Quick read that tells a tale of a tragic shipwreck at the hands of an iceberg in 1856. Along the way it humanizes the vast waves of immigration in the early to mid nineteenth century, particularly those fleeing the Irish potato famine. Very well written

This is the story of a small packet sailing ship, the John Rutledge, which set off across the Atlantic from Liverpool to New York in the winter of 1856. The ship, carrying cargo and Irish emigrants, struck an iceberg in the north Atlantic, and only one soul would live to tell the tale.

There are quite a few best-selling narrative non-fiction books about famous shipwrecks, such as Erik Larson’s Dead Wake, Nathaniel Philbrick’s Heart of the Sea, and numerous books about the sinking of the Titanic. These ships have become legend, and the stories have a great deal of primary information and research behind them.

In Adrift, Murphy has given us a smaller tragedy. The sinking of the John Rutledge is one of many tragic stories lost on the shoals of history, and the careful research needed to bring it back into the light should be commended. Murphy has delved into private journals, newspaper clippings, family lore, and shipping records. What is more, he has compiled this information into a gripping, narrative story.

Fans of narrative nonfiction and tales of maritime derring-do will find a lot to admire in Murphy’s careful research and close attention to detail. History buffs cannot help but rejoice when another largely unknown story is pulled from the depths of the historical record.

An advance copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you're going to read this, you first need to grab a bottle of water because this book will make you very thirsty. This book is about the remarkable survival at sea of Thomas W. Nye, a seaman who was onboard the John Rutledge packet ship on it's doomed voyage from Liverpool to New York. It obviously didn't quite make it to NYC as it sunk shortly after encountering an iceberg in the North Atlantic. The book details the life of sailors in the 19th century and people traveling to America via wooden ships. There are a lot of little details in this book and it is definitely an interesting tale.

I can only give this book three stars because it just didn't have the 'staying power' that kept my attention for more than 30 minutes at a time. It does have a lot of details, like a two page, succinct explanation of the Irish potato famine which was good, but I think overall they bogged the story down. The most interesting part of the story was the sinking until the rescue, a total of about 90 pages. Long after the main character has returned to America the story just keeps going, including one section which went on for several pages just to tell the reader that the main character was once in the same room with Mark Twain. That's it. They weren't buddies or anything, they were just in the same place at the same time. I felt like the author was really reaching, stretching to get Mark Twain in or maybe to increase the page numbers. And this book does make you thirsty, as those 90 pages are full of characters who are very thirsty. There is no mention of sex or adult language. There is one bottle of alcohol in the entire book. This is an interesting book, if a little long-winded.

Fascinating narrative nonfiction account of a little known shipwreck in the 1850s. Interesting to those who have been fascinated with survival stories such as Unbroken or shipwreck stories like the Titanic or Lusitania. There are some really interesting and surprising literary cameos from Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Frederick Douglass and Herman Melville. Recommended.

Found this book very interesting, if a bit meandering. I requested it because I had just finished watching AMC's The Terror when this one popped up, and it seemed a bit too much like coincidence to ignore, but I'm really glad I did, even if the two only share passing similarities (at least tone wise).

It is indeed a completely wild true story, and one which I am surprised I've never heard of (though I suppose there are many tragedies at sea, still), especially given the immense odds against all of those on board the John Rutledge ship when it went down, and how those odds played out.

I do think however that the main think I can take away from this is that I would honestly just throw myself into the waves. Gimme that sweet quick death, baby!

Thanks to Netgalley and Da Capo Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The fact that Nye didn’t immediately shove the maniacs who stole the water jug over the side of the boat the second they did it is wild to me. An incredibly generous act of mercy, but also a spectacularly bad decision for literally everyone else on the boat, in hindsight.

Anyway, this book was pretty good.

Well told story reconstructed from a variety of sources including the ship's log and newspaper accounts. Murphy balances the story of this particular ship and its lone survivor while also painting a vivid picture of the shipping industry during the mid-nineteenth century.
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