The Lifeboat

The Lifeboat (2012), novelist Charlotte Rogan’s first book, tells the story of Grace Winters, a young woman who is stranded on a lifeboat with thirty-eight other passengers, and of the moral dilemmas that arise as they fight for survival. The book shifts backward and forward between the disturbing events on the lifeboat and Grace’s trial for murder once she arrives on land. According to Rogan, this is based on real-life reports of shipwreck victims who were made to pay for their actions while they were lost at sea.

In the prologue, Grace is on trial after having been rescued from the shipwreck, along with two other women, Ursula Grant and Hannah. She has a team of three lawyers, hired by her mother-in-law, who are debating how to present her to the jury. They tell her to write a diary of the twenty-one days she spent on the boat.

In the first chapter, Grace is at sea with her fellow survivors. They have escaped on Lifeboat 14 following an explosion on the ship, whose fiery remains she can still see in the distance. Mr. Hardie, an experienced sailor, has taken leadership of the group. The boat is floating low in the water, which worries many of the passengers. They eventually realize that the manufacturers had reduced the size of the lifeboat to save money, but had left the plaque that said “maximum 40 passengers.”



The boat passes pieces of wreckage, dead bodies, and some survivors, including a young child who is crying for help next to his dead mother. While most of the passengers want to go get him, Hardie carries on, as he believes they cannot risk taking on more weight and another mouth to feed. Later, Hardie kicks a man in the face as he tries to climb onboard. An older woman from first class, Mrs. Grant, is most assertive in her disapproval. Meanwhile, Grace wonders whether she would have been able to be so cruel, or whether it could even really be called cruelty.

Grace thinks about her husband Henry, whom she had just recently married, wondering whether he is alive. They had been making their way back to New York after eloping to Europe in order to avoid the war. Henry had been engaged before they met, but she had succeeded in seducing him and was looking forward to the life his fortune would enable. Grace worries that since his rich family has never met her, and with the marriage papers lost in the wreck, they may have no reason to help her if she does survive. She takes comfort in that he had been forceful in getting her on this lifeboat, so he would have been forceful in saving himself.

As the days pass on the boat, the passengers’ initial panic sets into a dull routine, aided by Hardie who rations supplies, sets roles, and outlines rules. Nevertheless, some passengers continue to question his decisions, such as the choice to avoid another lifeboat led by Second Officer Brian Blake. These passengers are led by Mrs. Grant, who becomes a second authority figure on the boat. Grace remains relatively neutral during this conflict, with much of the narration focusing on her inner thoughts.



Tensions onboard escalate as time goes on, rations dwindle, and people start to grate on each other. The passengers begin to gossip and discuss events from the ship. Grace hears rumors about strange behavior from Hardie and about two chests of gold that were being kept onboard. Some passengers heard Hardie arguing with the ship captain and believe he was going to be fired. Mrs. Grant and a young woman called Hannah question Hardie’s relationship with Blake, and think there is something suspicious about him not wanting to approach Blake’s boat. A rumor spreads that it has something to do with the gold, which Hardie and Blake may have stolen.

Passengers on the lifeboat start dying of starvation and thirst. An Anglican deacon chooses to jump overboard to help the others, sacrificing himself, and a few others do so as well. The conflict between Hardie and Mrs. Grant continues, with the passengers’ opinion beginning to shift in favor of the latter as they wonder whether Hardie is fit to lead.

Mrs. Grant publicly challenges his authority and calls for a vote to rid him of his command and throw him overboard. The men rally behind Hardie, but the women—who make up most of the passengers—vote in favor, with only Grace abstaining and one woman voting against. Hannah attacks Hardie, and Mrs. Grant commands Grace to help. Scared and without much time to think, Grace helps Hannah throw Hardie off the lifeboat.



The passengers are rescued a week later and sent back to America. Grace, Mrs. Grant, and Hannah are put on trial for the murder of Mr. Hardie. Mr. Reichmann, one of Grace’s lawyers, succeeds in convincing the jury that Grace’s involvement was not premeditated and that she was pressured into participating. Both Mrs. Grant and Hannah are convicted; when they ask for money for their appeal, Grace refuses. Grace meets her mother-in-law for the first time and can begin her new life. She eventually marries Mr. Reichmann.

Rogan had been writing for herself for more than two decades and had written the book some years before she decided to send the manuscript to a publisher. She got her first book publishing deal at the age of fifty-seven; The Lifeboat went on to be well received by critics. In particular, the novel was praised for Grace’s role as an unreliable narrator, particularly given the narrative’s format as a journal entry written for the express purpose of redeeming her in a court of law. This presents an interesting question for the reader, who must ask whether Grace as innocent or not.