Official Website of New York Times Bestselling Author
SURVIVING SAVANNAH
"The Titanic of the South"
Available Now in Paperback!
Also available in Hardcover, e-book,
and audiobook formats
Surviving Savannah
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A Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Publisher's Weekly Bestseller!
"An atmospheric, compelling story of survival, tragedy, the enduring power of myth and memory, and the moments that change one's life."
—Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Four Winds
It was called "The Titanic of the South." The luxury steamship sank in 1838 with Savannah's elite on board; through time, their fates were forgotten—until the wreck was found, and now their story is finally being told in this breathtaking novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis.
When Savannah history professor Everly Winthrop is asked to guest-curate a new museum collection focusing on artifacts recovered from the steamship Pulaski, she's shocked.
The ship sank after a boiler explosion in 1838, and the wreckage was just discovered, 180 years later. Everly can't resist the opportunity to try to solve some of the mysteries and myths surrounding the devastating night of its sinking.
Everly's research leads her to the astounding history of a family of eleven who boarded the Pulaski together, and the extraordinary stories of two women from this family: a known survivor, Augusta Longstreet, and her niece, Lilly Dawson, who was never found, along with her child. These aristocratic women were part of Savannah's society, but when the ship exploded, each was faced with difficult and heartbreaking decisions.
This is a moving and powerful exploration of what women will do to endure in the face of tragedy, the role fate plays, and the myriad ways we survive the surviving.
Listen to Audio Clip Surviving Savannah
Patti Callahan (Author, Narrator), Brittany Pressley (Narrator),
Catherine Taber (Narrator), Penguin Audio (Publisher)
paperback edition
April 5, 2022
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Patti Callahan Henry
1919 Oxmoor Road. PMB #303
Homewood, AL 35209
In SURVIVING SAVANNAH, Patti Callahan has woven a sweeping, captivating tale; of a contemporary woman lost in a fog of grief who finds solace-- and finally, redemption as she uncovers the long-buried secrets of a nearly forgotten shipwreck—and the courageous women who survived to bear witness to history. Based in fact, steeped in heart-breaking detail, SURVIVING SAVANNAH raises the little-known, 180-year-old story of the Southern Titanic to the forefront of American historic fiction.
Surviving Savannah
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"Go Behind the Scenes"
How do we
Survive the Surviving?
Video: The extraordinary true and untold story behind the novel Surviving Savannah with Patti Callahan at The Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum in Savannah, Georgia.
A New York Times Bestselling Author
Podcast Host and Co-creator of
Friends & Fiction
Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times, EPCA, Globe and Mail, and USA Today bestselling author of sixteen novels.
She’s also a podcast host, and one of those podcasts explores the background of her novel, Becoming Mrs. Lewis, The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis. Her latest novel, Once Upon a Wardrobe, released last October, explores the stories in C. S. Lewis's life that we might see hidden in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Surviving Savannah, a historical novel exploring the true and lost to time shipwreck of the S. S. Pulaski was released last year.
She is the recipient of The Christy Award “Book of the Year”; The Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year for Becoming Mrs. Lewis.
She is the co-host and co-creator of the popular weekly online Friends and Fiction live web show and podcast. Patti was also a contributor to the monthly life lesson essay column for Parade Magazine. She’s published in numerous anthologies, articles, and short story collections, including an Audible Original about Florence Nightingale, titled Wild Swan narrated by the Tony Award winner, Cynthia Erivo.
A full-time author, mother of three, and grandmother of two, she lives in Mountain Brook, Alabama with her husband, Pat Henry.
Her newest novel, The Secret Book of Flora Lea, is set outside Oxford in the hamlet of Binsey and will be released on May 2nd, 2023 with Simon & Schuster Atria.
She’s spent countless hours, and yet not nearly enough hours, wondering and reading and talking about C. S. Lewis, Joy Davidman, and their life together.
For more detailed info about Patti or for speaking inquiries, please visit our, SPEAKING page.