Article and Interview by Elise Cooper
A Crown of Stars by Shana Abé is a tale of survival, courage, fate and love. Once readers take the journey with the main character, Rita, on the events leading up to the sinking of the Lusitania, and the events afterwards, the book is hard to put down. The historical importance of this act of war and its aftermath becomes even more powerful since it is told through the eyes of the survivors, so people feel they were on the ship with them.
The story begins at the turn of the century England, where readers meet the Jolivet family who live a charmed existence. Daughter of a wealthy vineyard owner and a French pianist, vivacious Marguerite, whose stage name is Rita, is the eldest of three children. She loves spinning stories and entertaining her family’s well-connected friends. No one is surprised when she announces, at 18, that she intends to become an actress. Her sister, Inez, a virtuosa violinist, moves to London with her. Soon the two are being celebrated in the highest social circles. Rita becomes a stage and film star, while Inez is shy, yet she creates beautiful music with her beloved violin. Inez is also blessed with a true love, George, saying that her husband’s heart is her home. Rita, on the other hand, wants to remain independent and is standoffish about any relationship.
The compelling and powerful part of the story begins when the story focuses on WWI as the war in Europe creates an environment of fear and uncertainty. Rita, in New York for the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille’s The Unafraid, receives word from Inez that their brother is about to enlist. Hoping to see him before he departs, Rita books a ticket on the fastest steamer available: the RMS Lusitania. But the ship sails under a British flag, and the German government warns that all such vessels are fair game. Few believe Germany would risk attacking a ship carrying Americans. Rita is aboard the Lusitania and discovers that both Charles, a dear friend, and George, Inez’s husband, are on board as well. Described in vivid detail is the life aboard the luxury liner, the environment of fear and uncertainty felt by the passengers and crew because of Germany’s warning, and then the heart wrenching hours the passengers went through after being struck by the torpedo. Readers feel the raw emotion and pain afflicted upon those forced to live and cope with what occurred considering Rita was one of only 763 survivors out of nearly 2,000 on board when the ship was sunk by the Germans.
The sense of inevitability adds a layer of tension and historical importance to the story. It is a story of poise under pressure, selflessness in the face of danger, and a love between sisters that never lets up.
Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?
Shana Abé: It was some my idea and some my publisher’s idea. I was asked to continue to write historical fiction set in the Gilded Age about real people. I wanted the story to be fresh. Someone at Kensington told me about this actress on the Lusitania. The more I investigated it I thought this is a really good story that no one else has written about. All the main characters in the story are true along with what happened to them.
EC: Did you remember anything about the Lusitania?
SA: I remembered the Lusitania from school and the poster of the ship sinking with the lady holding the baby in her arms. I also remember learning about the war cry, “remember the Lusitania.” It surprised me that today people do not even know anything about it. WWI was a very pivotal piece of the plot considering the ship would not have sunk if the war was not going on. My main character, Rita, would not have been on it since she was rushing from New York to England to reach her little brother to say good-bye before he went out to the front.
EC: Was it like Titanic’s story?
SA: The lifeboats and the crew did not seem to know what they were doing. This happened three years after the sinking of the Titanic. New laws had been enacted, so technically they were supposed to be prepared. Yet there were a lot of mistakes that did happen that included the lifeboat problem. The difference was the Titanic took two hours to sink, and the Lusitania went down in 18 minutes. The lifeboats did manage to hit the water but tipped immediately. On top of that the canvas collapsible boats underneath the regular lifeboats were painted to look beautiful, but the paint sealed a lot of them to the deck, making them useless.
EC: What do you want to say about the Germans during this experience?
SA: The German Kaiser was related to the King of England. They were cousins. There was a lot of familial tension and national irritation between each other. The Kaiser and the King were in a race to control the seas. The Kaiser was winning because he had the U-boats that were devastatingly affective. There was a scene in the book taken from Rita’s account of what happened where the U-boat captain just watched the people dying. The Captain of that U-boat was ruthless in targeting allied ships and killing people. Yet a dachshund was saved by the U-boat but not the people. It became its mascot. He was very pleased to be doing his job.
EC: How would you describe Rita?
SA: She was a force of nature, vivacious with a glittering personality. She loved to tell stories and was very charismatic. She did well as being an actress. Rita was born into a well to do family and had no problem utilizing the benefits handed to her and then building upon it. In a personal way she got burned with her first marriage and then decided she was not going to surrender her freedom as a single woman. She later married a Count, became a Countess, and then semi-retired, but that did not last because she liked the attention.
EC: What about Inez, Rita’s sister?
SA: They had a strong sister bond. She was very talented as a violinist. Inez was shy and did not mind staying in Rita’s shallow, feeling comfortable there. But then she got married to George Vernon and became a world traveler. George was her world. He was also very devoted to his wife.
EC: What about the movie Lest We Forget?
SA: I am sad it is lost because I would like to see it. It was made in 1918 about WWI. Rita produced it, starred in it, and made sure her friends’ killings were not going to be forgotten. It was a huge success during its time. I am impressed with her. It was made to express her rage on everything that happened. It was a propaganda film, pro Allied movie.
EC: What about the setting of Queenstown, Ireland?
SA: The irony is that it was the last port of call for Titanic. It was called the “town of death.” The bodies and the survivors from the Lusitania also went there. It is now called Cobh. There are a Lusitania and Titanic memorial there.
EC: Next book?
SA: It is another historical fiction about a real woman in the Gilded Age.
EC: THANK YOU!!
