern-day Everly Winthrop and the women of the 1838 incident (primarily Lilly and her aunt Augusta), the author did a great job of weaving the story between now and then. She included a lot of detail about Savannah as a city, the disparity between wealthy people and poor, the plight of the "enslaved," and the issues of grief and survivorship. That said, the most compelling storyline to me was that of Lilly trying to escape her abusive husband Adam. And that storyline was fiction . . . 

Page 5 - When Everly is recalling her young self's dad telling the story of the sinking of the Pulaski, her observation is one I can relate to!

I needed the evil to become good. I needed the dark to become light. I needed the stories to end in triumph or what was the point? I hated the stories where the sad ending left me feeling an ache in the middle of my tummy, the same place where I felt the emptiness left by losing my father the year before. I wanted - no, I needed - the stories to make sense, for the world to be restored at the end.

Page 27 - There were times Callahan's language choices were simply gorgeous! This is one instance, even though it's about a sad topic:

Grief had been coiled quietly inside me since Papa's death ten years ago - an absence that was as much a presence as any ghost. I'd become accustomed to the loss in the same way one does a limp. But Mora's death had awakened that coiled animal, that oily, slithering grief that had hidden beneath the marsh and muck of my life. Mora's absence had joined Papa's and together the loss was more than double; it was exponential.

Page 52 - The idea that we can simply forget the past and move on is one that challenges me. I believe in change and looking ahead, but unless I get amnesia or Alzheimer's, my past is part of who I am and I remember it. By the end of the book, Everly had a healthier appreciation for not dwelling on the past while still maintaining her love for history and uncovering the past. 

 

"If one wants to move beyond the past, one must not delve into the past," some out-of-date advice book once told me. But no one, even if they believe they have, moves past the past.

Page 85 - This section reminded me of my visit to Williamsburg! How incredible to physically be in a place where historical figures lived and moved!

If we were to talk of the Pulaski we must be near the place where the passengers had boarded. I'd always believed that one can't understand the past without visiting the places where events took place.

 

Page 157 - Priscilla / Chike was a fictional character, but she was one of my favorites. As a slave woman who was nursing Lilly's child Madeline, the conversations between the two women grew as Lilly's understanding of the evils of slavery grew. Lilly has just suggested in a question if her husband had gotten Priscilla pregnant.

"No, mistress. My little girl, my Anika, she belonged to me, and to a man who loves me, a man I love." She lifted her chin and closed her eyes, a pride and a pain Lilly would not and could not understand yet speared her chest with sorrow.

Page 164 - This line caught me and reminded me of why I need to stay grounded in God's Word daily! Maddox is sharing some life wisdom with Everly.

"We are our truest selves when life and death walk hand in hand. When crisis comes, and tragedy explodes, our true character comes to the fore. ... Choices are made."

Page 179 - As Everly is talking with Margarite Mulvaney about her research into the Longstreet family, Margarite's offhand comment is kind of gross, but extremely accurate. I like making the effort to seek out inspirational stories.

"Isn't it odd how we can find the devastating stories and not the inspiring ones? My daughter calls that trauma porn."

Page 198-9 - there's so much to unpack here! Grief, life, love . . . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Page 218 - Yes! We spend so much time, money, and thought on things that DO NOT MATTER! As Augusta fears for Henry's life (and everyone else's), she thinks of life before.

She stroked his head and whispered prayers she'd never before uttered, ones she'd heard in church while her mind wandered down frivolous paths. Had their former lives mattered at all? All the energy and time they had spent to maintain their particular way of living - why had they bothered? The teacups and bric-a-brac, the fine lace and silk gowns. It was all a mirage. Now their silver and linens, their hand-painted table service, their hand-sewn gowns all lay at the bottom of the ocean.

Page 293 - The whole section on Everly going down on the dive to the Pulaski bothered me. For a whole host of reasons it bothered me. It was so selfish of her to insist and to lie to Maddox. Then for her to be excited about her epiphany and the decision to live . . . grrr.

Page 340 - 342 - The guy who left flowers at the grave. I could see this coming a mile away. I wish the resolution had been different.

Page 359 - It was interesting how often Callahan used the word "enslaved" to refer to slavery. In most books I've read that are set in this era, "slavery" and "slaves" are used. This caught my attention and it will be interesting to see if it comes up in our book club discussion next week. Everly is talking with her friend Sophie about family trees, research, and the huge difference between a white woman's genealogy and a black woman's . . . .

She squeezed my hand. "You and I both know there's a difference between prejudice and obliviousness but sometimes it can have the same result."

Page 394 - I love when Oliver tells Everly all the reasons he loves her and then ends with this gem about not wasting life.

"Please give me time to tell you all the other reasons. This exhibit, this wreck, it shows us - life is such a quick thing. Please don't let us waste one more minute of it apart."